Lilly and Josie are more like sisters than cousins...

(a continuation of cute grandkid pics...)
Here is just a sampling of the ways Lilly and Josie play together......
OK, meal time isn't that pretty...

 But aren't they so sweet sharing the contents of a box....

 And here they are both helping to bring in Amy's purse.....

 Can you just imagine what trouble these two will get into when they are teenagers......

 Sometimes they just hang out together...

 Water play is fun no matter what age you are........

Josie's bath faces

Here are some pictures of Josie in the bathtub recently.  You can tell she is a character by all the faces she has.....

This one is my favorite:

 This one is as corny as she is:  

 Tongue out......a family trait:

 Unlike some other grandchildren I know, Josie loves to get her head wet....

 and get shampoo in her hair.....

 Here I am, all clean and shiny...

 PJ's on, bottle in one hand, belly in the other....soon it will be off to bedtime.

New series coming..... What is a grandparent to do with all these cute Grand kid pics????

We have tons of cute grand kid pics.....so why not share them??  You can indulge us! ......or come back later when we have more pictures of our life and times. 

Annual appearance of Matter Creek

For the second year in a row we have water flowing above ground on our upper property.  On March 25th our little pool was bone dry.  But one week later we had water flowing at about 10 gallons a minute.  (Of course that might have something to do with the record rainfall we got during that time)
Here is the water springing out of the hillside

 The water flows into an 8 foot long pool that Kurt dug out with the excavator last year...

 And then the pool overflows down the hill. 

We had hoped that by digging out the area we might encourage a year round spring-- But last year it dried up so we expect the same this year.  Though it is still fun while it lasts.

Amy has a vacation

Amy, Mark and Lilly came for a Spring Break visit.  Amy brought along work to do and of course watching the kids is full time work--- but she also had some relaxing times...
On the ONLY day the sun was shining- they all got to go in the hot tub

There were also trips to find fossils, throwing rocks in the river and visits with old friends---none of which I have pictures to show.

Mark Helps

Amy, Mark and Lilly came for a Spring Break visit.  Mark quickly figured out that bringing in the firewood was an important daily job----and he claimed it!  

Some pieces were pretty big- but he didn't mind...

 Of course, bringing in the firewood requires wearing Grandpa's gloves...

 And you have to wear a baseball cap, like Grandpa, when you are working...

And, like the good big brother that he is, Mark lets Lilly help too..... with the smaller pieces of wood... 

Lilly Helps

Amy, Mark and Lilly came for a visit over their Spring Break.  They left sunny Denver and came to rainy and cold Kettle Falls.  The wet weather required us to think of inside projects.  The kids were more than happy to "work" with Grandpa.  One big ptoject was to make a spice shelf to go under Grandma's new kitchen cabinet.  Lilly helped with the staining and painting the sealer.  Then it was time to install the shelf.

Here is Lilly Helping Grandpa with the final measurements.

 OH, then it was time to re-check the plans...

 And then Lilly was all smiles when it was time for power tools- which she DID get to operate- but all adult hands were busy so we don't have a picture

And here is the finished product....

TA DA- the upper cabinet is installed

Upper cabinet under consturction

Now that winter is almost over......Kurt is (finally) working on what was supposed to be his "winter project"....... a new upper cabinet for our kitchen.
Here is one last picture of the old upper cabinets.  They have served us well.  Kurt built the original cabinet and Jeff Howat made the doors.  You can still see the original 30 year old+ kitchen wallpaper on the back wall of the cabinet......
Here is the new set taking shape in the wood shop.  Plywood back and center shelves.  Tamarack fir sides and side shelves.  When complete there will be two glass-front doors in the center and solid doors on the two side sections.  

they are a little taller and a little wider than the old set.  And there will be some open shelves and a plate rack to the left of this unit-coming later.  I am looking forward to more storage space.

 He does nice work, doesn't he!

Finally! Fish for dinner!

It has been a lousy fishing season this winter.  But Kurt still enjoys the break it gives him to go stand on the lake bank for a couple hours every couple of days. 
Out of the blue.....he caught a fish last Saturday!  This one was a native rainbow trout.  Quite a beauty.......

We shared the fish with company that evening and all proclaimed it was delicious!

Truck news

We can't manage our rural lifestyle without having a pickup truck.  There are 1001 needs- from going to the dump, to the lumber store and hauling manure or other garden supplies.  Sadly, we sold our trusty "ole yeller" 1966 Ford pickup when we lived in Sequim (as we had regular garbage pickup and a Buick station wagon that could haul a 4x8 sheet of plywood).

 When we moved back to Kettle Falls we needed a pickup.  Kurt found this one on craigs list-- an upgrade for him-- to a 1967 Ford pickup.

The new ford pickup turned out not to be as reliable as ole yeller.  Within a year it was parked with a blown engine.
Fast forward to the mild winter we are having-- perfect for doing engine work. 
So Kurt pulled the engine and sent it out to be rebuilt.  He couldn't be happier with the work the machine shop did.  Here is what the engine looked like when it came back

With the engine out he has been cleaning up the engine compartment

The engine got reinstalled this past weekend

Now he is awaiting the return of the carburator and it will be time to start 'er up.

Getting out in the snow

Since we chose to move back to snow country we made a pack that we would embrace the cold and snow-- by not complaining about any of it from onset until mid February.  (And after that we are free to wish for warmer climes.)

This year it hasn't been too insufferable since we only got our first dose of plow-able snow on Friday.  So, before we miss the opportunity, we went snow shoeing today.  The measly 6" out our back door wasn't worth the effort so we drove up the mountain pass across the river and found a place to walk in 2 and a 1/2 feet of snow.  We had to break our own trail and it turne out to be a little more exercise than we intended--- In hindsight, we have decided that walking in 6"would have been just fine.  Anyway, here are a few pictures...