We had fun on Halloween!

We attended the Snellville Ward Halloween Dinner & Trunk or Treat. We had good food, great friends and lots of fun! Rick and I went as Robin Hood and Maid Marion again this year. Here are some photos of cute kids and fun families. We missed having our family Halloween Party and thought to have a party here, but found out that we will be having at least 100 little "trick or treaters" from our neighborhood and decided to forgo the party and feed the little "goblins" who come to our home. Hope you all are happy and well. Love, Pat

The place where I grew up- Sandpoint, Idaho

Today I added a decking company from Sandpoint, Idaho to our magazine's database. It got me thinking about where I grew up. It was a lovely small town and I have LOTS of fun memories at the beach. I "googled" Sandpoint city beach to see if I was remembering it accurately. According to these photos Sandpoint city beach is still as beautiful, if not more so, as I remember. I was a Lifeguard and swimming instructor from the age of 15 to 21. Those were wonderful carefree days. I had lots of sun to keep me happy and lots of water to swim in any time I wanted to. I usually worked from the day after Memorial Day to the Day before Labor Day. School got out the day before Memorial Day and started back up the Day after Labor Day. I could easily swim a mile in about 20 minutes or less. Judy, Dan, Myself, Margaret and Mary all loved spending our summers at the beach. And when any of my Mothers family came from out of town we would all gather in the evening for supper and another swim. I hope you enjoy looking at these photos and can see why the town was called Sandpoint.
In today's Sandpoint they have a "Back to the 50's" week in May. Music, dancing in the streets, and a car show. How 'bout we all save up and go there for the Barfuss Memorial Day Games some year? Max might even remember it, he visited there with Grandma and Grandpa Hazelbaker.

"The red bird is named Jenna," says Natalie

Tonight at 8:50 p.m. in Snellville I got a call from Natalie and she has named the bird Jenna after her friend. She was sitting on Brigitte's lap when Brigitte read her e-mail so they immediately opened the blog and called me. It was soooooooo cute. She said "Hi, Grandma Pat the red bird is named Jenna. That's the name of my friend. And her has a brother named Jake and he is mean." I will have another contest soon, so keep reading and addding your comments. I love you all! Pat

My New Guest

One of the wonderful things about living in our new home is all of the beautiful birds that come to visit. I finally got a picture of a cardinal in our backyard. Look closely at the first photo, maybe you can see the bird on the fence. The second photo is a close up of just the bird. The first grandchild to call me or e-mail me gets to name it. Our other "guests" that have names are:
2 squirrels named Ron & Obelisk;
2 chipmunks named Lisa and Daphne; and
a snake named Mr. Spotty.
What a beautiful world we live in. I am grateful for my guests and the company they provide me on my lonely days.

Harley all grown up!

Today's entry is about one of our family friends, Harley Christensen. We met him when he as about 3 years old. He would ride up and down the sidewalk between his house and our house on Sundays. We would say "Hi" and smile and he would just growl and give us a scowl. As we got acquainted he came over often to play board game on Sundays with us. He and his mother, Shelley became great friends. They moved right next door to us and we even went on a family vacation together to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We went river rafting , slept in Lois Dewey's cabin, hiking, visiting around the campfire, and had barrels of fun. They even joined us for our Barfuss Memorial Day games one year. Then they bought a home and moved across town and we didn't see them so often. Shelley just sent me this photo and I can see that he has grown into a nice young man. He is a Senior in High School and from what I hear he is quite the ladies man! The photo is of Homecoming dance 2005.

The a-maze-ing Isis!

Last Halloween just about the whole family was at my home for our annual Halloween party. The only person missing was Nick. This year Rick and I will be spending it without our family. What an awesome opportunity to have memories with new friends. But I am really missing the excitement I feel when I plan for fun with the family. So I decided to write about a special little boy in our family, Isis! It took him a long time to learn to walk because of being ill most of his life. But what a fighter! And what a marvelously HAPPY person! Nick and Jasmine sent us some photos of Isis in June 2005. They showed him walking around the construction of their new home. He looks so healthy and like he can go where ever he wants to now. I have cutout some of the pictures and put them on a maze. I am soooo proud of him! He is truely a miracle in our family's life.