July Happenings.....

Things we celebrated this month:

• Our daughter Jami and her husband's 19th wedding anniversary.  
• 4 of July
• Our 47th wedding anniversary.  We spent two nights at Lake Lucille in Wasilla, Alaska.

The view of the mountains from Lake Lucille

We visited Santa Claus House in North Pole, AK and acted like tourists.

Jami with a giant Nutcracker

My new favorite Oreo:

Geoff, our son, visited the E.R. late one night and was diagnosed with a kidney stone.  He successfully passed it several days later.  

Our grandDOG, Ole, passed away this month:  

RIP, Ole

Books I enjoyed this month:

• Cape Light, Home Song and The gathering Place by Thomas Kinkade
• Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell
• The Light between Oceans, M.L. Stedman
• The Great Alone,  Kristin Hannah

I enjoy reading in the yard by the fountain and flowers!

Soccer season is over for our granddaughters.  Great job, Izzy and Maddy (left to right). 

My fuchsia loved the July weather!

This was the last of my lilac blooms.  The bush has been pruned and ready for more blooms next summer.

The fireweed is in full bloom.  An old wives' tale states that when fireweed blooms reach the top of the stalk, winter will set in six weeks later.  

My Favorite Things about June, 2018....

• Celebrating with family...
• Geoff & Nicole’s 21st wedding anniversary
• Andrew’s* 18th birthday
• Father’s Day

• Meeting Andrew* at the airport after he spent 10 days in Craig, Alaska working with a bear hunting guide. Yes, the clients got a bear.
• Izzy* and Maddy’s* soccer games....even when we needed umbrellas and blankets. (It was a short game the night we had lightning and thunder.) 

• Ice cream at the Knotty Shop (Huckleberry)
• Flowers!!!   

• The midnight sun (in Fairbanks, AK). The longest day of the year: 21:49:32 hours of sunlight. Picture taken at 12:14 a.m.

• Reading and spending time in the hammock & swing
• Eating dinner on the back deck
• BBQ ribs, corn on the cob and sweet tea
• Oreo lasagna & fried ice cream 
• Wearing flip-flops 
• Time spent at the river
• The smell of lilacs

*Grandchildren

May Highlights

May 1st brought us more snow, but it was the last snow of the season!
The month of May this year brought us only one day of 70 degree weather.  It seemed May had a terrible time warming up.         

School Choir and Band Concert

 Granddaughters Izzy Martinson and Maddy Welch - Choir 

Maddy Welch - playing trumpet in school Band

Happy 30th birthday to Date-Line (DL).   Our son Geoff has been a part of DL for 20 years.
This spring Geoff (pictured on the far right) became the sole-owner of Date-Line.  Congratulations!
Our grandson, Andrew, is pictured third from the left.

 Visitors this month:

Elsie & Patricia Graham from Anchorage.  

The Air Force transferred the Graham's to Eielson AFB (Fairbanks) in the early 80's, when we first met them. They later moved to Anchorage where they are now both retired.  It's always good to visit with good friends. 

John Farrar (left side of picture) from Virginia.  

John & his family were also stationed at Eielson AFB in the early 80's.

When the Graham's were visiting we mentioned John Farrar, wondering where he was.  A couple weeks later we got a phone call - - it was John Farrar and he was in town!  He was with a tour group and had only one day in Fairbanks.  It had been 36 years since we last saw him so we had a good time "catching up."  

Mother's Day

Remembering my Mom - Theresa Covey

Enjoyed spending time

with my "kids" - Geoffrey and Jami -

and their families.  

The annual Mother's Day basketball games (H-O-R-S-E)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our grandson, Andrew, graduated from West Valley High School.  

Congratulation to Andrew and his family.  

Andrew Michael Martinson

Andrew with the proud grandparents

Andrew with all his Fairbanks family

(Back row, left to right:  Geoff Welch, Kaiden Martinson, Andrew, Jami Martinson [Andrew's Mom who only cried a little bit], Dave Welch, Kathy Welch.  Front row, left to right:  Nicole Welch, Maddy Welch, Izzy Martinson, Matt Martinson)

Andrew's Graduation Party

Geoff celebrated his 42nd birthday in Maui.  

Time to plant flowers - Memorial Day weekend.

One of my favorite times of the year!  

Church Small Group BBQ

Thanks to the Benavides family for hosting!
Burgers, brats and fajitas with homemade tortilla shells.  Yum!

 Me and my buddy Luke fighting off the mosquitoes











Books I've read in May:   (It definitely looks like I spend too much time reading)

• Sandcastle Sisters, Lisa Wingate 
• The Noel Diary, Richard Paul Evans*
• The Christmas Box (The Christmas Box Series)*
• The Timepiece (Christmas Box series)*
• "I have said more than I ought and you Have clearly heard more than I have said."
• The Letter (Christmas Box series)*
• There is nothing so healing to oneself as to heal another
• It has been a mistake living my life in the past. One cannot ride a horse backwards and still hold the reigns.  
• The Broken Road *
• "The well from which we receive grace is only filled by sharing it with others."
• "One man’s holiday is another man’s root canal."
• "We all swim deep in the river of our ancestry."
• "There is nothing simple about simple kindness."
• "Without passion we are doomed to mediocrity."
• "It is that to which we cling that drags us to the bottom of the abyss"
• The Christmas List *
• The Locket *
• "Old age lends perspective and that leads to forgiveness."
• The Forgotten Road *  (The Road Home  - coming out spring 2019)
• Come Rain or Shine, Jan Karon 

* Books written by Richard Paul Evans. 

 I've been on a Richard Paul Evans kick. 

Favorite Bible verses this  month:         

April Pictures

March Bullet Points

• Birthdays celebrated this month:
• Even though our daughter Jami’s birthday was February 27th, we gave her a surprise birthday party on March 2nd to celebrate her 40th birthday.  Yikes, our youngest is 40!
• Our youngest grandchild, Maddy, turned 11 on 3/6.  
• Son-in-law Matthew celebrated number 44 on 3/14.
• Husband Dave (Poppop) hit the big 6-5 on 3/28.    

•  On March 28, 1966, 52 years ago, my parents and I left Cleveland, TN for Alaska.
• Books I’ve read this month or in the process of reading:
• Lilac Girls, Martha Hall Kelly
• Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate
• The Masterpiece, Francine Rivers
• I Bought a House on Gratitude Street, J. Ellsworth Kalas (gift from Phyllis)
• 7.4 inches of snow this month.  (81.7 inches for the season)
• We purchased a new Instant Pot.  I haven’t tried it out yet, but I have one!  
• I’ve always bought Campbell’s tomato soup - but not any longer.  I’ve discovered Progresso’s “Tomato Basil” soup....rich, thick and so delicious. It’s my new favorite.  
• Went to San Diego for a couple weeks to visit cousins & friends   

• Dave and I were both sick the first 4 days of our vacation. Not a good way to start a vacation.  
• Movies we watched while in San Diego:
• All Saints (old movie we rented)
• I Can Only Imagine (showing at the theater)
• I give both movies 5 stars.
• We were introduced to HGTV and became fans of Chip & Joanna.
• Dave went sailing….one of his favorite things to do.  I’m sorry he had to sail alone, but I’m just not into sailing. Ask him about his experience with the motor on board.

• We enjoyed connecting with Stan and Phyllis Wright and meeting their son Brent. 

• Enjoyed Krispy Kreme donuts.  The hot sign was on!
• Fun places we ate at (places we don’t have in Fairbanks):
• Phil’s BBQ
• Jersey Mike’s sandwich shop
• Venice Pizza
• Red Lobster (my favorite)
• In-N-Out Burger
• The Lunch Box 
• Applebee’s
• Jack-in-the-Box.  I went through the drive-in for a bacon and egg  breakfast sandwich with hash browns. When I got back to Mary’s house I discovered I had a hamburger with bacon and french fries. I don’t know who was more disappointed - me or the person who got my breakfast sandwich.  No 5 stars for their service.  
• We went to see Cirque Du Soleil on Ice: “Crystal” at the old Sports Area. An awesome show. We all thought it was funny that we were visiting from Alaska and we went to an “ice” show.  
• We visited a Costco and I purchased two $25.00 gift cards for $38.99 for Sees candy since I planned on buying Sees candy anyway. What a deal. The day we went to Sees the store was a mad house. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity (I’m very impatient), we checked out and was on our way. The next day I found the Sees gift cards in my purse. What?? 
• We enjoyed beach time on Coronado Island and walks on Harbor Island.   

• I loved the blooming  flowers, the birds and fresh fruit picked daily from the fruit trees in Mary & Vickie’s yard. We were told the weather was a little cooler than normal but it still felt wonderful to us.      

• I attended Good Friday service with family at Friends Church. 
• After returning to Fairbanks the roads were dry - snow and ice free. I was driving like I was still in California…..10 miles over the speed limit. Whoa!
• The month ended with two inches of fresh sNOw.  
• Goodbye March, 2018.