June 2025

Monday 6/2

This has been a busy month and we'll warn you right from the start, this blog is longer than normal but it's fun !!

The other day, Steve was sitting outside and saw a hummingbird hovering around our Maple tree. He suggested we get a feeder and see if we could attract any hummingbirds.

Today Amazon delivered this feeder.  Linda put the feeder together, rmixed up some nectar and filled the feeder. Steve took it outside and hung it in the maple tree. Now we will watch and hope for some hummingbirds to come.

Updates: sadly, one week later, no hummingbirds yet.

Two weeks later,

We now have hummingbirds that come regularly all day long . . . YaY !!

Tuesday 6/3

We've been trying to find something to set on top of this little bear-in-a-log that sits on our front porch.

,

Today, Linda remembered she had baskets and flowers out in the garage. She gathered a few baskets and some flowers and ended up with this little flower arrangement. She added a couple of heavy rocks in the basket so it doesn't blow away. We love it, and the color it adds by our front door.

Today is Lucky Number Tuesday at Bi-Mart.

We lived in Bend for 30 years and during that time, we don't recall ever winning any of the big prizes.

 The Star Bi-Mart opened on May 17th 2018 and since then we have won three times! The first time in 2022, we won an Air Fryer. The second time in 2024 a Salad Shooter. Today we won a Deep Fryer. All of the items sold for over $50. 

Friday 6/6

On Tuesday we purchased some petunias for our front yard tree ring. 

Today, we finally got around to planting them. They are going to be beautiful !!

Just as we finished planting our petunias, Steve got a phone call from Valley Shine. They were scheduled to install permanent lighting on our house next Tuesday. It seems they finished a job early and asked if they could start intstalling ours today. We told them to come on over !!

They put all the channels up today and will do the wiring tomorrow. Luckily for them, they only encountered one wasp nest up high in the eaves.

Each channel has 10 holes for the lights. They twist the wire between the lights so they lay flat in the channel then screw the channel to the soffit just behind the fascia. They did the front yard then . . . .

They worked on the back yard patio. We were curious when we noticed one of the workers putting the screws in a piece of pegboard. Our curiosity was satisfied when he took the pegboard over to the grass and began spray painting the screw heads. Now they will match the channels. Everywhere the channel crossed the batten boards they had to cut the metal channel so it fit snug. If you look closely, you can see that they run the power cord right in the channel with the lights & their cords. 

Saturday 6/7

Debbi is at it again !! 

She has created another coloring book and just in time for the 4th of July.

It arrived today and it is sooo cute. We love all her creations and, even better, she loves doing them !!

Work continued on the Permanent Lighting install today

Ethan (our installer) began by drilling some holes up to the attic then he got up there and began fishing all the wires. some to the outside soffit and some to the upper peak, over the garage. Next he began connecting all the channels he installed yesterday. In order to get from the front yard to the back yard, he had to run a blank wire up the eaves and back down to the back patio. He had a very tall ladder! 

The last thing was to hook up the control box.

He got the box all hooked up, checked to be sure all the lights were working (and they were), then set up three zones - the front yard lower lights, the one high peak above the garage, and the back yard patio. Next came the hardest part... teaching us how to run it! As you can see from the pictures, we're getting the hang of it and had fun playing with all the different features tonight, right from an app on our phone. We even learned how to set up our own design. 

Green and Yellow for the Oregon Ducks! Even though, in the picture the green looks blue and the yellow looks white, in person it looks really good and the colors are truly green and yellow. The app has a timer feature so the permenant lights are scheduled to come on at dusk and turn off at midnight. At midnight our regular outdoor lights come on for a couple of hours.

Sunday 6/8

He's not very big (about 10" tall) but he is cute !

The newest addition to our garden critters is this cute little frog with his little solar lantern that lights up at night. We set him with our other frog critters in the backyard planter.

Tuesday 6/10

Today, Kevin's family came for a visit. They arrived about 7:30, we had Dominoes pizza for dinner, and  spent the evening visiting.

The girls, Sydney & Shea, had fun doing cartwheels ... so fun !!

Now it's time for bed . . . 

The Boys sleep in the living room on air matresses and the Girls are on the futon in the playroom - a sweet arrangement !!

Crew & Connor - Sydney & Shea

Sleep tight !!

Wednesday 6/11

Today is a cloudy, thundering, Lightening, rainy, kind of day sooo

We are watching baseball and . . . 

. . . doing crafts.

Sydney and Shea are having fun creating their first Diamond Art projects. These little key chains are just the right size for beginners!

Connor & Crew have their own "project" to work on.

They are building a couple of catapults. They have to let the glue dry overnight so the "Catapult Wars" won't begin until tomorrow!

By afternoon, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out sooo . . . .

The girls set up Linda's Fairy Garden and . . . .

The boys helped Steve pick plums . . . Lots Of Plums . . . 10 grocery bags full !!

Later this afternoon and this evening Matt came over to work on a "project" Steve had planned for him and Kevin.

Steve unpacked all his old Scout "Stuff" and laid it out on a couple of tables for the boys to go through. They had fun reminiscing about their scouting days of many years ago.

And speaking of many years ago, here is Matt's daughter, Sienna, wearing Steve's old scout shirt from about 1957. That would make it 68 years old. How fun is that !!

While going through the scout things, the boys found this old 8 mm movie camera, then they found the light we used and attached to the camera.

Oh my gosh. First they showed the camera to the kids who were totally amazed at how tiny the viewfinder was and how it all worked. Then, when they found the light, they started reminiscing about how bright it was on Christmas morning. Matt plugged it in and it worked!! Then the kids were REALLY amazed. We all laughed and laughed as the boys shared their memories of that bright light. It was fun !!

A couple of different times today and this evening we have been playing this new-to-us game called "Just One". 

It is a great game for the whole family. From the youngest to the oldest, we all had fun!

On Tuesday Amazon delivered the solar powered Fairy lights we ordered. There were two 16' strings in the set

Last night we put one string around the fountain in the front yard and today we added the second string to the Gum tree in the back yard. 

As you can see, what started out to be a gloomy kind of day ended up being a busy day full of fun activities and laughter.

Thursday 6/12

We had a late night last night so everyone slept in this morning.

After breakfast the boys finished their catapults.

Let the Wars begin !! 

The catapults work really well and both Crew and Connor had fun shooting at the little targets that came with the set and at each other. The bean bags went anywhere from a foot or two to over 20 feet.

This evening, Matt took everyone out on his boat. We went to Lake Lowell and had sooo much fun. Linda took hundreds of pictures. She tried to pick just the very best of them for the blog, but there are still a lot. 

We met at the west end of Lake Lowell (which is the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge). It's about 40 minutes south of Star but this time of year, has the warmest water. 

We all loaded up in the boat. Jen & Lani backed it down the boat ramp and . . .  

Matt launched it. He showed us all a great time and also managed to have some fun of his own showing off his surffing skills. 

The first thing we did was head out on to the lake to go swimming around the boat.

The water was cold and it took a while for everyone to find enough courage to jump in, but Once they were in, we couldn't get them out!

Next on the agenda was to go tubing

First things first . . . The tube needed to get blown up. 

That is not an easy task but thanks to Sienna and Jen, the job got done and this 3-man tube was ready for action in no time.

First Up . . . Shea & Sydney

Their ride started out nice and calm but soon got a little bit crazy. They were riding the wake up and down and splashing around until, at one point, they went completely under the water. Somehow, amazingly, they hung on and didn't ever leave the tube. They survived their ride and ended with a fist-up cheer!

Next up was . . . Connor and Crew

Matt took them on quite the wild ride. They ended up in the drink more than once but they loved it and kept climbing back on the tube and asking for more.

Kevin & Lani went next

They had a good time and laughed a lot! Matt sent them flying back and forth across the boat's wake. In the end . . . like several others, Lani ended up in the water, swimming back to the tube.

The last tube riders were Jen and Sienna

Matt really let loose for them. Sienna did a little bit of "showing-off" at first but quickly got put in her place when their tube, and them, went flying into the air. That was a great way to end the evening's tubing time.

Now it was time to get the surf boards out !!

Matt's daughter, Sienna, is an amazing surfer so she started things off.

She is working on doing a 360*. She easily goes 180* but that second 180* is tricky. She has a little surfing buddy, named Mikey, she keeps in her life vest pocket. She likes to help him surf the wake next to her. It was fun watching her show off all her surfing skills.

Next up was Jen. She not only surfs, but gives step by step lessons in the process!

She is getting more experience all the time and continues to work on new moves. She is a very good teacher, especially for beginning surfers. Today she helped Crew and Sydney who both were able to get up in just a few tries.

Now for the BEGINNERS!!

First to give surfing a try was 14 year old Crew

It took a few go arounds but soon he was up and surfing the waves. He loved it and we loved watching him.

The next "beginner" was 11 year old Sydney

Sydney did amazing. Jen gave her some pointers then after only a few tries she got up and had a pretty long ride before falling down. 

Everyone on the lake must have heard us all yelling with excitement as these two beginners were trying so hard and then finally found their way to a successful ride. . . woo-hoo Crew & Sydney !!

By now, the day was drawing to an end so Matt decided it was time to show off a little bit and do some surfing of his own. 

But in order for him to surf, he had to turn the driving over to his daughter, Sienna. She's actually a great boat driver for surfers.

Matt LOVES to show off in front of his neices and nephews (mostly he just likes to have fun). He rode the top of the waves, standing up AND kneeling down. He is famous for his back flip sooo . . .  he showed everyone how it's done. 

Out on the boat he likes to have music blaring loud enough that . . . 

the surfers can hear it and sing along (some of them even dance along) while surfing.

We sang along to the Beach Boys and then to "Baby" by Justin Bieber 

 "Baby, baby, baby" came through loud and clear as this surfer sang along

While everybody else on the boat was out getting wet, 

We were happy to sit back and enjoy the ride, the "entertainment", and . . .

 the beautiful sunset reflecting on the lake !!

Everyone had an amazing time boating tonight. 

Thank you Matt, Jen & Sienna !!

Friday 6/13

Today we just stayed home, but we still had a good time together.

Everyone slept in this morning due to the very late night we had last night (Stayed on the lake until 10:00 p.m.). Once everyone was up and going we got our Slip 'n Slide out. Linda and Connor got it all set up.

It was a nice warm day so all four of the kids got involved in this water activity. There was a little bit of a learning curve, but once they got it figured out they had a great time.

 Kevin's family brought a Birthday/Father's Day gift with them for Steve. Father's Day is the 15th and Steve's birthday is the 16th. Early this evening we all gathered around to watch as Steve opened the gift.

Sydney 11, Shea 7, Steve, Crew 14, Connor 16, Lani & Kevin

Besides a fun card signed by everyone in their family, there was a cute squirrel feeder. It is shaped like a tiny picnic table and even has a little umbrella. With Kevin's help, and Linda & Lani's suggestions, Steve got it mounted in our large maple tree. 

All day long, off and on, we played some games together.

Twister is always a fun favorite. Mall Madness is a game that Debbi got when she was a little girl. She loved it then and so did the kids today. This evening everyone joined in as we played Just One. The boys even found a little time to play Scattergories. 

Saturday 6/14

Sadly, Kevin's family left for their home in Bountiful, Utah today

Kevin, Lani & Sydney, Connor, Crew & Shea

We have loved having them here with us for the last several days. We have laughed together and made lots of fun memories, not only with them, but also Matt's family. We are glad they made it home safe and sound but we will miss them.

Sunday 6/15

Today is Father's Day !

All the men at church received a giant cookie with pink frosting and a Happy Father's Day message

"... For now, have a cookie, homemade with care, to show just how grateful we are, for dads everywhere!" He also received text messages from all the kids saying they will call tomorrow (on his birthday). 

Monday 6/16
Steve's Birthday !!

The light yellow words on this cute little plaque that hangs on our back patio has bothered Linda for a long time. Today she decided to get her paints out and brighten up those letters. She also brightened up the faded orange flowers and green vines. It looks sooo much better now.

While Linda was doing that, Steve was out in the garage staining our new squirrel feeder so it blends in with the tree more.

After letting the feeder dry overnight, we mounted it back on the tree. It's hard to see now, but we think that it's better than the natural white wood.

 We filled it with a squirrel mix of food and are waiting for the little critters to find it!

Update: They found it, but they didn't like it. Steve usually feeds them peanuts and this mix didn't have any so they scattered it all over the ground. Guess we'll have buy some peanuts for these picky little critters.

Tonight we celebrated Steve's 81st Birthday.

We went to the Olive Garden with Matt and Jen. We shared the "Tour of Italy" entree. It comes with Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Classico, and Fettuccine Alfredo. Of course it included unlimited salad and breadsticks. Steve was served a free dessert - Stawberry Cream Cake. Happy Birthday Steve !!

Tuesday 6/17

Tonight Linda went to a Ward Relief Society Activity

They learned all about flower arranging and preserving. She had a nice time visiting with her Ward Sisters, enjoying fruit snacks, and creating three small bouquets. Two for her ministering sisters that couldn't attend and . . . .

one for us !!

Wednesday 6/18

Today it has been a busy day around our house

First, Ada County Highway Department (ACHD) began chip sealing our street which caused a little bit of a problem for the service people that were supposed to work at our house today. It is quite the process and was very interesting to watch.

Update: Two weeks later on 6/30,

They came back to finish the job. They watered down the street, swept it, over & over again, with two sweepers who brought along with them a dump truck so they could empty their collection bins. It was all very interesting to watch.

Update ... again: Today 7/30, one month later, 

the county finally finished the chip sealing process by  applying the fog sealer. 

No parking cones, flaggers, a lead truck with yellow flashing lights, and the fog sealing truck came through the neighborhood. They didn't waste any time going up one side of the street then about a half an hour later they did the other side of the street and just like that, they were done! Now it looks like a brand new street !!

The guy from Zing (the people that treated our Bentgrass) stopped by. Since their first reseeding didn't work, they came back with a garden weasel and lots of seed. If it doesn't work this time, they will wait until fall to reseed one more time.

Shortly after the Zing guy arrived, the window washer from Valley Shine (the people that installed our permanent lighting) showed up. He set up a Screen Cleaner device and washed all our screens. Then he used a long-handled brush that is hooked up to a hose with a special solution added to the water allowing a "sheeting" effect and faster drying. He replaced the screens, cleaned up his stuff, and was on his way. 

Due to the chip sealing, both these service people had to convince the flagger to let them through to our house and then they parked in our driveway, out of the street. It all worked out fine and now we have have clean windows, hopefully, new grass soon, and a newly sealed road in front of our house.

Thursday 6/19

After trying some different kinds of so-called squirrel food, today . . . .

we went back to peanuts and quickly found this little guy feasting at our new squirrel feeder. He was a bit curious about that red umbrella, but it didn't keep him from the task at hand - Eating Peanuts !!  

Saturday 6/21

Last night Linda repainted a frame and outdoor plaque

Today we hung them up.

For a lot of years the only thing that hung over the BBQ was the plaque with the hot dog on it.

 It used to be blue around the edges and very little color anywhere else. Now It is a bright, happy, yellow and the hot dog is topped with yellow mustard. 

Now this space isn't as empty any more

Linda searched for some iron wall art of a picnic table but came up empty on that search. Instead, she just created a picture for now and will continue her search.

Tuesday 6/24

Our ward has set up the Relief Society Ministering sisters in Pods, or small groups of sisters that take care of each other.

Linda, Elda, Benji, & Patty

Today Linda's pod got together for a fun, casual, visit. It was a beautiful day so they met outside. Besides visiting, they watched the ducks, squirrels, and birds as they wandered around the yard and ate from the feeders on the fence. 

We had a real treat this morning . . . .

Raspberries on our cereal !! We got our first handful of raspberries off our little raspberry patch and they are so sweet this year - loved them !!

Saturday 6/28

Today we went on a "Day Trip" 

Ron & Cheryl, Marilyn and us all piled in our car and headed to La Grande, Oregon. Linda took on the "way back" seat, Cheryl & Marilyn hung out in the middle, and the boys piloted the car from the front seats.

Tomorrow is Lila & Don's 70th wedding anniversary so we thought that deserved a visit from some of their family. We had a good time visiting, snapping pictures, having lunch at the Cock & Bull, eating watermellon, and thumbing through Waldrop's wedding photo album. Doug and Andrea, Don & Lila's oldest son & wife, met us at the restaurant then Dave's youngest daughter, Jamie & her husband Brice, also dropped by for a visit. It was a good day !!

While we were away, the post office delivered a package from Shutterfly

Linda has been working on creating a new book. She is always snapping pictures of the landscape around our house. Flowers, Decor, Seasons, wildlife, etc. 

She decided to capture them all in one place. It took a few months for her to finish it, but she finally did. The completed book came today and it turned out beautiful. 

Monday 6/30

The last post for June . . . .

Our new Rose Tree is HAPPY !! 

After we planted this little tree the middle of May, it lost all its flowers and we worried about it. But now, it is in full blooming mode and beautiful. Not only is it happy, but we are happy too !!

WoW, it has been a busy month but we have loved it. Sorry this post is so long, but we just couldn't leave anything out! Can't wait to see what July has in store, it couldn't possibly be more exciting than June . . . or could it ? ? ? ?