Merry Christmas, 2024

After reading our last year's events, this year will be considerably shorter and possibly more boring...I guess that's what aging does to you.  

After Christmas last year, brother Bill, Janet, Karla, Toshi, and Mae came down for a day's visit as they nearly always do.  Below are highlights of each month throughout the year  

January ~ filled with basketball games for Cody's last year in high school (from Moscow to as far away as Sand Point).  Finally bought a new car ~ 2024 Toyota RAV 4.  What a challenge it has been learning all the new technology that goes with getting a new car.  Tony exchanged his organ for a piano and has enjoyed playing it a little.

February ~ Jim & Kathie made a trip out this month from Wyoming, which brought Bill & Janet down also.  Ken & Kierra came over from Seattle for Ken's birthday and a night on the town at the Karaoke bar.

March ~ an evening with Dennis for my birthday attending a WSU basketball game was great fun.  As well as the Easter egg hunt in Dennis' yard for Easter

April ~ What an evening to watch my grandson, Cody, get Mr. MHS (Moscow High School) after seeing his talent "making a pizza".  Tony and I celebrated 25 years on the 24th with about 40 of our closest friends and relatives in the area (we even had one couple come from Oregon and one fly over from Seattle).  The same friend that catered our wedding (Cyndi) catered the event.  A nice surprise was a week-end visit from Tina and her husband (the daughter of Tony's UK friends, Bob and Jean).

May ~ Granddaughter, Caily, graduated from WSU (Washington State University) with a BA in Human Development and a minor in Psychology.  Dennis and I took a flying trip to Tennessee for a funeral of Dennis' Aunt Kay (and my former sister-in-law and good friend).  

June ~ Another graduation ~ Cody graduated from high school, with plans to attend the University of Idaho in the fall and join a fraternity.  Both graduations had super celebration parties!!  Phillip brought Abby over for a visit.  I hadn't seen Abby for over ten years.  She has been living in the Philippines.

July ~ Main event was the 60th anniversary of friends, Win & Sue.  And, or course, the golf challenge that Dennis participated in again.

August ~ Tony decided that since he couldn't drive any more that he should get an electric bike.  A friend brought one over for him to try and we now don't have to buy an electric bike.  :-)

September ~ A month long motorhome trip with Bill and Janet.  We saw a lot of places and people, got a new motorhome which to date is proving to be a disaster.  I won't bore you with everything that went wrong, but since November 1st, it has been sitting at Mercedes Benz waiting for the extended insurance policy company to decide if they are going to pay for a new engine. I'll let you know next Christmas how this "saga' worked out.  Below are some highlights and websites of our trip. 

Our first stop was in Wallace, Idaho (always a fun town to walk around in)

Prairie Fire Pottery in Beach, North Dakota (meeting owner and visiting with her)

On-A-Slant Indian Village, Mandan, North Dakota

Antelope Valley Station tour, Beulah, North Dakota

Polaris Experience Center and Facotry Tour, Roseau, Minnesota 

Fireplace of states, Bimidji, Minnesota (home of Paul Bunyon and the Blue Ox)

Ironewood Michigan:  We enjoyed a lot in Ironwood ~ Copper Peak, Stormy Kromer factory tour, the miners mural, and the largest Indian statute ~ Hiawatha,   

Hillestad Pharmaceutical Factory Tour in Woodruff, Wisconsin, and a motorcycle convention that created havoc for motorhome traveling.  😀

Of course, we did a few of Roadside America's suggestions:  World's Largest Penny

The Mustard Museum in Wisconsin, complete with a mustard vending machine

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, was a great place to visit ~ Lynelle (our cousin) gave us a great tour including the Library.

The Great American Popcorn Compan (not a tour as we thought, but we got some free popcorn to pop from the owner)

My Garage Museum and Retail Store in Illinois

Whitehaven Mansion Tour, Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah, Kentucky, Wall to Wall Portraits (we met the daughter of the mayor and an Ambassador for the City ~ enjoyed all the information she gave us)

Leiper's Fork Distillery ~ of course, one of Tony's favorite stops

A visit in Tennessee with a cousin (Bill hadn't seen him in 60 years, and probably 18 years for me.

We had to stop at one  Buc-ee's along the way

Memphis ~ The Bass Pro Shop in the pyramid.  Quite a ride on the elevator to the top of the pyramid.

Unclaimed Baggage Store and museum in Scottsboro Alabama (Believe this was Janet's favorite)

A trip to "Daylight Donuts" in Chadron, Nebraska,  because we all owned donut shops at one time.

Last stops were to visits cousins in Nebraska and South Dakota, and the Big Horn County Historical Museum before heading home.

You may or may not click on the links...but believe me, I enjoyed doing this blog to remember all we had seen.  Thanks, Bill & Janet for letting us tag along.

October ~ Great fun with Casey and the great grandkids going "trick or treating" in the downtown Moscow area and later in November to the locomotive park in Lewiston to see all the Christmas lights.

November ~ Bought new flooring for both bathrooms, and Trim Lights around the whole outside of the house.  My oldest granddaughter, Cally, comes from Seattle a lot and this Thanksgiving (Kenny and Kierra came also) we played a lot of cards, had a few fancy coffees and lots of time together.  Unfortunately, as I write this (12/18), she called with news that her "furry person", Koda, just died after 16 years.  So sad. 

December ~ As you can tell...we have been "skiing" a lot (translation "Spending Kids' Inheritance:).  We hope all the Seattle family can come back over for Christmas, but time will tell on that.

I continue to be on the Board of the Senior Center's Friendly Neighbors.  Am slowly trying to move some of the responsibilities to others, but it has been difficult to find volunteers.  Tony still enjoys jigsaw puzzles, but his new interest has gone to YouTube.  He watches constantly to find out "who, what, when, where, and why".  They say we are never too old to learn.

A Phillip Family Reunion is being planned here in Moscow from July 3rd through the 7th, 2025.  This will be my next project to begin right after the New Year.  We expect over 40 relatives.  

Thanks to all of you who visited this year, and to all who keep in touch by phone calls, emails and texts.  At our ages of 81 and 83, friends and family are very important.  Hope you all have a very nice Christmas and a very good year.  

Tony and Sharon  (singo6158@gmail.com) (208-301-2060)

Merry Christmas, 2023

 Merry Christmas, 2023,

January ~ Brother Bill & I took a quick trip to Arizona to visit family and friends in his motorhome.  A few highlights of the trip were the Organ Stop Pizza, Dwarf Car Museum, Mini Time Machine (which had a wonderful exhibition commemorating the victims of COVID-19).  We enjoyed shopping at the Golden Goose Thrift Store and the Wholesale Open Box Store.  We went to the Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Museum where Bill & niece Kelly were eating grasshoppers (I chose not to partake in that fun), and the Tumacacori National Historic Park where Kelly and I crossed the small river barefoot.

February ~ Kept busy with Friendly Neighbors Senior Center (I continue to be the Vice President and Tony continues to support all that I do for the organization).  Many evenings were spent watching grandson Cody's basketball games.

March ~ Tony turned 82 in January and I hit the big 80th birthday in March.  Tony surprised me with a party at a local hotel that specializes in parties.  About 25 friends and relatives came to the dinner party.      

    Granddaughter Cally chose this month to move to Alki Beach and several of us went over to help her on a Friday night.  On Saturday, we had fun in Seattle at Pike's Place Market (I have included a short video of the fish throwing because that is always fun), Emerald City Guitars, where you have to make an appointment to get in, and a ride by the Fremont Troll.  I believe I remember seeing 8 miles on my cell phone after we got back to the apartment on Saturday night.

    Grandson Casey & I took his two kids (Landon, and Kobe, my great grandkids) to the Palouse Discover Science Center.

April ~ Much to Tony's dismay, we hired a contractor to put up a wooden fence to replace our old one.  At the same time we were dealing with yet another flood, so we hired a company to put a drain and three sump pumps that are guaranteed to keep our basement from flooding.  Time will tell.  Of course, we had to replace all the basement carpet after this last flood.  

May ~ our 6-pack friends all went to Seattle area for a Kentucky Derby party hosted by our friend's daughter.  We also got to see what is left of Robert Louis Stevenson's Equator schooner and a trip to the Boeing Future of Flight museum (we all had fun practicing with a drone).  Another activity was visiting the Moscow Axe Throwing just to watch, not partake.

June ~ Several of us who used to meet in Arizona got together in Pullman for a long week-end, camping in our motorhomes in the wheat fields of the Palouse.

    Sister-in-law Janet (70) and I (80) took our small motorhome for a birthday visit to sister-in-law Colleen (60) in Boise area.  We do this every decade.  I hope I can tell you about the 70-80-90 visit in ten years.

July ~ a first for me ~ watching son, Dennis, be in the sole survivor golf playoff and he came in second.  I went for just a couple of hours when he assured me he would be done by then, but ended up on the golf course for 4-1/2 hours until it was finished.  Tony had to go ahead to our friend's house for the fourth of July party.  For the first time, Tony and I attended the Ice Cream Social offered at the McConnell Mansion in Moscow.

August ~ A trip with five other women to California, for fun in the sun, at the wine (Portalupi) and champagne tasting places, a pool at the condo, and a lot of card playing.  

    Tony & I started a motorhome trip by going to Ocean Shores, Washington to visit friends who had paid us a visit this summer, and then on to join brother, Bill and Janet, for our yearly trip to visit relatives and friends in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado.  First for us was burying animals in the Black Hills that had been kept in a freezer by our cousin and next, cattle prodding to help another cousin with the cattle vaccinations in Nebraska.

September ~ Continuing our trip included a lunch in our hometown with classmates of mine from 1961, a visit to the Knight Museum and Sallows Military Museum (here we saw uniforms from two uncles {World War II} and a cousin {Vietnam War}.  

    We learned a lot about the VCC (Veterans Conservation Corps) on this trip.  Just happened to visit three different places that were the result of the VCC and CCC:  1935 ~ City of Alliance fountain; 1937 ~ Lake Minatare lighthouse; and built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Core) in 1941 was the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, near Denver, a geological phenomenon.  Also, after leaving Colorado, we made a detour to see Chugwater, Wyoming ~ everyone has to have an ice cream cone there at some time in their life.  A few days later we took a detour to see the Natural Bridge and the Oregon Trail.

October ~ I finally made it to a tailgate party for the University of Idaho.  Crazy fans begin partying in the parking lot at 2 pm for a 7 pm game.  I can thank my son and grandkids for this adventure.  Janet and I again took a motorhome road trip to Seattle to see friends and relatives.  I was proud to say that I drove the motorhome all over the Seattle area without a problem (pretty good for an 80 year old).  Another first ~ we stopped at an Amazon Fresh, in Bellevue.  What an eye opener ~ amazing how many cameras were in the ceiling of the store.

November ~ Brought many challenges.  Tony had two seizures within a month (one was a ride to the Emergency Room), and the second we just stayed home and waited it out.  Doctor visits for eyes, ears, blood tests, and general health, seem to take up a lot of our time.  Tony does not drive anymore because of the seizures (luckily we have a friend that would take him Christmas shopping, so I can be assured of having a few gifts under the tree).  We continue to entertain ourselves with evenings with friends, jigsaw puzzles, TV, and occasionally, Tony  goes in his workshop.

    A gas line break caused us, and nine other towns around us, to be without heat and hot water for four days....this was the same time that we had scheduled to replace our 30 year old refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher.  Because of Tony's inability to get down on his knees to do any plumbing, I am now a certified You Tube plumber.  The dishwasher works with no leaks!!

    We had Thanksgiving and will have Christmas at Dennis' home, although I continue to do most of the food preparation.  Tony and I hosted an open house for all the Friendly Neighbors again this year which seemed to be very successful.  Grandson's basketball games provide a great source of entertainment ~ the most recent game went into double overtime with the Moscow team winning in the end.

December ~ preparations for Christmas (gifts, candy, cookies, and popcorn balls) consumed my time so this letter is just barely going to make it before Christmas.  I think Tony and I both agree that we are slowing down.  Thanks to all of you who have sent cards and good wishes....we enjoy getting them.

Our families ~ Tony continues to Skype with his brother every month; his sons still remain in London and Spain.  I lurk on Facebook to keep up with Tony's extended family and my own family.  Nothing dramatic with my family this year...we get visits several times a year from the Seattle bunch, including son Kenny.  All are doing fine.  Kierra and Caily turned 21 this year, and I'm looking forward to our planned Karoke Bar outing soon.  Met Phillip's girlfriend recently, and heard from Abby that she may move from Manila to the states in the next year.

We hope all our friends and relatives are geared up for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

~~Sharon and Tony

Merry Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas, 2022

    I am a little late getting our Christmas message out.  As always, we have had a busy year.  Our friends, Bill and Sally and Win and Sue were with us a lot through many adventures.  We named ourselves the Moscow 6-Pack.  We enjoyed a few trips with the Roadrunner Club in Moscow.  We finished last year by going on the Roadrunner bus to Lewiston with a stop at the amazing Kascha Quilts in Genesee, followed by a Christmas musical at the Lewiston Civic Theatre, dinner at the Red Lion, and a walk through Lewiston's Locomotive Park.

    New Year's Eve was spent at Colter's Creek Wine Tasting establishment in Moscow.  Another Roadrunner trip with the Moscow 6-Pack was to Fairchild AFB SkyFest in Spokane.

    We took the Moscow 6-Pack on a day trip in our small motorhome to St. Gertrude's historical museum with a stop at the Nez Perce National Historical Park and museum.

    Dennis' family ~ Of course, I spent a lot of time going to Cody's basketball games last winter and this season, and football games this fall.  Caily is attending WSU in Pullman; Cally is a nurse/manager in the Seattle area; and Casey and his family (Lindsay, Landon, and Kobe) are kept busy with their jobs and family life.  Dennis has branched out to own a rental condo in Pullman and has just now bought a piece of land to build a "spec" house on.

    Kenny's family ~ Kierra manages a fitness gym in the Seattle area and Phillip is in a supervisor position with Blue Origins owned by Jeff Bezos, Abby lives in Manila, studying psychology.  Kenny continues his work at Applebees.  Kierra, Phillip, Kenny, and Cally make the trip over at least three times a year and Dennis and I have managed a couple of trips to visit all of them over there.

    Tony and his brother talk on Skype once a month at least.  Jonathan in Spain has branched out to building metal animals.  Check out his facebook page for interesting pictures.  Neil and Becky continue to be in the London area.  We hope to make a trip to UK and Spain this spring.

    Our involvement with the Senior Center has continued.  Being Vice President seems to have more responsibilities than I ever imagined.  The Moscow 6-Pack tried our luck at the Coeur d'Alene Casino by riding the free bus to the casino.  Free meal and free play for a short time.

    Tony opted to get knee replacement in July.  That slowed us down quite a bit.  If anyone suggests getting a new knee at the age of 81, you might tell them it may not be worth it.  Tony wanted his old knee back!  However, now five months later he is doing very well with it after all.

    Brother Bill and Janet and Tony and I took a three week motorhome trip back to visit relatives in Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota.  When in our hometown, we visited Dobby's Frontier Town and got to go in a replica of the candy store and hamburger shop we patronized as kids.  On the way, we stopped off at the Crook County Museum (most interesting thing in this museum was a dental chair that had to be peddled like a bicycle by the patron to keep the drill running), and the Sundance Kid statute (compliments of Roadside America).  Our biggest surprise was the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Wyoming.  They claim this is a Smithsonian-quality museum, and we all agree.  It was great.  Unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth died while we were without cell phone service in the building .  Texts were coming in from a lot of friends and relatives as soon as we came out of the museum.  What a sad thing to happen to Tony, our UK friends and relatives, and the whole world.

    Tony continues to be most comfortable at home and in his shop, as well as watching YouTube and working jigsaw puzzles.  I travelled to the Seattle area to visit all the relatives there and to go to a Johnny Mathis concert with Kenny.  What a treat that was.  Johnny Mathis looks old, but his voice remains the same!  The next week all the relatives came over for Thanksgiving at Dennis' and will return this week for Christmas.  Tony and I did travel with the Roadrunners for an overnight at the Coeur d'Alene after seeing the musical "Traditions of Christmas".  Dinner at the Coeur d'Alene and a boat ride to the "North Pole" to see Santa Claus certainly got us in the Christmas spirit.  We had an open house for all the senior center members so they could see our Christmas Room.  It may prove to be an annual event.

    We hope all our friends and relatives are geared up for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.