Gia's 10th

Gia's birthday was celebrated with a gorgeous unicorn cake. 

 Ten candles to blow out for G's birthday wish.

 Crazy thing, the candles kept relighting!  Sparkler candles are such fun.

 Gia loved the balloons spelling out her name on the present.

 Grami made Gia her own special apron complete with her name spelled out in wooden beads.

 Gia tried on her new pajama's and the apron.  The apron will come in handy while Gia works in the school cafeteria.  Pretty responsible for a 4th grader! 

 Such a sweet little girl.  PS: I love how the TV looks like a giant painting, very cool.

 Gia needed some help getting her new FurReal pet out of the box so she got out a knife.

 Very cautious and careful with the huge knife!

 Grami freaked out a bit and Gia reassured her that she knew how to handle a knife.  She really did great, even knew how to close the knife after she was done.

Gia loved her new monkey, pj's and apron!  Happy Birthday Gia.  

A confession of sorts....

 When Bruce and I got married back in 1970 we had nothing except the clothes on our backs.  Thank heavens for a wedding and lots and lots of usable gifts.  The one thing we lacked was a sauce pan.  I "borrowed" this pan from my Mom and never returned it.  For the past 49+ years this pan has been used almost daily.  Including today for boiled eggs.  The pan had some repair work by my Dad and I burnt my hand the other night when one of the last screws fell out.

Bruce to the rescue - I ordered a new replacement handle from Amazon and it arrived yesterday.  With a bit of "modification" Bruce's term for repairing something I have a brand-new Bakelite handle and the pan is back in business. 

Because of how much I love this pan I started collecting Revere Ware pans a few years ago at yard sales and flea markets.  I now have a great variety and love cooking with them.  Clinton, IL, Rome, NY, and Riverside, CA are the manufacturing plants.  So cool to find usable pots and pans made in the USA!  

One Tough Cookie!

Ceci is one tough cookie! To save time, on a cold afternoon, the Priest River Invitational ran the boys and girls together in the 1600 meter race. Not too far into the race Ceci was knocked down. She jumped back up and finished the 1600 meters in great time. We are so proud of her! After a clean-up and some antibiotic cream Ceci also competed in the 800 meter. This girl is amazing.

 Boundary County Middle school track athletes showing respect for their coaches before the meet. 

 Start of the race. Ceci making her move.  She moved up and was tripped by a boy making the same move.  The boy apologized all through the race and ran side by side until the end.  These kids are pretty darn special.  

Finish line! Ceci is a tough cookie. So proud to be her Grandparents.

We found an interesting collection of arrowheads and other artifacts at the Old Power House in Sandpoint.

While looking on-line for information about the 43 foot tall hand-carved redwood statue of King Nebuchadnezzar in Ponderay, Idaho, I read about a collection of arrowheads on display in Sandpoint.  Still no information about the statue.  I will keep you posted.

Downtown Sandpoint has such a contrast of buildings. Love the pretty brick building, rusted roof of a beautiful home and a grain elevator all in the same picture.

The building on the bridge with the red roof is the original Coldwater Creek store. We visited the store years ago. Coldwater Creek had great work clothes for my job in the courthouse.  You can also see the Sandpoint Depot in this picture as well as the Marina.  

Our destination. Not sure what is inside.... found out the Old Power House is an office building filled with attorney's, title companies and art.

What a great place to work - right across the road from the courthouse on the west and Lake Pend Oreille to the east.  

This is the collection of a Sandpoint resident.

Amazing display of arrowheads.

The frame is wonderful.

Beads were also included.

Some tools.

I think we have a few of these rocks too. Bruce found some working on the railroad.

What an awesome display, what a great guy to share this with everyone.

Also in the Old Power house one of the local schools had their students works displayed. I loved this mosaic.

Spring has sprung - the tulip tree is perfect set among the tulips and daffodils.

The colors are perfect. Well done, LaQuinta motel

Sunday Drive

Took a drive up to Boundary-Smith Creek Wildlife Management Area this morning.  After getting snow last evening I was sure excited to see so many signs of spring today.

 The Larch trees are sprouting their needles.  I'm still amazed that this evergreen-type tree loses it's needles in the winter.

I spotted these pretty yellow flowers on the hillside.

 When I got home I googled them and found out they are Yellow Avalanche Lilies.  Awesome spring flowers.

First time we've noticed that the river has giant falls so close to the road.

I actually counted 16+ waterfalls coming down from the mountains!

 Five turkeys running a marathon.

 Turkey.....

We did see some turkeys and a mule deer.  The mule deer are not as common in North Idaho. 

 Remember the goats from a couple of weeks ago?  They are still working on that giant bale of hay.

 The valley is starting to green-up.  This is one of the ponds at the refuge.

 Western Meadowlark - what an amazing song!

Apparently Eagles reuse their nest from last season.  This was a nest we watched last year.  Of course, when the leaves come out we won't have quite the view.  Pretty cool though.

Kootenai River with the snow covered mountains in the background.  A great day for a drive.

Timberlake Invitational

With 17 schools in attendance, we watched Sophie compete in four events on Friday afternoon.  First off  - Sophie's new favorite race the 3200 meter. 

 Rounding the curve and headed for home.

 Even with a shoe untied -

 Sophie set another PR and placed 13 out of 23 runners.

 A little down time spent with the team.

 The meet was held at Timberlake High School in Spirit Lake, Idaho.  The track is beautiful and really set up nicely for the spectators.  Right across from us the pole vaulters jumped.  I thought these kids looked like Vikings with their poles. 

 Next up for Sophie was the 800 meter.  Sophie did great finishing 11th out of 25.

 Making her move.

 Finishing strong - feet aren't even touching the ground!

 Next up the 4x100 meter relay.  Sophie getting ready for the baton.

 Great hand-off from her friend.

 Scrambling to get to the next runner.  The team finished 5th out of 9.

 And finally, the 300 meter hurdles. 

This girl can hurdle!  That is a high fence behind her.  The team had a successful performance at Timberlake finishing in First Place.  Way to go Badgers!