Two great things together!

Who knew that at this discount department store:
Lisa would find one of my favorite holiday treates?

Did you know that aplets and cotlets are actually forms of locoum, AKA "Turkish delight"? In what popular book-made-move is Turkish delight mentioned?

New Floor

 Our fun project - Before- Lots of cracked tiles.

 Demolition - It was so dusty - It took about 4 Hours to take up.  Everyone had their job, and they did a great job.

 Even Aly wanted to help!

All sanded, and ready for wood. 

The girls posing on the new floor.

Pretty!

Spring has Sprung!

A Moose on the Loose....

Over a month ago this yearling moose wandered into town and began foraging for food in neighborhood back yards. He was in the area kind of up by the new green water tower. Gradually he moved closer to the McDonald School area. Last week we started getting automated phone calls from the McDonald Principle telling us the location of the moose and which route the kids should use to get to school. The police would arrive each day to supervise the foot traffic. Fish and Game kept saying to be patient, he would eventually move on - but he didn't. Some days he was just up the hill from Mom's outside classroom door. Finally yesterday we got an automated call saying Fish and Game had moved him to a new location.

We got the bid from the contractor we meet with. He listed Don Anderson as a reference. I called him last night and he highly recommended the contractor and then said, "didn't you have some kids that went to school in Moscow?" I said yes and he remembered us mowing lawns. etc. Did any of you have him as a teacher? I told him I thought his son Brady was Travis' age.

This week we will give the contractor the OK and we will make the purchase of all the stuff -tub, toilet, tile, faucets, etc, etc. We hope to start about mid April when the vanity we ordered several weeks ago should arrive.

Still lots of rain with a glimpse of the sun on rare occasions. It is foggy this morning.

The Latest in Moscow

Good food was had by all
What a crew

The happy family

The little man of the moment

I hope Seth and Lacey don't mind me publishing a few pictures of Brady's blessing. They were on our camera and I haven't downloaded them to Lacey yet.This week we took another step closer to a new and improved bathroom. We contacted a contractor and he came on Thursday to look at the job. He said he can do it and will give us an estimate early next week. Mom and I went to Home Depot in Lewiston and nailed down the exact numbers on fixtures, tile, grout, etc. We'll probably place an order this week. The vanity should be here in about three weeks. While we were in Lewiston we were looking for a new microwave. Ours died last week while Mom was using it. I never liked it because it always burned the popcorn so I haven't had popcorn for months. We found one at Deranleaus and bought it. Then Mom suckered me into the mattress department and we ended up buying a new mattress and springs. We hauled it home in the church pickup (we were down there on business) in a rain storm. It made it OK. We took our old one out and put the new one in. For the first time in a long time I have had three good nights sleep in a row without back pain. Yesterday we hauled a load of junk, including the old mattress and microwave to the land fill. It just keeps raining. Have a good week.

Another blast from the past

This showed up on my 20-year Reunion page.

Brant

So much to say...

What's your favorite part of this picture?

My Trip

Me and my friend at a hotel in a swimming pool. 

 Walking on lake Sylvan

Look closely and you can see our bubble beards.

In a big snow pile by the lake.

        Recently I went on a 3 day trip to eagle with my friend and her family. We stayed in a 2 floor suite. This was our schedule:

     Friday

Drove to eagle

went to Target

looked at a ice palece

drove to our hotel

ate Dinner

Went swimming

Went to bed

Saturday

Ate breakfast

Went swimming

played 3 games

Ate lunch

went ice skating

drove to Lake Sylvan

walked to go see ice fishers on the lake

went to hotel

played 2 more games

dinner

swimming

bed

Sunday

Breakfast

swimming

waled around  a town in Idaho Springs

drive home

I had a blast!!!!!

-Aimee

March Madness

It's March Madness time again. The Richards family has started an online bracket pool on ESPN.com for any who are interested. Just send me (Matt) an email or call and I can get you the group name and password. It only takes a few minutes to make your picks and it tracks all of the wins, losses, and upsets. The first games are set to go on Thursday morning 3/15.

Our week in a nutshell...

Brady and Ivan had check-ups this week. 

Weston wasn't feeling well, so I added his name to the roster and almost left Koper home.

Good thing I took Koper, he ended up taking a turn for the worse while we were there.

We've all had strep throat this week with some other croup stuff.

My life is officially a circus.

 My old roommate Ryan and I took a little hike on the Appalachian Trail yesterday. We hiked out to a shelter, fired up our stoves and made ramen for lunch, and then sat in the sun for a while before heading back to the car. On our hike back, Ryan stepped on a small snake that was sitting in the middle of the trail. The way he  jumped and screamed "snake" brought back plenty of memories from the good old mowing days. After our hike we wandered around Harpers Ferry, WV a bit and then ate a funnel cake and drove home.

Reunion Vinyettes

Friday after work Mom and I we talking about reunion activities and figured we better reserve a spot at Kamiak Butte for our Monday afternoon activity and talent show. I called Whitman County Parks Department and we reserved the "Pine" shelter (lower left on the disply) for our reunion. The lady was very nice and took all the info and reserved it for the Zirker Family Reunion. We found that the park is open year round so we drove out right then. We both enjoy the setting and views but there was still a little snow and ice although there were several families all bundled up having a picnic. I took a picture of this display to show kind of what it is like and to show that there is a nature hike up and along the ridge of the butte. It is 3.5 miles long and can be done in 1-2 hours. Just a thought. We'll send more as we get closer.

We went to Home Depot and picked out the tile for the shower and floor and then went to Moscow Builders and ordered the vanity, counter top, and mirror. Hold onto your wallet. I guess the cost is just a fact of life. Finding a contractor is this weeks assignment. Mom is home for spring break so she will be organizing and cleaning all week. How exciting is that?

Shelby at 3 months old

A couple more

 Big Wheels!

Thanks for the fun pictures Lisa.  We had a fun time, even if the wind was a little chilly.

Brant

Train museum.

adria kori and the caboose. adria and train.

raya and adria.

raya and the train.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Millie was last weekend -- Final pose!

The silly part - do yo see the girls feet hanging out of the laundry cart.  Poor Ethel is getting shipped to Hong Kong.  These boys pretended to speak Chinese.  We had subtitles on the side, so we could understand what they were saying.  Pretty funny!

The office scenes - Yep, Les made those typewriters out of Capri Sun and Cereal boxes!

The boys and Muzzy.

Part of the opening number, don't they look good!

And of course, my project.  The old time telephones - yep out of wood, dixie cups and Fuze juice bottles. 

Brant

We got a new bishop today...

These are NOT what his children look like, luckily! No, we really did get a new bishop but Kevin will remain in as 1st counselor. It was an enjoyable day at church. :)

Our New Toys

This is Mom's latest interest. She has started speaking with a distinct British accent.

The other day we were over at Seth & Lacey's watching How It's Make and they showed how they make Astrolabes. I kind of got interested so I went on-line and saw these two instruments. The one on the left is a sun dial and the one on the right is a sextant. Both are mostly for looks, especially the sextant. I bought a book with it but it is not precise enough to take readings. They are more conversation pieces.

I had to drive down to Dayton for a Camp Council meeting yesterday. I am responsible for Camp Teancum Timbers just out of Dayton and this was their spring planning meeting. Mom went with me and then on the way home we stopped at Costco in Clarkston and did some shopping.

Today is Brady's blessing so some of Seth's family is here from the Seattle area. We are having a dinner at the church after the block. The weather is definitely looking up. Have a good week.