Good morning this cold December morning. This little guy looks just like my feathered friends from the backyard bird feeders. I got this pic on flicker. Awesome website. I would also like to recommend cakewrecks.blogspot.com. It is funny and also showcases real talent with the Sunday Sweets blog. I have a real desire to learn how to decorate so beautifully.

I have been fighting a cold for the past couple of days and have a dilema for this evening. There is a holiday open house at a friends house and I really want to go, but I don't want to spread germs. I missed it last year and have really been looking forward to going this year. I gueass i'll decide this afternoon.

Happy Holidays!!!

It's a beautiful fall day

What a beautiful fall day it is and a Happy Birthday to my dad!! Troy is busily listing items on ebay and amazon. I will be refilling my bird feeders before my next three day stretch of work. I may also be cutting the grass today. I found a website for Idaho highway cameras http://511.idaho.gov/default.asp?display=cams&area=&textOnly= There are some beautiful pictures of snow covered hills in the middle of the state. Seems early doesn't it? We leave a week from Thursday for Nicki and Deans for opening weekend of deer season. Looking forward to that. We are going to be looking at some property too. Someday we will get over there. No jobs at this point. We sure do miss the Breithaupts though.

Great weekend

So I have been asked to continue my blog but did decide to change the name from Summer at the Lake to at home with the Millards.
Went to Longview this past weekend with a stop for a wedding on the way. The wedding was in Puyallup on Friday evening. Troy's cousin Rick Johnson's daughter Megan got married. It was a nice ceremony and it was good to see Troy's mom's side of the family. We don't see them very much anymore.
Then on down to Longview for Colt's birthday. He turned 23 this year. Hard to believe he is the baby. We got to see the Rheaumes on Saturday. Logan left for his junior year of college at WWU on Sunday. Then we had a barbecue at Zach and Kaitlin's house Sunday for Colt's birthday and the let down of a football game.
Back home this am and back into the home/work routine for another few weeks before we head out again.

The last day

So Monday was the last day of my six-week stretch at the lake. Home Tueday to work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Monday evening while we were out on the boat fishing we saw two bears, a mama and a baby. The baby was up a tree and the mama was rustling around in the brush below. We took pics but they were with Troy's cell phone and didn't turn out so good. Maybe next time. It sure was a beautiful evening.
I will be going back on Friday night for Abby's birthday party on Saturday. Then home again on Monday for 10 days.
Troy went back this am and is out on the pontoon boat right now :( !!!

WOW!!!!

So, not so easy to keep up the blog when there are people here. We seem to be going from morning to night.
Here's a recap of the events of the past couple of weeks:
Zach, Kaitlin and Alexys got here on Saturday evening, July 18th. Zach got off work early so they drove straight over and got here before the ferry stopped running. The next day Randy drove in from Boise. That was Sunday. Brigette drove over Monday morning and we had a full house. Then my sister Ellen and her two girls, Sasha and Samantha got here at 7am Thursday after driving all night. Randy left Thursday afternoon. Brigette left Friday late morning to work at Matt's Friday night. Ellen and her girls left Sunday afternoon after Zach, Troy and Casey worked on her car window that wouldn't roll up and got her car battery charged so her car would start. Then Zach, Kaitlin and the baby left Monday at noon and made a quick stop in to see Colt in Eburg. On Tuesday, Mark, Debbie, Danielle and Dylan got here at about noon. They left Thursday late morning to go to Lewiston to visit a family friend, then on home to Sunnyvale via Reno. Whew!!! Then we caught the 6:30am ferry and went to Rob's house Saturday to help get things put together. We came back to the lake last night and today Dad and Dana are coming for the next week.
And of course all this time our best good friends Casey and Stacy have been here at their house more than just the weekends. Casey had a job near Addy for a week and a half, so he just stayed at the cabin. Stacy and Abby got to come up on a Tuesday and stay until Sunday. Then two weeks later they all came up on Friday and stayed until the following Wednesday(last week).
While everyone was here we went fishing every night and played in the water every day. There was tubing and water skiing. There was playing in the sand and bobbing around the boats for hours. We get the whole redneck yacht club going on by tying all the boats together and floating in the middle of the lake.
We went back up to Swan Lake near Republic with Zach, Kaitlin, Alexys, Ellen, Sasha and Sam to pick huckleberries that Friday. We had quite a thunderstorm and downpour. The rain was nice because it kept the bugs away and it was 70 degrees while raining. Once it stopped, we were eaten alive.
We took Mark and Debbie to the rope swing one of the days they were here. That was a blast!
They even had a lightening storm the first afternoon they were here and saw a lightening strike start a very small fire on the southwest side of the lake that eventually just burned itself out. There was a larger fire a few miles from the lake. A helicopter made repeated trips to the lake to fill a large bucket too extinguish the fire. That was fun to watch.
So back to Monroe tomorrow for me and then work the three days after that. I'll be back to the lake on Friday evening for Abby's birthday party on Saturday. She will be 4.
We have both decided that we would really like to live over here and have been looking at homes and land for sale. We are hoping that within a year we can be here permanently. We'll see....

Berry picking

Today Troy and I went huckleberry picking with the Breithaupts. We went up in the hills near Republic. We got about a half gallon. Some were rather small and others were quite nice sized. We also went to Swan Lake and Lake Ellen. Both were really beautiful but Lake Ellen was the best. Then on the way home we ran over a rattle snake. It was HUGE!!!
It was nearly 100 degrees here today but at least it cools off at night. The dogs don't do as well in the heat. They prefer shorter walks and Sherlock even stops for rest periods.
Fishing has been good in the evenings lately. Dean got a really nice one last night. We are skipping it tonight so Troy can do homework.

Good morning!

Well here it is the middle of July already! Time flies when you don't have to work. I will be back on the job 3 weeks from today.
We've had a good week so far. Dad and Dana are leaving today for her doctors appointment tomorrow in Seattle. We have had some good fishing while they've been here and another bass feed last night.
Zach, Kaitlin and Alexys will be here Saturday night or Sunday early. Brigette will be here Sunday as will Randy Mendiola from Boise. Then Ellen will be here the following Friday. It's my own bed and breakfast dream come true!!

Neighbors

Last night we took Gene and Jan fishing. They are our neighbors to the left. Gene is 83 and Jan is his girlfriend. We went out bass fishing and had a blast!!! They usually fish for trout which in my opinion is boring. Bass fishing you are doing something all the time. Cast and reel, cast and reel. We caught 19 keepers and Gene and Jan took them home for dinner.
Tonight Casey and Stacy and little Abby are coming up. Yeah!!!!!
Tomorrow we will have Dad and Dana for a couple days. It was a last minute decision on their part. It will be fun to have someone around again.

Time flies!

Well here it is almost a week since the last blog. It sure doesn't seem like that much time has passed already, but it has anyway.
We are using dial-up until next Tuesday when we get our satellite re-aimed. It isn't that bad for my needs, but it is way too slow for Troy and it ties up the phone line.
The weather here has been cooler and stormy the past couple of days. We've had some good lightening storms with no fires that I know of. Man does that thunder roll around through the mountains around the lake!!
We have no visitors now until Sunday the 19th when Zach, Kaitlin and Alexys get here, and then probably Brigette on the 21st. It will be nice to have guests again. All of our holiday company was gone by Monday morning. We sure did enjoy having the Rheaumes here!! Lots of fishing and good food. We even took a trip up to Colville on the Fourth with Dave, Gloria and Nolan. We went to the farmer's market which was fun. Got some really good produce for not a bad price.
Now we are looking forward to Friday when our best good friends Stacy and Casey and little Abby come up for the weekend.
Troy smoked some of the salmon that he got from the Waddells. Man is it good!! As soon as the mail man comes to pick up today's packages we are going to give out some samples. Then off for our daily walk.

Happy 4th

So here it is Friday already!! It has been a busy week, especially the past two days. Den and Pat got here yesterday with Sarah and will head out to Montana tomorrow to see Pats family. Stacy, Casey and Abby also arrived yesterday and we sat at the fire until 1:30 this morning! Dave, Gloria and Nolan got here this afternoon. We spent the afternoon on the lake towing the kids around on the tube. What a blast! Dean got here on Wednesday in his motorhome and will be here until Tuesday. Nicki will be here off and on over the weekend.

We have had great luck with the bass fishing. We had a fish fry last night and that bass is great to eat!! The moose was out on Tuesday night again and we watched him for about a half hour.

Big day tomorrow. There is an ice cream social at the lodge and of course the parade of golf carts.

Peace

Here it is Monday already. We spent a good part of out time over the weekend with our very good friends, Stacy and Casey and their daughter Abbby (that's how she spells it). It was nice and warm and I got my first sunburn, and hopefully last, of the summer.

Stace and Case had company too. Terry and Rick were up. The boys went fishing on Saturday evening and saw a much larger moose. Stacy, Abby and I wandered around the resort and kerplunked rocks down at the lake.

After the Breithaupts left yesterday we drove to Colville to the WalMart to get a few more groceries and a new trolling motor for the potoon boat. The old one finally bit the dust. After Troy got it installed on the boat we went out to see if we could spot the moose again in the same spot but no such luck. We did hear a huge amount of splashing along the shore but it was too dark to see anything. Even with the spot light we couldn't find what had made all the noise.

Today just a bit of cleaning on my part, and a lot of packing and shipping on Troy's part. Then reading on the porch while sipping margaritas!! My favorite recipe from the Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love. Mix one 12 oz can of frozen limeade, one 12 oz can of 7-up, one 12 oz bottle of Corona and 12 oz of tequila. Stir and serve over ice. Yummy!

I have had lots of humming birds around. Some of them even share a feeder!

hope you enjoy the pics

Boating

This afternoon we went out boating/fishing. As we cruised to the west side of the lake we saw a bull moose eating lilypads in the sun! It was an awesome site! After that Troy tried his banjo lures with little success. We did have more excitement however, when Maddie got a fish hook stuck between her front teeth. I guess it was on the floor of the boat and she thought it smelled like something good to eat! With much wrestling and yelping Troy was able to free her, but she has been very quiet the rest of the day.

Happy to be here

Today starts our second full day at the lake. We went to Kettle Falls and Colville yesterday to return the UHaul and pick up a few things. What a trip!!! We had to go to the dump after Troy cleaned out the shed, so I looked up landfills on line and got the way wrong info. There was about 30 min wasted. Then I got the address for the UHaul business, but no directions because the lady on the phone made it sound simple. Yeah right.
There was another bit of time wasted and a very unhappy trailer puller!!!
But we muddled through and made it home.
Today has been busy with packing quite a lot of mail and cleaning the porch. It gets so dusty out there that I had to use the carpet cleaner to make it look remotely presentable. I also got the flag and the garland up for the fourth. My plants have been repotted and are out front soaking up the sun.
It looks like maybe some bass fishing tonight. And also, the Breithaupts will be here, Yay!

We're here!

We made it! We got in at about 5pm yesterday, got some unpacking done and had dinner at the restaurant. Finished the unpacking this am after our walk and then we will be on our way to Colville to return the trailer and pick up a few things we didn't want to pack with us.

It's off to the lake!!!! We nearly have the UHaul trailer packed. What a bunch of crap we're taking with us. The dogs know somethings up and they are pacing by the door so they're not left behind. Just finishing up the last of the laundry and dishes and then we're off!!!

Here it is Tuesday afternoon. Just two weeks since surgery and I can hardly tell anything was done. Which makes it really hard to stick to the no lifting, squatting, bending, straining rules. But I guess if I want to heal that's what is necessary.
We leave tomorrow for the lake! Troy is picking up a UHaul trailer to cart all of his inventory to the lake. Right now it is sitting in the living room in many, many boxes.
We will have new neighbors when we get there too. Troy's aunt and uncle bought a place just a few doors down from us. It is gonna be an awesome summer!

Good morning! We are in Longview today to babysit Alexys. What a beautiful girl! She has grown so much and it will be another month until we see her again. I guess today will be a visiting day. Up to Den and Pat's and then dinner with Ellen and the girls, then back home tomorrow morning. Kelli

Well, summer for us has started. I had surgery on June 9th. All went well and I am feeling way better that I thought I would. Troy's classes are done for 2 weeks starting tonight. Then tomorrow we will go to Longview to see the baby before we are off to the lake on Tuesday! We are looking forward to a great summer of fishing and entertaining. We have several friends that will be over through the summer as well as our good friends Stacy, Casey and Abby who will be at their place every weekend. We can't wait!!!