Garage cleaning with a 2 year old! (and picking raspberries!)

We may not have the lush, thick bushes of 'yesteryear', but we can still find enough berries to satisfy the picking pleasure of a few grandkids! (Actually, picking is all Ava wants to do with raspberries - which she calls 'strawberries' - she doesn't want to EAT them!)
And here is Ava helping us clean out the garage! She found an obviously better use for Gramma's golf bag push cart: She 'rode' it in and out of the garage and called it her trycycle! Great fun having her around here! Love the new twist on helmet fashion, yeah?

Wisconsin Week at Hotel Griffitts - part deux!

So, we are starting with the last picture first, and they become more mixed up from there! Anyway, this is the Shumway's leaving from our home this morning about 9:30 -

but you can pretend that we were out in the driveway greeting them on Thursday night when they arrived!

This picture is actually from the first visit last Friday. Starting from the far left, we have Ava, Lyle, Darbye, Jo Jo, Danielle, Scott, Wendy and me. (Dad is behind Danielle...)

This was this morning, too. Checking everything twice before taking off for Oregon - hopefully NOT for another 3 year absence! We LOVE the Shumways!!!

Sheralyn, Danielle and Tanner ready to take off!

The 'Girls' - Sheralyn, Danielle, Darbye, Wendy, me, Ava and Lindsay! Aren't we a lovely group!

The Bishops, Steve and Scott - called within the same week 3 years ago - there is something poetic in that....

Wendy and Sheralyn performing death-defying bicycle tricks! Sheralyn even pedaled Wendy UP from the lake the night before! She's an IRONWOMAN!!!

It was hard to say goodbye to such fun friends! We hope they won't stay away for 3 more years! We try to show them a good time while they are here so they'll come back again! We had a baby shower last time they visited, and this time we were planning a wedding.... What next??? Just come back and play with us!

Welcome to Wisconsin Week at "Hotel Griffitts"

I got a phone call on Tuesday from an old friend who lived in Wisconsin with her great family while we lived there with our great family. She was spending a few days in Spokane, and when she found out how close it was to Coeur d'Alene, she came on over for a visit! How fun it was!

Here is Rosie Johnson with Lindsay and Darbye (who were 10 years younger when we last saw each other!)

The good news is that neither Rosie nor I have aged at all since we last visited! We've made plans for her whole family to visit soon so we can have some REAL fun! We survived Wisconsin together!

We also got an e-mail earlier this week from another wonderful Wisconsin connection: The Shumways! They're coming through town the end of this week for a family reunion up in Canada, so they'll be staying at the Hotel Griffitts one night this week and one night next week on the return trip! We had so much fun the last time they did that, that we are already FAR into the planning stages for this trip! I'll be sure to post pictures of that encounter, too!