Happy 41st anniversary, Mom and Dad Marion

Bob and Marty Marion, married August 31, 1968.


Instead of an anniversary card, we thought we'd give you a blog post. After all, how many cards have you received over the years for your annivesary? Probably more than you can count. We're willing to bet that this is the first blog post that has been dedicated to you on your anniversary. And, unlike cards, you can't throw this one away. Here's wishing you a fantastic 41st anniversary.

Thanks for painting such an amazing picture of what a Christ-focused marriage looks like. You're the best!

Abby and Dustin

I really love your peaches...

Abby and I traveled to eastern Washington the previous two weekends to go camping and visit family. On our way we stopped at roadside fruit stands and purchased six boxes of peaches and two boxes of nectarines. Do you know just how many peaches and nectarines that is? A LOT!!! To be fair, we did give one box of peaches to Abby's grandparents, and we gave one box of peaches and one box of nectarines to my parents. But still, that leaves four boxes of peaches and one box of nectarines for us. I know what you're thinking, "How can two people possibly go through so many peaches and nectarines?!" Let me tell you, it's not easy, but we manage.



We preserve a large number of the peaches by canning them. Look how beautiful they are in those jars.


Of course a lot of them get used in Abby's baked goods: blueberry/peach muffins; blueberry/peach pancakes; blueberry/peach pies; nectarine tart; peaches on crack (a name I gave to peaches baked with cake batter); peach/coconut desert; and so on and so forth. She's a baking machine. I'm pretty sure I've gained several pounds just trying to plow through everything she's baking. Anyone want to volunteer to help me eat all these baked goods? We also top our breakfast foods with peaches: yogurt and peaches; oatmeal and peaches; cereal and peaches. And, if I haven't had enough peaches over the course of my day, I'll eat a few all by themselves. : ) In case you can't tell, I/we love peaches.

Oh, and while we were buying, eating and canning all those peaches and nectarines, we also bought upwards of 100 ears of sweet corn to eat and freeze. It's been a busy two weeks of eating, freezing and canning. You're probably asking yourself why do we do it? That's simple; because there's nothing like fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer... and in the winter. Store bought frozen and canned goods just don't compare. Plus, it's a fun challenge to preserve and store food.

For my friend Tim - Happy Birthday!

I wanted to give a Happy Birthday shout-out to my best bud Tim ***holla*** HAPPY BIRTHDAY ***holla***. He turns 28 on Sept. 1.



Abby and I drove to Bellevue on Saturday to spend the evening celebrating his special day (a little early). James and Ingrid and Jessica were there as well. The rest of the crew were working or traveling and were unable to make it, unfortunately. We had a lot of fun celebrating and catching up.

(Abby, Tim, Jessica)


(Ingrid, James, Dustin)


Here's wishing you another fabulous year, Tim. If you'd like to send him a Happy Birthday wish, you can reach him at timree@gmail.com.

Caught that dirty, hole-diggin bugger

(Warning: Not for the faint of heart or mole lovers. View at your own discretion.)

Abby and I returned home from being gone all weekend to find several new mole hills in our backyard. For some odd reason that was the last straw for me. I couldn't take it anymore. I'd had it with the mole. I was tired of pounding down the mounds and never actually taking care of the problem.

So, immediately after work on Monday I drove to the country store and walked straight to the poison and trap aisle. I was through messing around. I meant business now. Price was no object. There were no if ands or buts about it; I was going to buy the best trap money could buy. There were two traps to choose from: a plastic, hokey looking one; or the metal jaws-of-life, I'm-gonna-crush-anything-that-gets-in-my-way looking one. Which one do you think I chose? Of course I brought home the bone crusher.

I reviewed the how-to instructions with my neighbor (Mr. Pest Control) and then proceeded to set it up under ground in the mole tunnel. Personally, I didn't expect to see any results for a few days. I wasn't very patient; so the next morning (less than 12 hours later) I checked the trap. What luck! The trap went off over night. Instead of pulling it out of the ground and checking to see if I caught anything, I went back inside and had breakfast. I kinda figured that the trap mistakenly went off and that I was going to have to reset it. To satisfy my curiosity, though, I pulled the trap out of the ground before leaving for work, and to my surprise I found a mole ensnared in the trap. And boom goes the dynamite!
That I'm-gonna-crush-anything-that-gets-in-my-way looking trap only cost me $13.26. Best $13 I've ever spent.

Grandparents!

Dustin and I had an awesome trip to Lind this past weekend to see Grandma and Grandpa. They are seriously fantastic grandparents and we had such a great time being able to visit with them. Grandma made some of the best butterhorns (her specialty) and Grandpa shared his wonderful veggies from his garden.
We are so incredibly thankful for them and just wish that we lived closer!

No stomping this year

If you haven't heard yet, there is no grape stomp this year. This is what is posted on the Chateaux Champoux Web site:

"To all our great griends and fans of Chateau Champoux and Champoux Wines. All events for the rest of 2009 have been cancelled. Paul is recovering from West Nile Virus and all our focus is on wellness, rehab and a full recovery. We will see you next year... We have heard, felt and seen your love and concern. "
Paul & Judy Champoux

Anne Marie, maybe you could give us an update? How is Paul doing?

Camping in the "party zone"

We went camping with Kevin and Becky Hussey at Crescent Bar - a camp ground along the Columbia River, nestled halfway between Vantage and Wenatchee.



Never have we camped at a place that was so hoppin'. The place was crazy. People were there to party. Music was bumping from sunup to sundown. Regardless of the noise, we still enjoyed ourselves. We had a great time rekindling our friendship with the Husseys.



I think my favorite part about Crescent Bar was the high-rising rock cliffs. They reminded me of the Grand Canyon.



There were no campfire pits at any of the camp sites, but there were pits on the beach. Each night we had a blazing fire on the beach.



My least favorite part of the campground was the wind that picked up at night and rattled the tent. Would we go back? There were more pros than cons, but we probably wouldn't go back. There are so many other places and campgrounds we haven't been too. It was fun to see what the hype was all about.