Spud Day

These are picures of our Spud Day Float. We had fun putting it together. Some of it was done in the break room at our Branch. Mercedes worked on the giant recipe cards that decorated the sides of the float. A member who works at Basic American provided the cardboard that we drew the kitchen backdrop on. We had most of it painted before we all met at my house to complete it. Sherwin built the window and frame to hold it on the flatbed trailer. Sherwin and I made a lasagna dinner and apple crisp for everyone who came to help. We tiled the floor with newsprint paper and black scrapbook paper. Pat came over the next night to help Sherwin & me put the final touches on. Thanks to all the Shelley staff - Kim, Pat, Becky (and her daughters) Julian, and Mercedes for their hard work.
The weather was nice while we were lined up waiting for the judges and the parade to start. However, once the parade begin it started pouring down rain. We all got drenched. One of our little chefs crawled under the table that was on the float for shelter. The crowds at the parade gave us encouragement to finish by cheering us on.
Our float won the first place prize in the commercial division. It was $100.00. We are going to have a Branch party at Johnny Carinos with the prize money. We gave the kids who rode on the float (Julian's neices and nephews and Becky's grandaughter) their chef hats and aprons to keep. One of our Members, Glenda, was the mom. The staff walked and handed out candy, Spud Day Key chains and, Recipe cards with a potato recipe on one side and a recipe for financial success on the other side.
After the parade, the weather cleared for a couple hours then once again it rained. Nothing dampens the Spud Day spirit. The Post Register reported that Spud Day was attended by 10,000 people. Wow...what a great community spirit.

Judy's Surgery

Judy will probably kill me for putting this picture in my blog. This was taken 2 days after she had surgery on some skin cancer. She is actually very lucky. The skin cancer was very close to her eye. The Doctor did the surgery in the hospital and it took 4 hours! Judy had to have some reconstructive surgery by her eyebrow. The doctor also had to re-route her tear duct which will now drain in her nose.

We are happy that the doctor said he was able to get all the cancer out. Judy will probably be back to her normal self in a few days. Kent said that she is telling everyone that he beat her up.

Fun in Seattle

We visited this sculpture which is located under a freeway in Seattle. It is huge. The troll reminded me of the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" Under the troll's hand that is behind our heads is an actual Volkswagon Bug that has been incased in cement. The picture below is Erin, James (Erin's boyfriend) and Sherwin's daughter Jeanette.

It is fun to go to Pikes Market Place in Seattle. The food and flowers are displayed so pretty. We met up with Jeanette's daughter Erin in Seattle. Jeanette bought a new couch for her living room and passed her old couch down to Erin. We rented a uhaul and did all the grunt work saving lots of money.

Jeanette showed us the sailing club where she took sailing lessons and the rowing club where she also took lessons.

















This picture was taken off of Jeanette's back yard deck. She has a splendid view of Bellingham Bay and the ocean. We watched the crabbers do their work from her deck.

Canada

One Day we decided to chance going to Canada. It was risky because we didn't have passports. In fact Sherwin did not have a birth certificate. He had sent in an application to get one but it had not arrived. When we got to Canadian customs, we explained why we didn't have the proper paperwork and we were immediately welcomed into Canada. We were very surprised. When It was time to come back to the USA it wasn't so easy. We got a lecture and a warning.
The top picture was taken at an aquarium in Vancouver that we visited. These white whales put on shows during the day.

The totum poles were also in Vancouver.

Coeur D'Alene

This is the cruise boat that we took out on Lake Coeur D' Alene. It was a perfect day for the cruise. The lake is the 2nd largest natural lake in Idaho. There are some beautiful homes and boats all around the lake. The only way to some of the homes is by boat. A boat delivers their mail and they have a school boat to pick the kids up for school. The lake never freezes except around the shore line.

We had an interesting chat with some of the people who sat at the same table with us. Two were from Seattle and two were from Glendale Arizona. I was wishing it was Joe and Jake instead of them.
This is a picture of the floating golf green. I wonder how expensive it would be for a round of golf at that course. A round includes a boat ride out to the course, and a full meal and tour. I imagine you would also see people like Tiger Woods.

Wildlife at Yellowstone Park

Driving through Yellowstone Park, we came to a meadow that had a herd of at least 100 buffalo. They were fun to watch. Two of them started butting heads and I thought for a minute that we were going to witness a fight.

This is another photo that I took in Yellowstone Park. The elk stood there and posed for all the photographers. I wish we could have been lucky enough to see a bear too.