Happy Birthday, Anne

Today is Anne's birthday and as I look through my pictures, I discover that most reflect her joy reflected in a gorgeous smile!  She know how to have fun and how to laugh at herself!  She's not afraid to tell stories about her mishaps and her memory.  She loves to play jokes on her co-workers and is brave enough to embarrass her boss.

I love this picture, taken when we first introduced Anne to the larger Kopczynski family.  Even though she's the youngest of eight children she did not always have family to share the holidays.  Anne grew up in Toledo, Ohio on Perth Street, close to the University.  Her mom managed a busy household and her Dad worked as the editor of the Catholic Diocesan newspaper.  

These two did not have a long courtship, choosing to get married at a quaint Bed & Breakfast near Bolder, Colorado in October.

 A year later, this precious child was born!  

There are a lot of things I love about Anne - here are just a few!

When I come to visit the Wessels house, I get to sleep under two of my Mom's quilts!

Anne loves to connect with high school friends - this one joined us for lunch on Bainbridge Island and we lingered so long we almost missed our ferry back to Seattle.

I love that she recognizes things I like to do and asks for my help!  This is Colin's first communion banner that I designed (with the help of the internet) and Colin glued on the grapes.

I love that she's willing to coach soccer!

And play ice hockey!

And loves to decorate an outdoor planter that I bought to honor her mother, Katie

And that she encouraged Colin to have his own mini-donut booth at the Moscow Farmer's Market.

 I love that Colin plays the marimbas, with a lot of help from his mother to haul the instruments back and forth to Moscow Charter School.

I love that's she's a proud Irish women and loves being a 'ginger' along with niece, Bradleigh.

I love that she arranges sleep overs for Colin at Grandma's house

And insists we make lots of Christmas cookies every year even though she rarely eats them and gives most of them away.

I love that she invites me to go on family vacations

And takes selfies of our bike rides!

I fell in love with bike riding when she gave me her old bike in 2010!

I love how she makes me laugh, even when it's 110 degrees and we have no air conditioning.

Happy Birthday

Feeling grateful for Don on his birthday

My brother, Don, celebrates his 61st birthday today!  We, older siblings, often tease him about being left behind when he was 6 months old and everyone else in the family hopped into the '51 Lincoln, drove to Illinois, and returned 6 weeks later.  Don giggles about it now, but maybe he has suffered from feelings of being abandoned.

Mom sewed these matching dresses for all her girls, prior to leaving on the trip to Illinois.

I was ten years old,  Joan only two and we travelled without seat belts or infant safety seats.

The memories of those early years make me smile, but the following pictures make me feel grateful

I'm grateful for his work ethic, still one of his best qualities, now being transferred into helping his kids remodel their homes.  I remember when he had a young family and would drag them from St. Maries, Spokane, and Moses Lake to Cottonwood to work on projects for Mom and Dad.

Two years ago he remodelled Joan's bathroom!

I'm grateful for his wonderful wood-working projects.  I love my Christmas box and Santa, but also the lovely shelf he built above my TV set.

I'm also grateful that Don loved to take and organize pictures.  He showed me how to organize and store my negatives and now Duane is following in Uncle Don's footsteps by scanning them into his computer!

I'm also grateful that Don knows how to have fun in the midst of projects.  As a teenager he had his siblings laughing until they cried.  I remember how his funny stories would send me into fits of laughter, too!  He's obviously able to find humor in some challenging situations!

 Karen took this picture on our bike ride around Alki Beach.  What fun we had, almost like kids, riding bikes, eating fish tacos and eventually kayaking!  Karen and I could not believe he waited on the beach until we and the kayak were safely back on the shore.

I'm grateful for Don's generosity - inviting all his siblings to Bar Harbor, Maine.

 I'm grateful for Don's ability to blend two families and ensure the kids love and care about each other, and their extended families.

I'm grateful for both of these electrical engineers!  And for Don's dedication to the University of Idaho's engineering program over the years.

And my gratitude extends to Dena, who adores my brother.  Her influence shaped his career, his ability to balance work and family, and his faith.  

Thank you, Don, for sharing your gifts with me!  

Christmas, 2016

It seems to me that it takes weeks to get ready for Christmas and once the day has past the wonderful memories fade away all too quickly.  There are a few pictures between those I took and the ones Duane and Anne take that I can document another great Christmas.  I'm always a little sad after New Year's probably because I don't want the feelings of love, hope, and gratitude to fade...  So before I put all my Christmas decorations and cards away I'm going to treasure these sweet moments!

We made Christmas cookies in Moscow, always a treat for me, because we make Grandma Kopczynski's white Christmas cookies and chocolate mint sandwich cookies, one of Duane's favorite!

After a busy day of baking we drove to Pullman to watch the Nutcracker Ballet!

Anne and Duane call this Colin's tree.  They bought a live tree in 2006, the first Christmas on Itani Drive, when Colin was just two years old.  Now he's 12 and the tree is so tall they can't get lights on the top anymore. 

Marcia, Regina, and I had coffee one morning and opened a special gift from our friend, Marcia, who moved to Pocatello in October.  We miss her while walking, having coffee, and drinking wine!  Whenever Marcia travelled anywhere she brought gifts back for each of us and even when she's miles away she continues to surprise us with little gifts!  We love you, Marcia, and miss you every day.

We had beautiful, amazing snow on Christmas Eve!

Karen and John hosted us for our family dinner and gift exchange and Bradleigh surprised us all by making Tom and Jerry Batter!  Grandpa Roy's family always made this batter and it remains a family favorite, especially on cold days.

We draw names for a simple gift exchange and this year everyone liked the idea of purchasing a T-Shirt for another person.  The surprise and opening of the gifts gave way to lots of smiles.  Who knows if we'll ever find occasion to wear the shirts???  This Grandma loves the idea of the simple exchange and no stress.  

Mine, more than a T-shirt, but a favorite because of my beloved basketball team and doing well this year, I might add!!!

One picture, worth a thousand words!!!

A gorgeous Christmas Day in Moscow.  Colin opened his favorite gift, inline skates and then wore them around the house most of the day.

 I could not resist the amazing snow and blazed a trail through the back yard!   We gad a nice dinner and even enjoy a sci-fi movie called "Passengers" at the local theatre.  

Paul Gaeke sent me this picture of the kids wrapped in the blankets I sent to them for Christmas.  

I love this picture of Colin wearing a thrift store tie from 2015 Christmas gift exchange.  He dresses up for Hockey games this year.  

And Anne wore the Christmas stockings for day-after Christmas Party.

 Sun shining on Moscow Mountain at the end of the lovely Christmas Day.

Jack and Regina Sullivan invited me to go with them to a Gonzaga Basketball game just a few days after Christmas and I stayed nice and warm in my new Gonzaga sweatshirt that John gave me!  Zags beat Pepperdine, but it wasn't their best game ever.  However, we enjoyed the game and the drinks at Jack and Dan's after the game.  Thank you dear friends for the wonderful time.

Still snow on the ground outside, but inside is so warm the red twig dogwood is starting to bud out!!

Time to put things away and concentrate on another great year.