Winter Arrives in Wrangell, Alaska

Nancy sends the following message and pictures from Alaska: "Mom and I took a walk on the new extension to the nature trail today"




Carol says: Looks like Fall is over and winter setting in.

Max & Carol's Blog

Here is a link to Max & Carol's blog, with pictures of a Fall excusion we took not long ago. But, now winter is setting in and we put away the tank tops and pulled out the winter coats.
www.TreeDoctor.blogspot.com

-Carol Williams

9/11 Memorial Ride

Hi Everyone,
We are so pleased.... Jim and I planned and arranged a 9/11 Memorial Ride on Monday --9/11.
We had it in the paper and on the local radio. ...invited motorcyclists and classic car owners and anyone else who wanted to participate to attach their flags and memorial signs. But had no idea how many, if any would show up.
The radio called me earlier in the day to see how many and I told them could be 5, could be 40 -- I really had no idea. Had only had about 3 phone calls about it.
Well we arrived at the place we were starting about 15 minutes early and there were already about 10 bikes and 6 or 7 classic cars. And.... they just kept rolling in. We were totally blown away. We had about 50 bikes and 25 to 30 classic cars. We rode thru Colville and over to Kettle Falls...next town over, about 8 miles away; and then back to and through Colville again. It was so awesome. We were not supposed to have a police escort, because we did not plan it in time to get permission from the Mayor for that, but one of the guys called them and they sent a police car to escort us since there were so many. We got to ride through the lights and stop signs, etc.
He escorted us clear to Kettle Falls and had called ahead to have a KF officer escort us thru KF. It was just way cool.
We were in the lead... that is Jim with the big flag and me with the red leather jacket and two smaller flags on the back of my bike. It was so cool to look in our mirrors and see nothing but motorcycles behind us. And the sound was of course great!

If the photo is blurry, right click on it and click on "show original image". You can also go to the local newspaper site and see it and what they wrote... http://www.statesmanexaminer.com/ Or try this if that site moves the articles... http://www.statesmanexaminer.com/images/stories/September11Ride.jpg They had our advertisment for the run on the front page last week and this week... we are on the front page again. Can you tell ... we are very pleased about how well it all turned out. Everyone involved wants us to do it again... they kept saying this is the "first annual run". At this point we are planning on doing just that. We feel that people are forgetting that awful day and want to remind them of all who were lost.

Anyway..... just wanted to share with you guys.

Bunny & Jim

Max's Mexican Birthday Week

Thursday was Max's 76th birthday. In our family we celebrate "birthday weeks" and we had an interesting week, including a full blown homemade Mexican fiesta on Tuesday AND dinner at one of our favorite local Mexican restaurants on Thursday. For pictures and commentary of both events, visit our Max & Carol's Life blog. There is "smut" talk, so don't miss it!

-Carol

Back from Seattle

Hi everyone,
I got back from Seattle on Monday night... quilting girlfriend went with me. We had a great time and the weather was absolutely wonderful in Seattle. Went to the awards night, the Gala Auction night and 3 to 4 seminars each day. Also shopped at all the vendors, but were fairly "good" -- only bought a couple books and some thread but no fabric. Well..... since neither of us bought any fabric at the show, we did stop to check out a new quilt shop on the way home and managed to find some fabric we could not live without there.

The quilt show was awsome... very overwhelming. It is a juried show... you have to be juried into the show by three jurors. Then it is judged by 3 judges. The Best of Show was an outstanding quilt with a huge cat on it. The whole show was awsome.
My quilt (wall hanging) that was auctioned off brought $500.00 which was one of the top ones that sold. Made me feel really good.

Anyway... it was a great weekend. This week at work has been very busy - trying to catch up, and I was only gone from work on Thursday, Friday and Monday..... and I don't work Fridays anyway. I have an assistant now and she works Fridays, and when I am gone on vacation and conference, etc. That helps a lot.

I am hoping to STAY HOME this weekend... seems like we have been gone someplace every weekend since summer got here. Our summers (good weather) are so short that we cram everything into a very short time period.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.
Bunny

More photos & misc. comments from Bunny

Great photo f Aunt Marian and good looking pie as well. Waiting for the recipe...

Thanks for the comments Shirley... would have loved to gone to the quilt show.

We had a great reunion... lots of old people there!!! ;o) It was lots of fun seeing many of my classmates and two of my best friends from high school were there -- so that was great. Had a nice visit with my Dad and Laveta as well, but the best part was visiting with Rian and Gina on the way down and on the way back. Will try to put a couple photos in here.

What kind of help does Aunt Marian need for the genealogy thing? I am very interested... maybe could do some stuff in my spare time -- HA! HA! Really I am very interested in all our family history.

Had company all this weekend... some of Jim's family and then other friends spent the night after family left.... busy weekend.

This next weekend I am off to Seattle for the Pacific Northwest Quilt Fest. My quilt (wall hanging) that is in the invitational quilt show and has been traveling around the country for two years will be auctioned off. Here is the link if you want to see the quilts. http://www.apnq.org/
Go to the "Wish You Were Here" link for the traveling invitational quilts. Mine is a fairy on dark blue background.
Will let everyone know how it goes when I return.
Love, Bunny

Aunt Marian's Blueberry Pie

Shirley checking in - This is a picture of Aunt Marian I took when I was visiting her in mid-July. The special pie she made is an absolutely scrumptious blueberry sour cream with a buttery crust. I hope she posts the recipe for everyone to try. The picture on the wall is of Grandma & Grandpa Reeve. It is a treasure, as were they.

Marian needs someone to help her with genealogy research of the Reeve side of the family. Any helpers out there?

Message for Bunny: You are one incredible Biker-Babe! One minute you're practicing in parking lots and the next thing you know you are out there on the highways and biways, hair blowing in the wind, stripped down to your skivvies! Way to go!!

Too bad your reunion isn't this weekend. There is a big quilt show in Coburg, right on your way to Roseburg.
-Shirley

St.Clair Men - 1955

Here is the, long anticipated, picture of the St.Clair men taken at the same time as the (previouly posted) St.Clair women. September 1955. You can enlarge it some more by clicking on the image. The picture is thanks to Shirley.

I need some help here with identification. I know Grandpa and my Dad (with Clair), Charley, and Wes... but that's about all I'm absolutely sure of. I think Mike is in front of Grandpa, and probably Rian in front of Wes. Is that Dell between Grandpa & my Dad? Is that Oba to the right of my Dad? Any helpers out there?
-Carol

From Shirley:
This is how I see the line-up: Big Guys (l to r) Ralph (Shirley's husband), Grandpa, Harold, Bruce, Oba, Charlie, Bud, Dell, Wes.

Little Guys (l to r) Mike w/Grandpa, Clair w/Bruce, Myron or Scott w/Charlie, Lucky standing w/Bud, Myron or Scott on Bud's shoulders, Lance w/Dell, Rian w/Wes.

From Peggi in the comments section:
From the left, unkown guy (now identfied as Ralph - Shirley's ex), Grandpa Frank w/Mike in front, Uncle Harold, Bruce w/Clair in front, Uncle Obe, Uncle Charley w/Myron in front, Uncle Bud w/Scott on shoulders and Lucky (Frank) in front, Uncle Dell w/Lance, Dad(Wes) w/Rian.

The St. Clair Women - 1955

I've moved this picture up in the blog, to be with the (recently acquired) man clan photo.

Does anyone know when this photo was taken? It's a very cool picture of the St. Clair women. I think I have a St. Clair men photo somewhere.
You can click on the image to enlarge.

I think I can identify most of these women, but not sure about who is on the far left. Is that Shirley on the far right?

From left to right: Janice (Nita), Jessie, Sally (Bunny), Marian (Sharon & Peggi), Grandma Pansy, Amy (Carol), Bud's Marion (Nancy), Dottie, Shirley. Marian (with an "a") is Frank & Pansy's daughter. Marion (with an "o") is Bud's wife. The blended family was always very confusing to me... but I'm getting it sorted out as time goes by. My adult brain seems to be able to grasp it better than the kid brain did.

How did I do? Can anyone help me with this? (Thanks Nancy... I've made the corrections!)

Carol

Bike Run to Montana

Hi everyone.
Just a note to tell you about our second camping trip on our bikes. Went to a Hawgs & Paws fundraiser bike run in Troy Montana this past weekend.... yes in all that heat. Think we fried a few brain cells -- it was a hot one. Well over 100 degrees in Libby -- near where we were.
The photo is of a run we went on on Saturday up into the boondocks above Troy. Up the Yaak River and around and back into Libby and into Troy. Fun old fashioned saloon in Yaak.
The bike on the far right is mine and the next one is Jim's.
The scenery was beautiful. But we almost cooked ourselves before we got back into Troy and what is called the Home Bar where they had BBQ dinner for us. The camp was at a ranch above Troy... with free dinners, breakfast and drinks, including beer. Had live music both Friday night and Saturday night. We had a great time, but could have used cooler weather.
Rode over 500 miles in the 3 days-- which is a huge amount for me. I even stripped off all my leathers and even the helmet cause it was so hot. Did wear a long sleeve shirt that I soaked with water every chance I got.
The second photo is of Jim and our friend Tony who we rode to and from the run with... Tony and Catherine Salamone -- crazy peeps.

Now, this next weekend we are off to Roseburg Oregon for my 40th class reunion. Stopping to see Rian and Gina on the way. Hope to take our 65 Mustang, but if it is still this hot, we may take my Explorer with air conditioning.

Two week ends later, I am off to Seattle for the BIG Pacific Northwest Quilt Fest where I will have a small quilt auctioned off, that has been traveling around the country for two years. One of my quilting buddies is going with me -- we should have fun.

Busy summer!!!

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Bunny

reunion / fuzzy photos

I vote for some time in 2007 for a reunion... this year is way too booked for us already.

Jim told me how to get the photos to turn out nice... without the fuzzy... after you double click on it to make it larger you then right click on it and tell it to "show original image"... takes the fuzzy away.

By the way Rian, you have not written on this blog -- you told Jim you don't have much to say. Well how come the two of you can spend over an hour on the phone talking if you don't have much to say... ;o) Looking forward to seeing you guys on our way to the reunion.
Love, Bunny
Send us a photo of your new toy... the shovelhead.

Marian Sanders & Clan

Click on the image to enlarge!

Here is a photo of the family in the middle of June of this year. I have another one almost like it, I think the only difference is that Robyn's dad Bob Kelly is in it. Rian and Gina were at their camp during this photo unfortunately but I will send one of them at Nikki and Rays camp when they stopped by for a visit. Kevin is fairly camera shy but I have one of him also and will send it.........

The three guys in back from left to right are:

Jason, Sharon's son-in-law
Keldon Seeber, Sharons oldest child
Ernie, Lace's father

Below them starting on left :

Lori, my oldest daughter
Shawn, Lori's oldest son
Nikki, my daughter
Ray, Nikki's husband
Robyn, Sharons oldest daughter
Lace, Sharons youngest daughter
Sharon
Stasy, Sharons middle daughter

In front of Lori
Peggi, and Lindsay in front of me, Lori's youngest
Zachary, Lori's middle son
Sierra, Stasy's daughter

Kneeling below Robyn is her daughter Aun Marie
Mom, the queen of our tribe!
Larissa, Kelly's wife
Mychy, Stasy's son
Job is sitting in the chair, he is Kelly and Larissa's youngest and only one of their kids at the gathering

Down in front is :

Adrian (we call him Chui) he is Nikki and Ray's youngest
Avery, Lori's youngest son
Emily, Lori's oldest girl
Darian, Nikki's oldest

Will get more posted as time permits.

Post from: Peggi

Hanging Out In Camp

Click on image to enlarge

Rian and Gina at the table, Ray standing and Lori, Zach and myself on the right.
-Peggi

Kevin in the 18-Wheeler

Kevin works for Bob Kelly and was in the area already when he stopped in for our visit.
-Peggi

My new ride

Hi all,

Here are a couple photos of my new ride.

It is a 1995 Heritage Softail Nostalgia model. Rides like Lincoln Continental compared to my Sportster. But getting used to the heavier weight when I stop, start out, back into a parking spot, etc... is the fun part!!! I love it though. We hope to go for a ride this afternoon. Someone here right now looking at one of our classic cars that needs total restoration.

We have decided that we will never get these cars all done so are going to sell a few. We have a really cool fastback Mustang that Jim completely restored and another Mustang coupe about 1/2 done. That will probably be about it. I do have a 69 Cougar that I would love to have done, but we shall see. The bikes are taking up so much of our free time now.

Still hoping to see photos and/or posts from the rest of you. Peggi asked for a photo of our cabin. I will try to get that posted soon.

Love, Bunny

P.S. Anyone want to buy a really cool Sportster?