Just an innocent question:

Is anyone going to Washington DC on Sept 12?

The Prizes

Were mailed on Thursday. I hope they have arrived by now.

Remember, I do like to give things away, so you never know when I will have another silly for no reason contest. Stay tuned.

You Never Know

When a grandchild comes to visit, who or what may be trailing in behind them. Yesterday, Alysa came over with her dad as he is doing some minor remodeling here for me. Her dad was towing a trailer, but I did not really give it any thought as I thought he was bringing his tools with him.

Then Alysa opened the back of the trailer and who should be in there except........................

Silver, her 32 inch miniature horse. After a six mile walk to town and back so she could show her off to her friends, Silver spent the rest of the afternoon in my backyard enjoying my grass. Surprisingly, she did not touch a single flower. I was a bit worried about that.

Hi Ho Silver Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is in the mail

Therese, Sharon and Sarah, it is in the mail. I will probably post pictures on Sunday because I am thinking you will have received them by Saturday. Hope you enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday

Darius #1419

Remember my spur of the moment

for no reason contest of a few days back? Since it took me so long to finalize it, I decided to award three prizes. Here are the munchkins holding the names they drew. So..............drumroll please..........Would Therese The Musings of a Mom, Sarah Aloha Spirit, and Sharon Musings of a Catholic Mom send me your addresses and I will send you my special hand made prize. I am not showing you what you are winning, because I want it to be a surprise. Therese and Sharon, I know I should already have your addresses, but I do not remember where I filed them.

The official name drawers are from right to left. Abby #6415, Olivia #3317 and Jonah #6518

A dialoge in response to

pictures I posted of a hike our family took on Sunday.
By the way Falk Family, my lungs are improving, or I would have never been able to make the hike and I paid the Dr. with my own money, did not use any of your taxes to pay for it.
10 CommentsClose this window Jump to comment form

Homestay Mama said...
Beautiful! I want to go there! I'll call you and get directions! I've been 'itching' to get out in the woods again! My Japanese student is finished with summer quarter this coming Thursday! We should celebrate with a hike, don't you think?Loved your family portrait! Especially the clowning! LOL
August 16, 2009 11:48 PM
FalkFamily said...
Great pics - looks like fun - how are the lungs??
August 17, 2009 8:36 AM
Aussie Therese said...
what a fun outing. Great photos. I think I want to go there when I come and visit you.
August 17, 2009 5:27 PM
Emily the clarinetist said...
that looks like one of my family portraits. i have a huge extended family so the pictures are always intresting :)
August 17, 2009 8:32 PM
diddleymaz said...
nice walk but your politics is so wrong on so many levels.Obama won get over it.Socialism is actually OK after all we have had it in the UK for 100 years and wow are we better for it, and social health care ie NHS is wonderful. I have heard so many ridiculous lies from right wing usa .We may moan about it but its great and we wouldnt dream of getting rid of it. UK has longer life expectancy,less infant mortality than USA.
August 18, 2009 6:57 AM
Aussie Therese said...
Is the NHS really that wonderful? I have children with diabetes and I heard of a family in the UK that a doctor didn't want to test their child for diabetes because she wasn't ill enough yet. This child had had some really high blood sugar numbers and some other symptoms but the doctor decided that she wasn't ill enough yet to test for diabetes. I remember thinking that maybe this wouldn't have happened if the child had been seeing a doctor privately. There certainly are some advantages to a Govt health system but I know here in Australia it has also had a lot of disadvantages.
August 18, 2009 3:23 PM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/18359744428745009730 said...
busy busy busy! ferry rides, hikes up to beautiful falls...FUN!Karin
August 18, 2009 8:18 PM
diddleymaz said...
I dont know what the Aussie system is, looking forward to the final Test though!Ashes coming home.As for Health Care of course there are mistakes but all human systems are liable to error.Once someone has been diagnosed with Diabetes in the UK tey know that they get all care free for the rest of their lives.Heart and eyesight checks, footcare,diatetics and all meds and eqipment are provided and dental.No matter about jobs or insurance or how ill you are for however long.And the same goes for all serious conditions and even if you have to pay prescritions its very low and here in Wales we dont pay at all!If people moan its because they want more gov spending not less.
August 19, 2009 4:12 AM
Gramma 2 Many said...
HMMMM I wonder what your taxes are for? Nothing in life is free. Even under communism.
August 19, 2009 9:41 AM
Gramma 2 Many said...
I am rethinking free. What is the definition of free? At no cost? But everything has a cost to someone. If Health Care is free, do the Dr's donate their time and efforts to heal the sick at no cost? Are they reimbursed? How do they afford to receive an education if they donate their efforts? Is their education free also? Under this type of system why should anyone work if the government is going to care for them? Why should anyone try to do better if everyone is the same?Someone pays someplace. It is called taxes. Once no one is willing to produce there will be a huge deficit in revenue and your precious government will no longer be able to carry you and give you everything for "free".Give me my system and the AMERICAN way of life any day. Long live CAPITALISM the system of innovation and discovery. The system that has produced so much good for the rest of the world.I will die proud of who I am and the way of life my country provides me. In fact I am willing to die for it.
August 19, 2009 9:49 AM

Sorry friends, I know I try to keep this blog fluffy, but could not resist sharing this one.

This is a picture I took with

Sarah in mind. Because she is an island girl from the great PNW. I know this is not her beloved island, but I thought of her while I was shooting this.

The bridge is over Deception Pass going onto Whidbey Island. Stan and I drove the loop two weeks ago. Across the bridge to the south of the Island and then the Ferry home. It was a nice afternoon trip.

Enjoy Sarah!!

Today we went on a Family Hike

12 of us did not come. Do you want me to name everyone? Actually, we all look kind of like the Beverly Hillbillies or the Herdmans.
It was a fairly easy 1.5 mile up a trail at Denny Creek, for those of you who live in my area, culminating at this very pretty series of waterfalls.

I only made it to the first level, which is where the family picture was taken.



Others hiked further up the stream bed to two other falls.



My son Bryan took my camera up, which is why I got the other falls pictures.
The kids were able to slide down in a couple of places into the pools beneath the rocks.
It was like a natural waterslide. The water was cold, glacier, water but they all had fun taking little dips in the pools.
We all had a good time. It is the first hike I have gone on in a long time. Did take my inhaler with me, but did not need it until I got back down. That was good. Was glad I had it just in case though.
Did I say, I am tired. I slept most of the 1 1/2 hours it took to get home.

Yesterday I took a

From Edmonds across Puget Sound to Kingston
I was on the

I went to get Ben and Cooper from Aunt Kris.

They came down from Kotzebue with their mom who is doing more training for Alaska Airlines at SeaTac airport.

We had a good time just exploring the boat and trying to look into portholes. Unfortunately, they were covered, but we still tried.

It was also fun to stand in the bow of the boat and let the wind whip us in the face.

It is only a 20 minute ride, but enough time to spot a dolphin out in the sound.

Could not get a picture because when you realized what it was, it had already gone below the water.

Ben and Coop are with me until tomorrow, when we are all going on a hike in the mountains. We will hook up with their mother then. Training is over on Monday and they will return to Kotzebue on Tuesday.

Gramma is so thankful for the time we have together.

Ben Gonsioroski Comanche the brave horse (Cover Song)

All you country western fans out here in blog land. I have known this young man since he was four years old. He is trying very hard to break into the music industry. Give him a listen and tell me what you think.
Remember last year when I made a hurried trip to Montana for the funeral of a young man who was killed in a plane crash fighting fires in Arizona. Ben is his older brother.
I hope you enjoy this song.

Recipe Swap Thursday

Therese @ The Musings of a Mom has started a new thread called Recipe Swap Thursday. Thought I might get involved, so here is my contribution, sans pictures because I really was not prepared.
This is another one from one of my favorite Taste of Home publications called Tortellini Ceasar
Salad. It has a gold star in my rating system. Like I would share one with a Mr Yuk sticker!
1 9oz package frozen cheese tortellini
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup shredded Parmesean cheese, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, mince8 cups torn romaine
1 cup seasoned salad croutons
halved cherry tomatoes, optional
Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small bowll, combine the mayonnaise, milk, 1/4 cup cheese, lemon juice and garlic; mix well.
Drain tortellini and rinse in cold water; place in large bowl. Add the romaine and remaining cheese.
Just before serving, drizzle with the dressing and toss to coat. Top with croutons and tomatoes, if desired.
Serves 10
I found this was an easy recipe to cut down to serve just the two of us, and it would be equally easy to double to serve a crowd.
Enjoy!

Our Friends

An and Luc visiting us from Belgium.

They are the parents of our first year long exchange student Nena who was with us four years ago. We loved her the moment she entered our lives and it was the same with her parents.

This picture was taken on Lookout Point near Liberty Bell on the North Cascade Highway.

They have left now to spend six weeks hiking and touring British Columbia.

I can hardly wait til I can go to Belgium to see them again.

A cute picture a friend

sent me this week of two of my girls when they were younger women. Gina of A Handful of Life is on the left and Tricia of Its my Crazy Life is on the right.

This and that

I am trying to figure out how to post pictures from my new computer. The program is different and I had to go in through the back door by e-mailing the pictures to myself first. I am sure there is an easier way, but I have not found it yet. Olivia, my reluctant model. Wearing an outfit I made last week. She refuses to wear anything except dresses and skirts. She tells me there is not anything "cute" about pants.

I mailed these to a little friend this week. Sorry about the quality of the picture, I am also getting used to the new camera. I think I may have to take some lessons. I learn much better when I am shown than when I read and try to remember what I have read.



Darius wearing Papa's glasses and playing Papa's piano. He loves his Papa so much and loves to emulate him whenever possible.

I have been

sick since coming home from Disneyland. I finally went to the Dr. today. Came home with a couple of inhalers and a strong antibiotic. She is thinking that since I get this "bronchitis" at least 3x a year, it may be more likely that I have developed asthema. One of the inhalers is for that and I will have to use it for four months to see if it makes a difference. At $100.00 a fill and I am part of that "47mil" without insurance, maybe I should be voting for "O" care! NEVER!!!!!
I am really tired of not feeling well and if this makes a difference, I am more than willing to shell out the bucks for it.

Anyone you know?