Hot Weather in Idaho

Hello everyone..!!!

This update is coming from a very hot St. Maries, Idaho. The temperature over the weekend has been up as high as 107 F...For all of you metric folks, that is almost 42 celsius....Fortunately, it's a very dry heat, so it's really not that uncomfortable. We have tried to spend as much time in cool spots as possible. Yesterday, we took a trip to Spokane and Coeur D'Alene, and by the time we got home, it was starting to cool off a bit. Today has just been plain hot. We went to the river this morning so Roxy could swim and stay cool. She is getting very good at jumping off the dock into the river to fetch a stick. The river here is very busy with boats. Everybody seems to have a boat. Many of the boats appear to be worth considerably more than the house that they belong to...but that is a whole other topic...

We are so excited to move to the new house in about a week and a half. The rental house is really starting to wear on us, and the time can't pass fast enough. Most of all, we want our stuff...We are both very tired of sleeping on a mattress on the floor, sitting in folding camp chairs, and really not having much in our kitchen...but what we really, really want is our washer and dryer. Going to the laundromat isn't too much fun, and our new washer and dryer work so much better and get our clothes much much cleaner.

Last Tuesday, we had a fantastic social evening with our weightlifting group. We all got together over at the boat park on the river and had a potluck dinner. We had smoked turkey and ham, and lots of salads, side dishes, and desserts. We also had two boats that were taken out for people to waterski and tubing. Hannalize did very well at both. She skiied all the way from the park back into town, which was about 2 miles or so. Roxy really enjoyed that evening as well, as she played with all of the children the whole night. We're really enjoying all of the friends that we are making here.

Things have been fairly quiet in the fire department this week. We had one gas leak and one chimney fire to respond to, but both were easily handled. Hannalize is getting fitted for her turnouts, so she will also be able to respond to calls now.

Last weekend, we were very busy. Saturday was the car show downtown, and there were about 100-120 old cars on display. The "Art in the Park" festival was also going on. We volunteered to work at the Booster Club food booth on Saturday afternoon, selling hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ sandwiches, chinese food, etc. to help raise money for the high school weight room. That was a lot of fun. On Sunday, we went back to the festival to enjoy the bands that were playing. We took Roxy along and she also enjoyed seeing all of the other dogs and people.

Until next time,

Joel & Hannalize

4th of July Weekend Update

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since we posted, but this post has some exciting news in it. It is the 4th of July weekend, and the weather has been beautiful. Today was quite warm, and tomorrow is forecast to be 95 degrees (35 celsius).

As you know, we have been searching for a house to buy. The St. Maries real estate market is not the best one to be a buyer in. There are quite a few houses for sale, but most of them are either very dumpy or very overpriced or very overpriced dumps. We did finally find a house, and there is quite a funny story to it. My parents were up visiting for a week, and my mom was out on her morning walk. As many of you know, she can talk to anyone, and she started talking to some guy who was outside washing his 5th wheel trailer. She mentioned that we were looking for a house. The next morning, Hannalize saw a guy drive by, then back up, and walk up to the door. He asked "Do you have a mother or mother-in-law from Eugene, Oregon?" She says yes, wondering what was going on. It turned out that the guy was the one my mom had talked to, and his son and daughter-in-law had made an offer that had been accepted on a piece of property outside of town and would be wanting to sell their house. We went over and saw their house, and decided that we liked it. We made an offer and negotiated a price and it will be closing on August 1st.

The house was built in 1922 and has been well-maintained and updated. It has 4 bedrooms (one as an office), 2 bathrooms, and is 2152 square feet. It has a brand new metal roof on the house and the shop. The kitchen was new last year. It has gorgeous hardwood floors on the first floor. The lot is quite large, about 14,000 square feet and has a pull-through driveway, RV parking, and a large yard with a new fence. Oh yes, almost forgot, there is a large hot tub built into the deck.

Yesterday, we went over to the State Park at Coeur D'Alene Lake and went for a nice 3 mile hike along a very neat trail up along some cliffs. After we hiked, we went down to the shore so Roxy could cool off. She loves the water and started splashing around. After gaining a bit of confidence, she swam for the first time. She would swim out to go get the stick that was thrown out. She was absolutely having the time of her life.

Tomorrow, we're going to head back to the lake and hike on a different trail and let Roxy go swimming again. We'll also barbecue some steaks and celebrate independence day by watching all of the illegal fireworks that get shot off over the indian reservation.

On June 17th, Roxy turned 1 year old. We bought her a nice party hat, which she wore for a little while, then promptly ate. It's hard to believe that the time has flown like this....

OK, I'll let Hannalize add her part now....

Hi Almal!

Die grootste nuus is definitief dat ons 'n huis gekry het! Dit was omtrent 'n gedoente... Hierdie huis was definitief die beste van al die huise wat ons gesien het, en glo my, ons het baie gesien. Ons sien uit daarna om in te trek. Die lewe hier in die woonstel is maar saai en met die dat daar nie 'n heining om die erf is nie kan arme Roxy ook nie eintlik buite speel nie. As sy uitgaan moet sy aan 'n tou wees...

Verder gaan dit goed hier. Die somer het uiteindlik opgedaag en ons geniet die warmer weer. Ons het vannaand in die bosse gaan hardloop net buite die dorp. Was op 'n pad waar hulle op die oomblik die bome saag en Roxy kon los rondhardloop. Ons het selfs twee "whitetail deer" gesien. Roxy het hulle nie gesien nie, maar wel geruik en was vreeslik opgewonde.

Ek gaan Woensdag tot Vrydag weer kantoor toe in Portland. Sal sommer vir Joel se pa in die hospitaal ook gaan kuier, hy kry Woensdag 'n operasie om sy pasaangeer te vervang met 'n nuwe een.

Ek gaan eers groet. Groete hier uit 'n lekker warm en sonnige St Maries.

Groete
Joel en Hannalize