It's about LOVE! 25 Years' Worth

 

To:                  My Beloved Family

From:              Will and Deb

Subject:           August Wedding

Date:  February 26, 2001

Dear Beloved Family,

Greetings from beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho.  Deb and I are enjoying a weekend away from the bustling city of Boise to start planning the greatest day of our lives.  In case you were wondering, this day has nothing to do with a concert or a sporting event; rather, it deals with our marriage.  That’s right, our wedding day!

We wish to extend an invitation to all of you to join us on August 11, 2001 at 3 p.m. for our jump into wedded bliss.  We planned this day on purpose as it falls the day before our wonderful grandmother’s 80^th birthday celebration.  So, as Deb and I see it, none of you has an excuse not to come to our wedding.  Besides, there will be some great food there, and we know how much everyone in our family likes food.

Anyway, we have locked in Saturday, the 11^th of August for the wedding, and we wanted to let everyone know well in advance so you can start making your plans.  

The Festival at Sandpoint will probably be taking place that weekend, so you might want to make your plans soon.

We are both very excited, and we are looking forward to everyone joining us on our wedding day.

Have a good afternoon.

Will and Deb

Dear Debbie,

First, I’d like to thank you for your part in the wonderful birthday, Father’s Day, anniversary surprise.  Bill and I are really going to enjoy becoming masters of the DVD technology.  

We’ve already enjoyed a couple of movies, and I even figured out how to get one going last night WITHOUT guidance.  The gift is very much appreciated.

Secondly, I want you to know we’re doing our best to keep on top of wedding plans up this way.  Again, I hope that everything is to your satisfaction so far.  

Because of the distance between the bunch of us, some decisions are made in the interest of simplicity.  

Who knows?  Maybe that’s all for the best because if we were all together, we’d probably be more indecisive.  Anyway, if anything is not what you want, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.  As I told you on the phone, I never want to step on anyone’s toes.

Willie and I did have fun this past week, making contacts with everyone involved.  I HOPE we’ve made contacts with everyone involved; I always have these moments where I think we’ve maybe forgotten some key element.  I’ve put together the list of who, where, when as best I know it---complete with telephone numbers for quick reference.  Will continue to update it as needed.

We are all looking forward to this wonderful event, and once again, I want to say how thrilled we are that soon you’ll be a full-fledged member of our family.  We think Willie has found a true gem in you; he is a fortunate young man.

Please tell your mother I’m looking forward to visiting with her and that if she has any wishes or questions to feel free to call me. 

We’re hoping their week in Sandpoint will turn out to be a wonderful, wonderful memory, and we’ll do all we can to see that that happens. 

Thanks again for the gift, and please drop me a line or call me if you have any questions or additions to the information sheet.

Marianne💓

💙💚💛💜💙💚💛💜

On this day, 25 years ago, "Arby Melt Boy" married "Polar Swirl Girl" at St. Joseph's Catholic Church--- adding a beautiful human being to our family.

What a fun day that was as a Catholic priest (Fr. TJ O'Donovan) and a Presbyterian minister (Nancy Copeland Payton) performed the ceremony.  

Afterward, the wedding party climbed aboard a rented trailer pulled by the old Ford tractor which was driven by my brother Kevin. 

On their way to the reception at the then Forum (now Mick Duff's beer hall), they passed the marquee at Arby's which proudly announced that former employee Arby Melt Boy Willie had married Polar Swirl Girl Debbie. 

Twenty-five years later, Ma and Pa Love and Annie Love are thrilled to wish Willie and Debbie a very special day of celebration. 

What a union of two amazing people it has been! 

We love you both so much and wish you the best as you celebrate this milestone in your marriage. 

You inspire us and the community every day. 

On to the Golden years and the Golden Celebration!

💚💚💚💚💚💚

Speaking of Love, Dawn Britton aka LOVE and her hubby retired a few years ago and moved to San Sebastian, Spain. 

Dawn grew up just down the road from us where the Filipowski's now live. 

When I saw on Facebook that another former student Sue Hatch Smith and her hubby were traveling through Spain and visiting San Sebastian, I sent a text to Sue, suggesting that they look up Dawn. 

They did, and the foursome enjoyed getting acquainted and had a great visit. 

It's always fun making the world smaller and connecting wonderful people.   

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and enjoy the song by CAAMP.  

Weekend Wrap

 

It is what it is. 

It's not very thrilling. 

We left relatively clear blue skies in Seattle yesterday morning and headed east. 

About an hour after our departure, we could see clearly what we would soon be encountering for the rest of the drive, the evening at home and, now, the day ahead. 

Smoke continues to dominate the skies, almost erasing clouds and mountains and casting a pall of gloom any direction we look. 

Along with the smoke is the dry air and the dust. 

The barnyard was so deep with dust yesterday that I set the sprinkler next to the fence so that the horses would get a break from the constant dust and dirty air. 

The present conditions have taken their toll with more evacuations in the region and cancellation of events---most prominently here in Sandpoint with the last two Festival concerts cancelled. 

Again, it is what it is, and it appears that the moody atmosphere will continue until we get some rain. 

Happily, every so often, I  do spot a pretty flower or an impressive garden scene, and those close-up scenes deflect from the gloom.

Bill and I are feeling lucky because we drove away from the smoke for a while and enjoyed a fun weekend in Seattle. 

So, I'm not complaining---just observing.

 

That's Bill's biscuits and gravy from yesterday's continental breakfast at the Hampton in Northgate.   

I knew Debbie would enjoy the photo because she is a b and g fan. 

Today is a good day to concentrate on finding beauty in the gloom.  It's there; we just need to look for it in the people we know and the places we go. 

Football season is back. 

Fans descended on Lumen Field Saturday evening to watch the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks practice for their opening game this weekend. 

The Seahawks will host the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday at Lumen Field. 

There will be Love's in the stadium for the game. 

Willie and Debbie, who are coming back today from Boise, will head over to Seattle for the game.

I wanted to add a neat photo today, taken by Sam on Saturday evening at the Mariners' 50th anniversary program. 

As part of announcing and introducing the 50 top players for the Mariners, four members of that group received special attention as they walked out together. 

How many remember Ken Griffey, Jr., Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki and Randy Johnson?

Adding another dimension to the gloom last night was a two-hour power outage here in the neighborhood.  

It affected 1,100 users and the total darkness definitely added a spooky element to the situation.  

Twas nice to see it come back on, but we have to be prepared for more outages because the system is set up to go down if fire conditions get worse. 

We need rain!

Until we have a good downpour, we'll just have to do our best to maintain a positive outlook and enjoy life however we can. 

Happy Monday. 

All in the Family Day!

 

                                                     --Kevin Brown Photos

Whether it was reconnecting with classmates in Boise, watching after the animals in smoky Sandpoint, sightseeing and hugging cousins in Seattle or becoming champions in Manitoba, Canada, our family members had a big day yesterday. 

And, of course for all of us, the impressive lead-off in all these collective activities occurred in Branson, Manitoba, where our sister Laurie rode to three Canadian Arabian Show National Championships and one Reserve on Siri. 

Laurie and our brother Kevin own Siri, and she, like most of our horses, came from Ravenwood Arabians in Ronan, Mont.  Hats off to breeder Jane Bohn. 

As our sister Barbara, who was home minding the farm and the animals, put it, Laurie and Siri amassed these Western dressage winnings in about two hours time.  

And, that was after a daunting and discouraging second day on their trip to Manitoba, which included a nail in a tire that had to be replaced, a bout of colic in Siri which led them to a veterinary hospital and some time-consuming paperwork glitches at the US-Canadian border. 

Laurie, however, probably heard the word "quitter" resounding in her memories of our mother who made it clear during Laurie's childhood years that being a "quitter" was not a wise practice in the family unit. 

And so, Laurie usually opts for the opposite:  being a "winner," and win they did in this marathon adventure across two states and two Canadian provinces. 

Congratulations to Laurie, Kevin and Siri on a job very well done. 

Laurie's from Sandpoint and our family. 

WE are FAMILY, and we are all very proud of her!  

Meanwhile, Willie and Debbie continued to enjoy Debbie's 30th-year Boise High School class reunion in Southern Idaho.  

No photos from yesterday, but the Payette River rafting adventure pics from Friday's activities looked like quite the experience.  Debbie said they had a blast. 

Here in Seattle, our day was packed full from start to finish, and, unlike Sandpoint which had a terrible smoky day yesterday, it wasn't the bluest skies in Seattle.  

Neverthess, it was dang close in comparison to other places around the region as we enjoyed the renovated Market area and took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and back. 

Bill was thrilled to spend some time in the map store.  Annie gave up on finding the geocache hidden in the gum wall. Sam and Annie spent the day searching ways to help us carry our goods and for Bill to finally find a charger cord for his phone. 

We walked through the gates at T-Mobile with ease, thanks to Annie and Sam's past strategies for entering the baseball stadium with as little stress as possible. 

We enjoyed a beer while watching practice and then found our seats to see the special ceremony honoring the Mariners franchise 50-year celebration.  

The program included the University of Washington marching band and introduction of the 50 top players in Mariners history. 

The ceremony was spectacular, to say the least, even if the Mariners success at the game with the Mariners hosting Tampa Bay didn't go so well. 

Early into the game, we learned that my first cousins Sue and Patti Skelton were at the game.  So, in addition to meeting Annie's friends Charity and Chris, we enjoyed a quick reunion with Patti and Sue, whom I had not seen since before the Pandemic. 

All in all, it was a wonderful day in many ways for our family.  Well, maybe not the best for Barbara minding the farm in the smoke, but, at the end of the day,  I think she was pretty proud of our little sister. 

Bill and I head home soon, while the other travelers arrive home tomorrow, enriched by precious memories wherever we happened to be. 

A good day, indeed. 

Enjoy the photos.

This just in from Boise.  Yay, Debbie. 

                                                     --Charity Richardson photo