Hello dear friends....This entry marks the end of this blog. I have lived in North Idaho for three years as of July 1st. I originally started this to share with you my precious friends and family about the new life I had up here in the Inland Northwest - in all its humor and strangeness...plus all the wonderful new experiences and people that I met. A lot has happened in those three years and I feel like I have lived them with you and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your: love, support, interest (nearly 17,000 blog views since I started), and unending friendship as I forged ahead in my new life here....despite...Live Bait Machines, Bowling Ball front yards, trying archery, my first trip to a pawn shop, camo clothing, a winter that was like the Donner Party's, etc. etc. And what fun it was to live and experience it all with my best friend....Steve! We have had a lot of laughs and tears of homesickness and the joy of beginning the "second" stage of our lives with an empty nest. We also have now a Beautiful, Perfect 2 year old Granddaughter Madison, who is the light of our lives, and Baby Giada who is due to be born in October - we feel so richly blessed. This picture above was taken at the new Chamber of Commerce building with beautiful Lake Coeur d Alene in the background. I am standing in the "heart" which is the meaning of Coeur d Alene = heart of the awl. In spite of living here and loving so many wonderful people up here so much I love all of you unendingly and will forever be grateful for your helping me adjust and settle in and finding a new place to rest my heart. We don't know what God has for us in the future....if we "land" somewhere new (maybe Missouri???) I will probably start the blog again and detail all those new adventures. Much love to you.....barb :D

Hello dear friends.....The above picture is from the most wonderful day we had with Matt, Shannon and Madison which I will tell you about in a second. First....we were back in Columbia, MO two weeks ago for a wonderful week of fun and work and then Steve and I both got really sick on the way home with cold/flu and are still recovering so it has been a while since my last "blog". Also, we got home on March 29th and it was SNOWING ....continued to snow for the next 10 DAYS!!! Today is the first day that the sun has been out and semi-warm since October....so I was definitely not exaggerating when I said that we were like the Donner party! :D Hopefully we have seen the end of this long long winter - they are saying that the Inland Northwest has not had one this bad since before Lewis and Clark....I don't know where they get that information but whatever.
Anyway, we were fortunate enough to have a wonderful week with the kids. Matt and Shannon had planned this wonderful day in Kansas City to take Maddie to see Disney Princesses on Ice. We had wonderful seats and Maddie sat spellbound through the whole thing. Of course, I believe that she is the most brilliant, beautiful, fantastic grandchild in the world but we were wondering how she would do sitting still for about 3 hours but she was mesmerized from the first second. It was our first real outing like that together and we had so much fun. Of all the princesses - Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariele, Belle, Mulan we think that Belle is her favorite because whenever she says her name she whispers it almost in reverance! :D
The other highlight of the trip was that I was able to go with Shannon to the first ultrasound of the new Grandbaby that is on the way!!! We are so thrilled beyond words - this one is due the end of October so you know where we will be for Halloween! Shannon was so thougthful and sweet to let me experience that with her - we saw the baby immediately. The miracle of it all never ceases to amaze me.

Hope all is well and enjoy the wonderful sunny days ahead! Love.....barb :D

This is one of the dangers of living in North Idaho!!!! Steve and I went in the backyard to "Trampoline" and this is what we found!!!! :D OK .....I am just kidding - it was not our yard and we don't have a trampoline but the rest is true - this really is a potential danger in living here!!! I got this picture from my darling friend Roberta who has the most beautiful house right on the lake. She is just a doll!! So since we "talked" I had a lovely vist from Laura, my dear friend Claudia and Steve's daugter. She came and spent her Spring Break here and we had a ball! It snowed while she was here and is supposed to snow again on Friday so because I am so very very tired of the snow I have just decided to tell you some more things that I just "hate"....

1. Not knowing what "Def" means and not knowing anybody in the Hip Hop community that I can ask!!

2. The lingering suspicion, that each time you lather up with a 2-in-1 "Shampoo + Conditioner", that it isn't quite as effective as applying Shampoo and Conditioner seperately.

3. Tornados that don't kill the people who chase them.

So that's all for today.......Much love....barb :D

Hi Everyone.....Long time no "see"!!! Sorry for the delay - things have been crazy!! Today I want to talk about...first of all...Jared!! For the first time in his career he was voted to the Pro Bowl! He was so excited! He had led the league in sacks with 15.5 (don't ask me what the ".5" means - I don't really understand it) and he was a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. At the NFL Alumni dinner that Matt attended with him in Scottsdale he was awarded the Pass Rusher of the Year. So he had a great time at the Pro Bowl and played a lot. And then he took a much deserved vacation for 3 weeks in Australia. We are so proud of him and all he has accomplished in his 4 short years in the NFL. The picture is the buckle that our family had custom made for him to celebrate his first Pro-Bowl appearance. Steve designed it himself and then had it made by Montana Silversmiths. It all worked out so nicely because Jared had invited Matt to go to Super Bowl Week with him and so Matt was able to give Jared the buckle then. Jared so sweetly called my Mom and Dad (Gram and Pop to him) right away and then the rest of us. Matt had a great time with him as usual.
Just to keep you updated the snow pack has begun to melt and I do not feel like a member of the Donner Party anymore - however those memories will not fade quickly. (maybe I should write a book!) But just so that I don't forget where I live - last Friday I was driving down the main highway to Spokane and all the "traffic" was stopped because there was a big Bull-Moose walking around on the road!!! (I know I am not in California anymore!! :D!!)

Ok...a couple of things that make you think..."Don't you just hate it that..."

1. That Barry Manilow didn't write his hit song "I Write the Songs."
2. Restaurants with indistinct figures, like a rooster and a chicken, or slang (like at Outback with Blokes and Sheilas) indicating which restrooms are for men and which are for women.
3. Celebrity impersonators who act like "their celebrity" even offstage.
4. Cutesy product names that misuse the letter Z (like: "Cheez," and "E-ZPass").

and last but not least.....

5. Waking up with your arm numb and thinking..."This time it's paralyzed."

Much love to you all.....barb :D