Christmas Day 2007

Clair and Beverly came up from Corbett to spend a few days with us this Christmas. I wish I had taken some pictures of Clair in the kitchen making a fabulous clam chowder for Christmas Eve dinner.

The clams were compliments of my cousin, Steve Klock. Story is we ended up losing a can of clams (store was out of fresh) between the store and home so when I was talking to Steve's Mom, Kathy, I asked her to see if Steve had any clams on hand. Kathy showed up on our door step with a 51 oz can of clams. We were NOT short of clams in the chowder. Yummo.

Here are some photos from Christmas day.



Clair and Beverly after Christmas dinner.

Beverly helped Max unwrap his garden (see previous post) and Clair helped him put it together.

Happy Holidays!

P.S.: We would love to hear from you!
CarolWilliams@charter.net

Max's New Garden

With the weather so cold outside, Max hasn't been able to get out and wander in the yard. BUT, Santa did bring him a surprise so he can grow a crop right in our kitchen any time of year! Max was quite intriqued with that big box and was anxious to see what was inside. Here he is unwrapping the surprise garden. Did you know you could buy a garden in a box?

Right now we have a very interesting array of herbs growing including, Italian Basis, Cilantro, Min, Dill, Parsley, Chives, and Purple Basil. It was planted on Christmas Day and as soon as yesterday the Italian Basil was popping it's little head up. It will be fun to watch the progress and how quickly the "crop" matures.



Besides a huge variety of herbs, we can grow tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, various salad greens, AND flowers. You buy the little pods and "plant" them and they grow right in front of your eyes. Pretty darn cool!

Check back as time goes by and we'll let you know how the garden is doing.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas From Max & Carol

We've been remiss in getting Christmas cards out, so we hope this can serve as a way for us to send everyone our very Best Wishes for the Holidays and happiness in the New Year.

Here is a summary of our year 2007. Please click on each month's link to be taken to all pictures and commentary from that month:

January: After a fall on the snow and ice, Carol had successful back surgery to repair a crushed vertebrae. We were on our way to California about 10 days later. This driving trip to California was one of the most eventful we've ever had.

February: Spent the entire month in Palm Springs in a rented condo. Our patio looked out over a lake and fairway and it was fun watching the golfers go by in our spare time. Carol worked ALOT during the month, but it was a nice diversion to be away from the cold of Wenatchee.

March: Not a terribly eventful month, but arrived back home from California and back into the groove of "real life".

April: Besides celebrating Carol's 55th birthday, a trip to Memphis for some training with Shelley was the most exciting thing to happen this month. After two days of meetings, we managed to sneak away for a tour of Graceland.

May: Apple Blossom in Wenatchee, a new patio set for Mother's day and a nice trip to Wapato Point compliments of our friends Wayne and Susan Gerald.

June: Too much work kept Carol off the golf course most of the year, but she snuck in a rare came occasionally. Max didn't golf at all this year.

July: A 4th of July week-end four generation gathering when we met Max Jr, Jeremiah and his kids at the local park where they were camping for the week-end.

August: We celebrated Max's 77th birthday and spent an afternoon at the Waterville rodeo. Carol broke her left arm in a silly fall when she tripped over the lawn mower. That put an end to her run at another Club Championship. After much ado, very negligent treatment from my regular doctor... and a miracle meeting with a local chiropractor, Dr. Wayne Latimer, the arm seems to be doing well now. Seems odd that a chriopractor could be my hero, but he was able to guide me to full use of my arm again.

September: We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary with a rare visit from cousin, Shirley St. Clair from Eugene, Oregon. We also enjoyed a quick trip to Montana to meet up with Max's sister, Connie, and her husband who had been RVing for several months.

October: We enjoyed one of the longest, most fabulous fall foliage seasons ever in Wenatchee. I revisited my sewing roots by helping Shelley make her Dorothy (from the Wizard of Oz) dress as her Halloween costume. Shelley did ALL of the sewing but we cut it out together and I sewed on a couple buttons and helped with the finishing touches... and took their picture as they left for the party.

November: JR brought his grandson Calvin up and Jeff came over for Thanksgiving. It was a small, but grateful group who enjoyed my traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings.
December: Chronic should problems have flared up and Carol is awaiting the prognosis and whether shoulder surger will be required BEFORE our annual trip to California. It will be a sad event if that does happen because it will mean NO golf during our escape to the sun. Too much work (which is a good thing) has kept Carol from getting any Christmas cards out to family and friends!


December: The cold weather has us staying inside as much as possible... and looking forward to getting away to some warmer climates next month.

We are most grateful for all our wonderful friends and family and send everyone our very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Love,

The Traditional Recipe: Fudge

I posted this story for the last two years, so in setting a tradition, I'm posting again this Christmas Season. It's such a good (and funny) story, I wanted to bring it forward and post again. Enjoy!

We received this box of fudge from Amy & Troy two Christmases ago. This is the story of Amy's efforts to get the fudge just the way her Grandma used to make it. The note enclosed with the gift box of fudge read:

"Dear Carol and Max,
Here is some FUDGE I made from the heart. I was thinking about my Grandma and some of her Christmas cooking. I remember her making holiday cookies, popcorn balls, and fudge. A few years back I helped her make fudge for the family.

So…..in my infinite wisdom, I thought it would be a good idea to make fudge and put it in small tins as a part of gift baskets for both sides of the family and close friends. It was a well thought out plan with good intentions.

So here is the FUDGE STORY: (I am now convinced that FUDGE is a very bad word)I dug through many boxes to hunt down Grandma’s recipe book. Found the fudge recipe and scurried down to the store and bought all the ingredients. Everything was going as planned until the actual fudge making process began.

The instructions said to boil until it forms a soft ball and folds. So I kept boiling and boiling until the crap started to crystallize! I took it off the burner and as it started to cool it turned into one massive concrete ball! I ended up with this rock hard blob that adhered itself to the bottom of the pot. It was stuck in there so bad I literally had to throw the pot away. Somehow I missed the “soft” ball stage!

Round Two: I dug up an older pot to cook with just in case round one was repeated. This time I cooked the liquid until it started to fold and then I took it off the heat and stirred it for awhile until I realized it was getting very hard in a hurry. This batch did make it to the cooling pyrex but after it was completely cool it was hard enough to break every tooth in my mouth. I think we could use this batch as additional blocks for the retaining wall.

Round Three: I felt I was getting closer to making edible fudge. All I had to do is pour myself another drink and cook the liquid for a shorter amount of time. That should do it right? Mmmm…..well, I stuck to my plan of more drinking and less boiling. I took the liquid fudge substance off the fire much earlier this time. As it cooled I stirred, and stirred, and stirred. I was so confident that this batch was going to be perfect I added a bunch of expensive walnuts to it. I poured the warm fudge into the pyrex and waited for it to cool. As it cooled it was supposed to harden. I waited, and waited, and waited. It did harden some but not to the classic fudge consistency that I had expected. The fudge looks more like a soft brownie but it is edible and does taste good. I cut it up and individually wrapped the pieces just like Grandma used to do (which was an ordeal in itself that I will not go into).

Round Four: After a semi-successful batch, I got the urge to make one final attempt at the perfect fudge. I scraped the bottom of the butter barrel and used every last teaspoon of sugar in the house. This was it, there were no more ingredients to do another batch after this. It had to be done right. I thought about this “soft ball” thing and realized what that means. You drop some boiling liquid onto a plate and when it cools it should form a soft ball. That is the point when you take the fudge off the burner and start beating it until it “folds”. Brilliant! So, I boiled the liquid for awhile and then started making splatters onto a plate. They were not making soft balls, but they sure did taste good. I think my theory was correct with the soft ball idea, but I kept eating all the drippings before they became totally cool enough to make a ball, oops. At this point I was totally “FUDGED up” and just wanted to eat a piece of my creation and be done with the project. I got nervous that the substance would crystallize again so I took the last batch off the burner and started to beat it. I had used all the walnuts in the previous batch so this round would be nut free. I poured the last of the fudge into the cooling pyrex for the final attempt. This might have been it? Well, as close to “good” as it is going to get. It is still a bit soft but at least you won’t break any teeth!

Final Conclusion: I now know why Grandma always had drinks while making fudge. I learned that making fudge is no easy project but love my family and friends enough to attempt making gifts that are truly from the heart.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

The Greenhalghs "

P.S.: Amy, are you out there? Are you still perfecting the recipe... or are you too busy preparing for baby Shelby Lee's first Christmas? Here are Amy and Troy fitting baby Shelby to her first motorcycle. Click on the image to enlarge and you'll see a full head of black hair!

Thanksgiving 2007

I'm late in posting this but am back dating it to put it in proper sequence. For Thanksgiving this year J.R. and his grandson (Calvin) came up from Yakima and Jeff came over from Renton.

I cooked a full meal deal with turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, yam casserole, 2-berry salad, rolls, etc. There were plenty of left overs for several meals... including a big batch of soup and lots of sandwiches.

J.R. is always handy to have around because he's the mechanic of the family and Max loves having him work on the cars. Jeff is our carpenter handyman and we can always find odd jobs for him. They're both good workers and happy to help, which we appreciate!

My brother and his wife (Clair and Beverly) will be here for Christmas.

Happy Holidays!

Follow The Yellow Brick Road And... Dr. Death?

Tonight Shelley and her family were off to a Halloween costume party. Shelley has spent the last few days working on her "Dorothy" dress (between working with me, volunteering at the school, and being a full time Mom). Whew. I don't know how she does it all.

Anyway, here is the pic I took of them as they were getting ready to leave for the party. Click on the image to enlarge.

You can't really see Shelley's dress, but it is sooo cute on her. She even had some cute little Dorothy slippers. Keith is the scarecrow and Olivia is Glenda the good witch. Eli broke from the Wizard of Oz theme and went with some gorry costume. Boys!

Fabulous Fall Foliage

This time of year I just can't stop saying " I love Fall in Wenatchee". The Fall foliage is soooo fabulous and I revel in the changing colors. I'm constantly stopping at every possible photo op. Here are some of my favorites from this Fall... and these have NOT been color enhanced!

The first at left was taken in the Wenatchee cemetary last Sunday.

From left to right (at the bottom) :
Along Western Avenue in front of the labs for the USDA (from where Max retired) and Washington State University.

The next photo was taken at the State Park along the south shore of Lake Chelan a couple weeks ago.

The next picture is of Max during a trek up Tumwater Canyon (west of Leavenworth along the Wenatchee River) a couple weeks ago.

Next is Fall foliage near Lake Wenatchee in the Pine River Ranch subdivision of cabins.

Remember: You can click on any photo to enlarge

Baby Shelby Lee

Our friends Amy and Troy's new baby finally arrived Thursday (two weeks late). I got to hold the baby and she did a big dump right there in my arms. The rule is whoever is holding the baby when the pooping happens is the one who does the diaper changing. But, Troy took pity on me and did the deed for me. Thanks Troy!

Take a close look at the baby. Click on the image to enlarge. That is one substantial head of black hair! This baby is only 2 1/2 days old and she already needs a haircut.

Mommy had a tough delivery but she and the baby are doing fine now and will probably be allowed to go home tomorow. Then I'll get some more pictures of the WHOLE family together.

Cousin Shirley & Richard

It was so nice have my cousin Shirley come visit, if even for a short time. They arrived on Monday afternoon and headed back home early Wednesday. But, we did have time to celebrate our 24th anniversary together and do some other stuff.

On Tuesday night we all went to the Oakwood Bar and Grill to watch Florence do Karaoke. Florence is really into (and good at) Karaoke, but I maintain there aren't enough drugs or alcohol in the world to get me to get up in public and sing!

Max & Carol Williams - 24 Years Of Love

I'm way behind on my posting, but this was our anniversary week... 24 years! Guess I'd better catch up.

My cousin Shirley, from Eugene, and her friend Richard arrived in time to help us celebrate. Actually one of Shirley's very best childhood friends lives in Wenatchee now too and we ALL went out to dinner to celebrate.

Here is the tribe after dinner at Applebee's in Wenatchee. From left to right: Florence, John, Carol, Max, Shirley, Richard.

Click on images to enlarge

Quck Trip To Montana

We took a quick trip to Missoula, Montana to spend a couple of days with Connie & Bill. They've been motor homing since May, were spending some time in Idaha, and we all decided to meet up in Missoula for a couple of days.

We hadn't really been anywhere all summer, so thought it was time to get out of town for a few days. We drove over Tuesday and had a nice dinner at a local steak place. To the upper left is Max, me and Connie hamming it up with the big bear protecting the entrance to the restaurant.

On Wednesday we took a short road trip south from Missoula to Hamilton and Darby. We were all amazed at how many log home building companies there were centered in this particular area.



Here is a picture of Max, Connie and Bill in front of the St. Mary's Mission in Hamilton, Montana... and also enjoying some seriously good (and generous portioned) ice cream cones in Darby, Montana.




Here I am just strolling down the sidewalk in Hamilton.

On the way home Thursday we stopped at the famous Lincoln 10,000 Silver Dollar gift shop, restaurant and casino. Mostly we stopped to pick up some memorabalia from our trip.

You can click on any image to enlarge

Contact Max & Carol

Double Trouble at 77 and 55

Whew!

It's been a long time since I posted to the blog... probably the longest gap ever. Anyway, we've been busy but not doing much of anything exciting enough to post about. Mostly day-to-day life stuff going on. These pictures were taken today at the NCW (North Central Washington) District Fair in Waterville.

It's pretty much a tradition to go to the rodeo on Sunday, the last day of the fair each year. We usually go with our friends, Carl & DiAnn, but they left town today for a week long cruise to Alaska. While they were enjoying the ocean breezes, we were braving the dust stirring Waterville winds.

The fair always comes during Max's birthday week. We celebrated his 77th birthday on Friday. He's the double 7 (77). I am the double 5 (55). Guess that makes us double trouble.

Click on any image to enlarge.

Four Generations

Here is (from left to right) Max Jr., Max Sr. and Jeremiah. Jeremiah is Max Jr's son.

Today Max Jr. drove his Clampetmobile motor home up from Selah so they could spend the rest of the week in the sun and let the kids play in the water. I inserted a small picture of the motor home so it wouldn't be so "scary". If you're brave, you can click on the image to enlarge it... but don't say I didn't warn you!

They parked down at Confluence Park and set up their blanket and chairs smack dab across from where the fireworks will be set off tonight about 9:30.

Here is the rest of the clan. Back row, of course is Max Jr (JR), Max Sr., and Jeremiah. the kids are from left to right: Calvin who is JR's daughter's son (our great grandson). MacKenzie is Jeremiah's step-daughter, and Jeremiah is holding his daughter Allison. Allison wasn't at all happy about being made to get out of the water for this picture. Anyway, we have 4 generations here.

They plan to spend tonight at the park then move on to Lincoln Rock Park or head up to Chelan tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day

It was a quiet Father's Day here, but we got calls from two of the boys and one daughter (so far).

After going out to breakfast, we made a couple of stops on our way home to find some artificial tree type plants for the courtyard. Now that we have the furniture we need to decorate the space and set the mood. Here's Max enjoying the sunshine beside the Black Bamboo.



We ended up picking out two Black Bamboos for the courtyard and one Flowering Clematis. We're watching for some wall hangings to add to the decor.










Here are some other pictures of the flowers Max and his kids planted earlier in the Spring.

* Remember, you can click on any image to enlarge

A Rare Game of Golf

I finally got out for a rare day of golf with the Three Lakes Ladies Club on Thursday. I must stop letting work interfere with golf. Now, I remember how much fun it is.

From left to right are the ladies I played with: Cheryl, Mary, June.

- Carol

Quick Trip To Wapato Point

Here is Max at the marina in Manson. On Monday, May 21st, we were able to sneak away to Wapato Point for a couple of days. One of my clients had a time share they were unable to use for the week so kindly they offered it to us.

Unfortunately, I had a golf event in Yakima early Thursday morning so we had to get back home Wednesday. We didn't get to take advantage of the full week.

But, we did have two nights at a nice condo at Wapato Point Resort on Lake Chelan at Manson. Being the week before the Memorial Day holiday, we beat the rush of the crowds and had a leisurely time just hanging out and taking it easy. We found a nice little Mom & Pop type restaurant in downtown Manson called Bison Bistro. We ate a light lunch there Monday and a hearty breakfast both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. I like supporting these family owned restaurants. They give friendly service and provide good food.

We went into Chelan and had dinner at MacDonalds pub the first night. We didn't try any of their ales, but we did have a great steak dinner. We figured since our accommodations were free, we could spring for a nice dinner together. Not being the gambling types, we never did get to the Mill Bay Casino.

Sometimes these short spur-of-the-moment get-a-ways, not far from home, are just as good (or better) than straying too far from home. This particular trip reminded us of our many trips, in days gone by, traveling up the lake and camping on our Bayliner.

The picture to the right is a blast from the past... a photo taken sometime in the late 80's of son Jeff with his now ex-wife Lena (don't know how he let her get away) and Max on the dock at the Lake.

Click on the image to enlarge if you want to see what they all looked like 20 years ago!

Thanks Wayne & Susan!

Happy Mother's Day

.Today was a Happy Mother's Day. About 12:30 this afternoon my assistant, Shelley, and her husband and two kids pulled up with a surprise for me.

Shelley had found a patio set at Home Depot I really liked and it was our plan for her to come over with their pick-up truck so we could go pick up a set. Little did I know they went shopping before coming over. Not only did they deliver it but they stuck around and we put it all together. Keith did the hard work of putting the chairs together. Shelley and I did the side table and most of the big table. Keith came along afterwards with his ratchet wrench to tighten the bolts up.

While Keith & Shelley worked on the project (in the background of top picture), the kids, Eli and Olivia, entertained themselves playing in the box the chairs came in.

Oh... if only WE were so easily entertained these days!

Thanks Shelly & Keith. That was an awesome surprise!

Apple Blossom Activities: Pancake Breakfast

It's Apple Blossom Festival time again in Wenatchee. It's an annual tradition for Max & I to meet our friends Carl & DiAnn and Tom & Jane at Triangle Park for the Kiwanis' pancake breakfast prior to the Grand Parade (the first Saturday in May).

Today was no exception. Triangle Park is also where the floats are staged prior to the beginning to the parade. After breakfast we like to walk around, look at the floats and talk to some of the participants.

In some ways it's better than the actual parade because you can get up close and look at your leisure... and even talk with delegates from the various cities. This year, according to the Wenatchee World newspaper, there are 119 floats scheduled for the Grand parade today.

Elvis Ate Here

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Graceland. I am standing in Elvis' kitchen and Shelley is standing in the dining room.

Elvis has left the building and is out laying by the memorial fountain.

Remember, you can click on any image to enlarge.