BACK TO SPOKANE

Dear Family,

Mom and I went up to Spokane to see the families there and to get my eye treatments.  Rob has been doing a good job controlling the retinopathy in my left eye with injections.  My vision is improved with each visit.

This time Rob and Eva made arrangements to rent a cabin on Priest Lake in northern Idaho almost to the Canadian border.  They had given a donation to the Spokane Symphony and apparently got the condo with it.  Here is the living room with a great wood stove for heat.  It was 22 degrees when we got there so the stove was appreciated.  The cabin accommodates several families.  Jeff and Tammy came with their 5 children and Rob and Eva had their four children and it was fun!

This was the view from the room.  They prepared great dinners and there were walks outside in the snow.

Here is Jeff reading about the Battle of the Bulge. Rob and Jeff are enthusiastic board game players and that is putting it mildly.  They played a game, Advanced Squad Leader or ASL.  Anna mentioned you never interrupt Squad!

They both play and attended Squad Leader conventions in Seattle where Rob came in third in a competition.  Rob and Jeff will take Tammy and  Eva to the next one in Seattle.

The Lodge had a loft like our home in Michigan and sure enough they set up the board game which is very complicated and played in the evening.  Mom was up at 3:00 AM and they were still at it.

I guess I did not take any pictures of the girls as we were always gone.  Mom, Eva and Tammy set up a great craft table and all were busy while we were away pursuing other hobbies.

We found a good place to go shooting and sighted in several rifles.  Anna came along and she was Annie Oakley with a .22.  Julius was also quite a good shot and with Jeff's new 45-70 and with open sights demolished a rather expensive reactive target with a dead head on hit about 70 yards away.  Just a lot of fun.  We took care of several pounds of Tannerite as well.

Here is the Dad taking a bead with the Russian 45-70 double rifle.  It was fun to shoot and great that one can regulate the barrels easily.  Rob had his in 30-06 and that was accurate.  We had a great time doing this during the day.  At night we did a little reloading and it was a hobby filled time.

On Sunday, we drove down to the Priest Lake Ward in Newport and attended church.  It was interesting; the missionaries were there as well.  The kids doubled the primary attendance.

We then drove down to Spokane to get the kids in school for their Monday classes.  It was so much fun.  Eva and Tammy planned these great meals and brought enough for an army.

Well Easter and General Conference are coming up soon.  We will have an Easter dinner in our home and hope many will attend.  It is a great time of the year and we are thankful for our blessings.

Love, Mom and Dad