Happy Anniversary

Today Nate and I are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary. We looked at each other this morning and decided that we still like each other a whole lot so to we're going to keep each other a little while longer.

Off to Canadia, Eh

Today the girls and I are embarking on an international road trip to Canada. Our destination is a town in Sasketchewan that rhymes with a female body part - no, it's not Mulva. We're first driving to Libby to pick up 3/5ths of the immediate Pepper clan and then we 're headed to Regina. My brother, Bryan and his wife, Lisa will be having their "official" wedding reception there. Unfortunatley, having husbands in the construction trade won't allow for Nate and my brother-in-law, Kurt to attend the festivities. I guess somebody has to stay behind and bring home the damn bacon.

McCall Memories

July 20-22: We were invited to the Odberg's place in McCall, Idaho. What a lovely spot! Their home is right on the beach so there's not much motivation (other than drink refills and potty breaks) to get off the beach chairs while watching the kids play in the surf and sand.

We arrived late on Friday as I had the joy of first driving 2 hours north to Rathdrum to pick up Josie from church camp, driving home, loading up Trudy-our trusty little camp trailer- and then heading south for the 4 hour trip to McCall.

Around midnight I made a comment to the crowd that we should see if we can get the new Harry Potter book at midnight. The Odbergs said there was no way any store in McCall would be open so Anita and I took it upon ourselves to prove them wrong and we did. We stood in line at McCall drug for about 20 minutes and got our hands on some of the last copies the store had. Anita proceeded to bury her face in the book for the rest of the weekend. I stole a glance at the last paragraphs.


It is a yearly tradition that the ladies get a chance to have some "girl time" and take the boat to the McCall Yacht club (mostly ski boats and sailboats...no yachts) for some drinks. We had some champagne, beer and wine and talked about....our kids! Oh yeah, and torrid love affairs with New Zealand rugby players.


We were able to pull off a kids shot. Most of them were wiggly and just wanted to be in the water so it's amazing we got this shot. The Wallaces and Thorsteinsons left Saturday morning while we Spains and Odbergs spent another night, drank more wine and played a hilarious game of Balderdash.

A very fun weekend!

The Schweaty Syndrome

A good friend of mine who's a few years older told me that when a woman turns thirty these three things happen to her almost overnight: you start to get called "Ma'am", you get hair growth in unusual places (ears, nose) and you start sweating for no apparent reason. I laughed her off as, at the time, I was 28 and she had just turned thirty. No one dares call me "Ma'am"!

Now 7 years later, I wish I could say she was wrong but unfortunatley it's all true. The worst of these three things is the sweating. (Ma'am rates a close second) When did this happen? These last few weeks have been especially awful with the perspiration. Yes, to my defense it has been hovering at 100 degrees and with Josie gone I've had the joy of doing her paper route at three in the afternoon but still....

Richard Simmons wasn't lying when he coined the term "Sweatin' with the Oldies".

A Small Check

Today I wrote a check to the IRS for 23 cents. Wooptie doo! Nate says I should drop a quarter in the envelope but knowing our luck with the Feds we'd get a nasty note in 2009 telling us we were late with our 23 cent payment, so with penalties and interest added up over the period of two years we'd owe the government $10,000. That's how they work, Folks. Now if only mutual funds paid out so nicely.

Summer Movies

I love movies. I love all genres of movies: action, drama, comedy, art house, independent, suspense, musicals..... I especially love the summer blockbuster.There's something about sitting in the air conditioned movie theater when it's 100 degrees outside and gnawing on greasy buttered popcorn. I love the sounds of creaky seats, crinkling popcorn bags and people digging in their purses getting out their contrband candy. I love the movie trailers just as much as the films themselves and even the commentary some of the other patrons make such as: "That looks cool!" or "That's probably a lame one." I love it when the lights dim all the way down and the digital surround sound cranks up to ear bleed decibles.

Today for us was a great day at the Village Centre in Pullman. Every so often there is a movie that comes out that I have to see right away, one that looks great from the trailer and one that fufills every expectation of mine that I want in a summer movie. Which one is it, you ask? Harry Potter? Ratatouille? The new Die Hard? The movie I am speaking of is......Transformers. It's freakin' awesome! It has action, humor, suspense, teenage love and *gasp* even a little tear to be shed - that is if you're into sympathy for robots.

We all loved it and recommend seeing it on the big screen.

We plan on visiting Hogwarts this weekend. We'll let you know if the Wizards should beat the Autobots in the war of the Best Summer Movie 2007.

Back Patio Project

This isn't a very good "before" photo but it's the best one I have post-digital camera. Our back patio has been in some state of remodel since we bought our home. This photo was taken in the spring about 3 years ago. By the hot tub we had one of those veregated fiberglass fences with a giant Virgina creeper that was the only thing holding it together. Once we decied to trim the plant back the fence fell apart. On the neighbor's side of the fence was this god awful thorny bush that was so overgrown we hacked the living daylights out of it. I still have the scars on my arms to prove it even a year after the fact.


This was last summer. The wavy concrete was our original patio and that's where the nasty fence and creeper were. We extended the patio to meet the edge of the front of our house and Nate framed up a fence.


This was taken this morning. I'm bummed I didn't get a photo of what our back stairs looked like. I'm sure I have one somewhere in negative format. As you walked out our back door you could only walk to the right as there was a black metal guardrail. It also had that lovely astroturf carpeting covering it.

Nate made it so sthe stairs are on all sides, much more condusive for getting out the back door. I especially appreciate it when I'm carrying a full load of wet clothes to be hung outside.


Nate banged out phase two of our fence project this weekend. I'm so fortunate to be married to a go-getter who works despite the intense heat lots of Keystone beer helps, I guess. We still need to stain the fence and extend it all the way up the back yard. We hope to get an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, slate covering over the patio and stairs and new patio furniture in the future (next year, fingers crossed). Look for more 'Better Homes and Gardens' -type - after photos then.

Another Favorite Hobby

I completely failed to mention that my other favorite thing in the world is to sew. Ever since the arrival of my girls' American Girl dolls in December my new obsession has been doll patterns and clothes. I especially freak out when patterns are $1.99 on sale at Jo- Anns Fabrics.

As I mentioned the girls recieved their dolls as Christmas gifts so all of their outfits were of the fall/ winter persuasion. I told the girls we'd go to the fabric store and pick out some fun spring/ summer material and pattern so their dolls would be cool in this heat wave we're having. The above photo is what Josie picked out for her doll. Not too light and summery is it?

This is Josie's doll, Ellie. She is sporting a camouflage, ruffle skirt and matching camo vest with ruffle sleeves and black buttons. Her outfit is accented by a black sleeveless tee. Completing the ensemble are some brown patent plastic Mary Janes rugged enough to sport outdoors yet feminine enough to wear to the next party.

So I won't be the next Dolce and Gabbana or Vera Wang but here's to wishing and having good times beside my 1970's Singer sewing machine.

Next sewing project: summer dresses for Josie and Annabelle with material they picked out themselves. You're going to crack up when you see them. Unfortunately my serger took a dump while creating the doll outfit (the camo fabric proved too tough for the Brother 950) so my clothing doesn't have that finished look to them. Hopefully I can get that fixed or *bummer* I may have to get a new serger.

Stamping Projects

I thought it was about time that I showcased some of my stamping projects. I love stamping and scrapbooking and attempt to do a project once a week.

I belong to a card swap and at the very least get to go on two scrapbook retreats during the year - spring/fall.

Some favorite sites of mine are Splitcoast Stampers, Paper Pals - a local scrapbook store in Moscow, Stampin' Up and Close to my Heart. There also some blogs from Tami Vik - a Pullmanite and my friend Jeannine who also showcases her scrapbooking talent.

Look for more cards here or maybe you'll get to be a lucky recipient of one, if my memory remembers your special occasion.

Chocolate Mike

Chocolate Mike was found in our box of geocache trinkets over the 4th of July week on Lake Couer d' Alene. Jennings Silvernale-Shook (2) took him out and wasn't willing to give him up. Anita kept Jennings happy by playing with the dinosaur on the boat ride and then she really started having too much fun with the bendable toy. He was christened 'Chocolate Mike' at Carlin's Bay when Jennings was drinking chocolate mike (chocolate milk) and the name stuck.

Chocolate Mike is shown here enjoying a Fat Tire brew. The square thing next to him was a trinket from the Windy Bay cache that Eric picked out. We don't know what it is but there is a hole at the bottom of it so Eric says it's a finger protector.

We decided that Chocolate Mike is the group's "unofficial" mascot and we shall take him with us should we go on any exciting trips. He will be photographed at various locations .

Visit Chocolate Mike's Blog!

4th of July Fun

This 4th of July was spent on the shores of Lake Couer d' Alene, Idaho at the Silvernale-Shook lake house. They invited us to spend time up there while our kids were at Twinlow church camp in Rathdrum, July 1-4. The Thorsteinson and Sprott families were also present and Josie brought her good buddy Kammi along. Food and drink was abundant as well as the sunshine.

July 2 - While the little ones were napping and Mary was picking up their new boat, Anita and I took our kids on a geocache at Cougar Bay Preserve. About 90 minutes and
countless mosquito bites later Anita found the cache.

Dinner that evening was supplied by Constance Sprott. We ate chicken fettucini alfredo, ceasar salad, bread sticks and dessert was fudge brownies and ice cream.


July 3 - Mary took us on a maiden voyage on the Cobalt 200. We rode to Harrison, Idaho for ice cream at the creamery. We hung out in town for a bit and went to a boat geocache in Windy Bay.


All that boating made us hungry so we stopped in Carlin's bay for lunch.

Dinner that evening was provided by Mary Silvernale Shook. We dined on flank steak, Napa Valley cabbage salad (Constance), and a variety of vegetables. I can't quite remember what was for dinner as I had consumed about 5 White Russians and was feeling no pain. Tomorrow we pick up our kids from camp. Already???

Our grand plan was to scrapbook while the older girls took kept an eye on the little ones. We did manage to scrapbook one night for about 2 hours. Constance was smart and knew not much was going to get accomplished so she brought a puzzle to work on. I thought that was a great idea so I helped her work on the puzzle also.


Back from camp, Annabelle and Sarah enjoy a popsicle with Eric on the hammock. All of the camp kids said they had a good time.

Dinner for the fourth was provided by us. We cleaned out the fridge as well as BBQ'd beer butt chicken and a variety of salads and chips. Dessert was apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Needless to say I walked away from this week a full 7 pounds heavier than when I walked in. Ouch!


Nate and Annabelle on the deck eagerly awaiting the fireworks display from the Silvernale-Shooks neighbors. Mary had warned us that they were pyromaniacs and put on an impressive fireworks display. We were treated to one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen. The show lasted over 45 minutes and most of our kids fell asleep before they were finished. It was quite the send off for a lovely time at the lake.