"Back Aboard"--read story below first!!

He did surface with his hat but took it off to dry. Hmmmm......guess a few other things need to dry too!
Ok, later that evening there were some big catches (other than the man that was netted) and these crappie are very delicious. Ok, they're not very big catches but they are good. As you can see, 3 hrs after the 'man overboard' event, Kelsay (and Cody) are still grinning.

...MAN OVERBOARD!!!!

Well over the years, Terry has had some very humorous fishing “happenings” with friends(Bud and Ken in particular). Last night was an all-time hilarious event that still has many of us giggling at all hours of the day and night. It could have had a scary ending but it didn’t thanks to two quick-thinking young men!
Terry thought that it would be nice to have Cody and Kelsay take a break from preps for a little angling on our little lake here. All went with out a hitch until…..
As Terry was trying to start the motor, he realized it was somehow more sluggish than usual. Of course at this point, they are drifting aimlessly knowing that as soon as the motor sprung to life they would be headed for open water. It does get a bit tense as you don’t want to end up back on the dock.
Well…..the motor did "roar" to life…IN GEAR….Terry has no recollection of what happened next but the boys do! In one fell swoop the boat roared off at an angle throwing Terry off balance. They saw legs in the air and a vacant place where Terry had been. Kelsay yelled at Cody to “Cut the throttle!” as he could see the boat was circling and Terry was now surfacing, hat still on his head. Terry realized he had the cell phone clipped to his waist so he quickly removed it and threw it to Cody…"Oh ..oh....", Cody said, peering over the side at the disappearing cell phone. It’s really hard to judge distance when you’re treading water, fully clothed.
After Terry scrambled back in the boat, they all had a very good laugh. Actually all night there was spontaneous laughter at any odd moment. The boys kept apologizing for giggling but Terry thought it was as funny as they did. He has no idea how he went in, it happened so fast.
So we are still laughing and thought you’d enjoy it too. He drew a picture based on “eyewitness” accounts. Cody and Kelsay got the “drowned rat” pictures which I will add to the blog when they send them.
So if you call our cell phone you’ll probably hear “glub, glub, glub..” I wonder what laughing marine life sounds like?

and meanwhile.......the wife is obliviously driving back from ....

I made a quick overnight trip to see my dear friend, Jayme, who is doing so well after a horrendous car accident last winter. We had a lovely visit and I was amazed at how well she is doing!! Keep up the good work, my friend!
p.s. of course that's a Starbucks cup!

.....Terry creations

My brothers Roger and Richard have train sets and Terry had fun making these "layout" additions for them. The tower is an old fashioned water tank. The train pulls under the spigot to get water. The other is a bridge complete with seagull droppings.
This is a poster commemorating Lewis and Clark's bicentennial. Terry made a 3-D canoe like the one they had (bottom) and also replicated their paddles (top of frame).... We used to go to Fort Stevens with the kids camping. We spent many summers on the Oregon Coast and these misty, coastal days of summer remind us of those wonderful family times!

....ahhhh, the joys of summer!

.....where it is always summer, this is how you chop a coconut. Looks quite dangerous to me!
...and this is truly "sipping the nectar" of the coconut. I guess this is Pam and Gretchen's tropical Starbucks...minus the coffee!

and back here in the cool, rainy Northwest--the gorgeous hydraengas...
Starbucks moments with favorite little people (and their mom who is buying)!

...and a reminder that now is the time to lay up for winter. Terry actually enjoys this part.....

Happy 2!

Hmmm....what could possibly be that interesting???!
Oh!..it's my birthday and mama made "lulus"...short for lulu the ladybugs. As you see below they are nesting on a carpet of green coconut grass. That mama is a pro!
A happy 2 year old!

......some of our Montana family

Grandpa and Logan are pretty good pals. This G'pa is my brother Roger...(can you tell he loves these grandkids?)
Roger and Audrey, daughter Melanie, husband Duane, Janessa and Logan-living Montana "life"...
Janessa loves horses...Leo gets a hug.
So good to see Uncle Harold and Aunt Vivian......
Cousin Barb with her sweet granddaughter, Brooklyn....

The next post takes you back to "Montana roots".....

Big Sky Country

It truly is "Big Sky" and everytime we go back we are amazed at the amazing breadth of it! It stretches on forever. Images remind of our roots. Without these amazing people of our past, we would not be what we are. We think of those kin of long ago and not so long ago and appreciate all they mean to us now.

Happy Birthday America!

But does it need to be this loud? Julia would clap, shriek, cry then say, "All done!"..only to have the next one light up the sky! The BBQ at Dan and Tonya's was delicious, the kids were delirious with the excitement and the adults that weren't lighting off the fireworks (that would be the women) were just sitting around laughing at the men and children. There wasn't much difference between the two!

I think this is when they yell "Run!" Chip and Justin looking dangerous. Dan was the one who really was, dashing through the woods lighting strobe lights. We were all quite entertained!

Finning/Cat

Kelly gives a tour of Finning---Cat where he is a design engineer. This is one that he has made special modifica-tions to for working in the oil fields of the north. Pretty impressive but he wouldn't want me to start "waxing eloquent" about it so I'll stop now. :o)

"Oh Canada!..my home and my new land..."

We celebrated Canada Day with Janae and Kelly. Canada Place is within walking distance of their "loft"...that's downtown language for "condo" with very high ceilings! The second picture was taken of their loft from Canada Place.

The cruise ships, the sidewalk vendors, the adoreable little kids decked out in their red and white, the rich, the down and out, the rest of us....it all blends and was very delightful! A very nice part of it all was the free hotel overlooking the water. And the local chefs made waffles (Terry's favorite). We also had a ringside seat for the gorgeous sunset and the fireworks. The great part of that was we didn't get stuck in traffic after they were over =)

The next day we went up Cyprus Mountain and got a full view of the city , mountains, and water. Wow....And I think we finally kind of know where we are up there!

Today, after walking to Starbucks in nearby Gastown (yeah, rough life) for our morning coffee, we went by Kelly's workplace (future post!)at Finning and headed home. Oh...and a stop with Janae at IKEA where I bought my year's supply of napkins!!...

As we headed home we were happy all over again--thinking of those two who seem so "right" for each other!....