Garvie Family Blog

2011 Christmas Letter

2011-11-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Another year flew by- can we just slow it down a little bit? The kids keep growing taller and their lives are getting busier.

Dirk played soccer this year (I can finally claim to be a soccer mom) and wants to be on the High School team in the Spring. I can't believe he is a freshman- I still want to pick him up at the middle school! He is a BIG Oregon Ducks fan- hope he chooses to go to college there....

Alex is now sponsored by 2 skate companies- Mad Monkey and Datos (which means he gets free skateboards). He is working at Sahara Pizza, Thompson Hill Winery & Bed & Breakfast, and teaching Lil' Kickers Soccer at LifeQuest. He took the semester off from college, but is returning in Jan. to take business classes. His glass biz is hopping right now during the holidays.www.GlassArtByAlex.blogspot.com

He's on YouTube, also.

Paine is still working at the site, glad to still have his job (lots of lay-offs). Still golfing every Friday and some weekends. He's been busy on Wed. evenings helping serve dinner for the Celebrate Recovery group at church, attending Men's Bible Study, and playing basketball afterwards. Comes home pretty beat up every time.....

I am still working at Tapteil Winery (and have a new title of Tasting Room Manager). While it's closed for the winter, I am teaching craft classes at Hobby Lobby.

My big trip in October this year was to Tennessee, Kentucky & Indiana. I have so many friends living there now- I was able to be there for 9 days! LOVED that!

Paine & I went to his Barrington High School 40th Reunion in Rhode Island this summer. We visited with his little brother, his old school chums, and got to tour his boyhood home.

Mom, Dad, & Willa are well and keeping busy in the Tri-Cities. Nana has discovered Dial A Ride, using it on Thursdays for her prayer group. The three of them play Mexican Train with their neighbors on Wed. nights. Mom is learning to paint watercolors. Dad is still in the woodcarving group and the Mustang Club.

Paine has been flying down to San Francisco monthly to visit his brother Bob. Bob is still in & out of Stanford University Hospital, but hopefully when we see him, he will be in a new facility that will get him back on his feet again. We visited him over Spring Break, but he was still in the ICU. He's sounding better everyday we talk to him. Thank you for all your prayers. He says it's working!

Blessings to you for the new year!

Paine, Gayle, Alex, Dirk, & Hunter

2010 Christmas Letter

2010-12-14T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hello family & friends! Another year has come and gone too quickly. I can vaguely remember what happened this year (another sign of old age), so I will relate what my calendar tells me.

Dirk is in 8th grade at Carmichael Middle School. He has all men teachers this year and is getting really good grades. He likes to play tennis & Xbox. He has set a goal to be an exchange student in New Zealand his Jr. year of high school. Anybody have any connections? He went to Camp Ghormley again for summer camp and recently went to his first school dance. We didn't hear any details, though.....

Alex's life has been much busier. The first half of the year he graduated from Richland High School, taught skateboarding, turned 18, worked at Dream Dinners, and he has an ongoing "small group" at church.

He entered the High School Senior Art competition where they displayed his glass at Columbia Basin College (CBC). It went on to the state level and was on display at the state capital building in Olympia. Then he also showed & sold at the Allied Arts Gallery in Richland. 2 weeks ago he participated in his first holiday bazaar. It was VERY profitable for a one day sale, so I think he'll do it again next year.

During the summer, a local journalist from the Tri-City Herald came out and interviewed him and printed a full page article about Alex & his glass in the Sunday paper. See his blog to read the whole thing. Here is a link to the Herald with extra photos, too.

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/09/26/1186149/teen-a-glass-act.html#ixzz130LhfnDE

That article has produced many blessings for him. But the biggest blessing came from a guy that works up in North Richland at PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) with Battelle in their glass lab. He emailed Alex and asked if he'd like to intern there while he's in college. Well, long story short, he's just finished his 1st semester at CBC and started working at Battelle yesterday! He even got to mix up some chemicals to make glass! They told him to wait to take his college chemistry classes until after they train him- that it would make his classes much easier to understand. So, this job will work around his school schedule and he can work more during the holidays and summer. Hopefully it will lead to a long career path. Not bad for a kid that did not know what he wanted to major in!

Alex also bought his first car and her name is Veronika the Volvo. He will be throwing his snowboard & gear in the back and heading to the slopes with his friends.

Gayle is busy with her 3 part-time jobs; Tapteil Winery & Vineyards, Alexandria Nicole Cellars, and Dream Dinners. She also runs the Willowbrook Community Club and Women Who Wine (WWW) group. See those blogs to the right. Last January the WWW blended and bottled their own Super Tuscan Blend. This January it will be a Bordeaux Blend.

Gayle's parents and grandma are doing well. They've had LOTS of family & friends come visit. We've taken a few days trips around the area with them. Gayle takes her Grandma to her Thursday Prayer meeting & her Dad to Weight Watchers. Jack & Jimee are still in the Wed. Wood Carving Club. The three of them get together weekly with their church small group, too.

Gayle is still involved with Central Church's Women's Ministry, Scrapbook Club, Women's Bible Studies, and volunteers at the Welcome Center once a month.

Paine is still golfing in his free time. Labor Day week this year was in Austin, Texas. He'd like to do more, I'm sure, but he's pretty busy with his job and our church. He volunteers every week to greet at the front door, set up the band, cooks for the men's breakfasts, helps with the Men's Advance (Retreat), Share Fest, Raise Your Tents, and Walk With Christ events. His brother Bob has been very ill, so he's been going to SanFrancisco often to visit and lend a hand. Please keep him in your prayers.

Our summer vacation this year was in Orcas Island. What a beautiful spot.We did a little hiking, shopping, skateboarding, played cards, had a full day of fishing, did a day trip to Friday Harbor, and mostly marveled at the beautiful views. The house we rented had a resident deer that hung out right by the deck. On the way home, we stopped in Stanwood to tour the Pilchuck Glass School. We also went to the zoo and Chateau St. Michelle. Fun trip for all!!!

Dec. 1st, Paine & Gayle had their 20 year Anniversary. Seems like yesterday......

Well, I think that's the end of 2010. We wish you and your loved ones a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Brian, Melissa, & Katie

2009-12-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

Bruce & June

2009-12-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-02T13:19:00.001-08:00

2009 Christmas Letter

2009-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family,

We are trying to go green and save some recession dollars by doing a blog instead of a Christmas letter. You can check it all year long to see what we are up to!
Paine: is still out at the Hanford site doing his part in cleaning up nuclear waste. He just returned from a golf trip in Texas with my brother Gregg and his nephews Rob & Lee.

Dirk: In 7th grade, has lots of friends, likes hanging out at Gramee & Papa's house, playing XBOX, doing well in school, watches football with Paine and horse races with Papa, & has a wicked sense of humor!

Alex: A high school SENIOR this year! He is still teaching skateboarding at the Kennewick Parks Dept. and has started a new business. Go to http://www.glassartbyalex.blogspot.com/ to see his bio and all the galleries/stores where he's showing & selling his wares.

Gayle: Braces came off in October! Still working at Dream Dinners http://www.dreamdinners.com/

and Tapteil Winery http://www.tapteil.com/

Teaching beading classes at http://www.crownjewelbeads.com/

I love all my jobs and bosses.

Having fun with all my girlfriends once a month at http://www.womenwhowhine.blogspot.com/

Our neighborhood has had many fun events this year. Go to http://www.willowbrookcc.blogspot.com/

We are all enjoying having my parents and grandma close by. Nana & I go to bible studies together. We all attended the Paden Family Reunion at Crooked River Ranch, Oregon in July. Gregg's family and Uncle Bill came here the following week and we took the jet boat ride up the Columbia River to Hanford Reach. We went cruising with Papa Jack in his Edsel during the Cool Desert Nights event in Richland.

Paine and the boys went river rafting twice this year- once in Idaho and again on the Tieton River in WA.

For my dad's birthday in August, we all went over to Tacoma to the Emerald Downs horseraces, the Museum of Glass http://www.museumofglass.org/ , (click on Live Glassmaking /Hot Shop), the zoo and over to Roselyn (famous for Northern Exposure show).

Thanksgiving dinner was in our home this year with the whole family. Jack, Jimee, Willa, Bruce & June Gillespie, Melissa, Brian and Katie Borel came over from Woodinville.
Paine & I will be going back to the Green Gables Inn for our 19th anniversary in Dec. Hopefully I'll have some snow pictures to add next week.
Have a wonderful Christmas. We thank the Lord we have friends and family like you.

Blessings,
Paine, Gayle, Alex, & Dirk

2009-11-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

Alex's Graduation Photo

2009-11-11T17:36:00.000-08:00

Jimee, Willa, & Jack

2009-01-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

Our REAL Christmas photo

2009-01-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

Will you look at that....

2009-01-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

Our funny Christmas photo

2009-01-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it?

2009-01-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

A very happy Dad

2009-01-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Edsel Story in the paper

2009-01-17T06:26:00.001-08:00

Richland man receives gift 50 years in the making
By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer
var comments_story_id = 423043;
Jack Hurst has been in love with the Edsel ever since he laid eyes on his first one in 1957.
He'd have bought one, but being a family man he needed something more practical. So he got a station wagon instead.
He even belonged to an Edsel club for 23 years without ever owning one.
More than 50 years later, Hurst's son and daughter made his dream come true by handing him the keys Saturday night to his own cherry '58 Edsel Pacer as a surprise Christmas gift.
"I love it," the Richland man said, his eyes glistening with tears. "It's beautiful."
Hurst's daughter, Gayle Garvie, lured her father to what he thought was just a Christmas party at Columbia Valley Luxury Cars in Richland.
Garvie and her brother, Gregg Hurst, who lives in Texas, bought the car on eBay from an owner in West Virginia about a month ago, but had to hide it until they could spring the gift on their dad.
Garvie enlisted the help of friend Nathan Merz, who owns the car company. Merz stored the car and had his detailer clean and polish it.
But the real challenge was trying to prevent Hurst from buying a car on his own.
Hurst said he had been looking for an Edsel on eBay lately, and almost bought one in October but was outbid by $50.
Garvie said about a week ago, her Dad mentioned buying himself a truck, and she had to talk him out of it without trying to spoil the surprise.
But she managed to do it and Hurst looked forward to driving his vintage white-and-chrome car home, and to showing it off at the Cool Desert Nights annual classic car event next summer in Richland.
There are about 6,000 Edsels left of more than 100,000 manufactured between 1957 and 1960, according to a letter Gregg Hurst wrote about his search for the perfect car for his dad.
The Edsel was considered a marketing disaster for Ford Motor Co., and the line was discontinued after just three years. But the cars now are considered collectible classics.

2009-01-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

2008 -

What a year! We don't really remember much about the first of the year, but we DO remember June. Alex's best friend Cody graduated from Richland High School, my parents came to visit and look at real estate, Paine golfed, Alex skateboarded (and taught skateboard lessons at the Kennewick Parks Dept.), Dirk painted curbs and went to camp, Gayle worked at Dream Dinners and Tapteil Winery. Whew!
On 4th of July weekend, we went camping (the 4 of us, Cody and Hunter) to Ft. Stevens State Park (the northwest corner of Oregon). Good thing we put a trailer hitch on our Honda van! See photos.
At the end of July, Paine, his nephew Lee (from Texas) and Alex drove to cousin Steve's in Anaconda, Montana to golf. See photos.
In August we hosted the Willowbrook Wine Event at Tapteil. To see more, go to http://www.willowbrookcc.blogspot.com/
Gayle also formed a "Women Who Wine" group. They go to different local wineries once a month. To see more, go to http://www.womenwhowhine.blogspot.com/
Paine did his usual golf trip on Labor Day weekend to Orange County, CA.
After Gayle's parents got back to Southern Calif., they started getting their two houses ready to sell. They worked really hard on the Cambria beach house, thinking it would take awhile to sell. They cleaned it so well, that it sold in one week and at the full asking price! So, they started looking harder for a house online in the Richland area. They spotted one that caught their eye, Gayle went and looked at it , knew it was the perfect house and ----- they bought it without seeing it! See photos.
So, in the meantime, Gayle went to Nashville, TN to see Gwen & Carl Hubert, then drove up to Louisville, Kentucky and Henryville, Indiana for the annual scrapbooking retreat. See photos.
Paine invited his buddy Howie from Vermont for some fishing on the Columbia River. See photos.
The 1st of November we were cleaning the new house, having the floors refinished and making it sparking clean for Jack & Jimee. It would have been awful if they walked into their new house and didn't like it. They arrived on Sunday, Nov.16 and they LOVED it! The truck arrived the next day with all their BOOKS! Oh, and the furniture. What they didn't know was that Gregg (their youngest son) had just bought Jack a 1958 Ford Edsel Pacer on ebay the day before. Now we had to keep it a secret from them until it arrived from West Virginia. We kept busy, unpacking boxes and decorating. We needed to get grandma Willa's rooms ready for her arrival around the end of November. Nana is 90 and she was living in the same complex as Mom & Dad in Seal Beach. Now they are going to live here together. The house is perfect for them. Nana has her own side of the house with a bedroom, living room/kitchen and bathroom. The laundry room is close, also. Mom & Dad have the Master Suite on the other side of the family room. The walkin closet was as big as their old carport! The kitchen is very big with a pantry and dinette area, they have a formal living room, dining room and a guest room/office. Dirk has taken up residence there on Friday nights. Jack got a 3 car garage and a shed in anticipation that he'd finally GET an Edsel. He was about to give up hope.
We had our first Thanksgiving dinner together with Gayle's parents in 18 years. See photos. Grandma Willa didn't make it for Thanksgiving- the airlines were booked, but she arrived with Uncle Bill from Alaska on Dec. 3rd.The Edsel showed up on Dec. 10 at 7a.m. We hid it in a local garage and had Alex & Cody detail it.

See photos of it coming off the delivery truck.
Paine & Gayle went to Walla Walla to the Green Gables Inn for a belated 18 year anniversary weekend.
We planned a Christmas party for Dec. 20 at Columbia Valley Luxury Cars showroom. Our friends, the Merz' helped us arrange the surprise. All our friends (and Paine's brother Bob) showed up at 5pm. We had food, music, wine and beautiful cars to gawk at. At 6:00, Gayle introduced her parents and grandma. Then she told them that we had a little surprise. Just like Vanna, she turned around, the garage door rolled up, and Santa came driving into the party in the Edsel. Jack said "Will you look at that!" and he had tears in his eyes. See all the photos and newspaper article in the Tri-City Herald.
Paine's cousin Steve came from Montana to spend Christmas with us, too. We had a houseful!
We didn't get any Christmas cards out (and now you know why), so hopefully you got a Valentine instead.We are so grateful to have more family here and all the wonderful friends like you- we are truly blessed.Please email or call us anytime (or check our blog to see what's up!)

Paine, Gayle, Alex, & Dirk.