Cynthia Taggart

Mary Kotnour holds her goddaughter, Laura Felipa Munoz Saravia. Family photo

I vowed my first day in the new Mazda last spring that no dirt would darken that virgin minivan. But after summer started, the only clean water to hit the car fell from the clouds. I know Labor Day weekend is the time to strip summer slime from the family funmobile. But I'm not sure I'm ready.

Hoffschneider

Kopczynski

Natalia Brown is ready for the challenge: going from elementary to middle school. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Moulton

Full-time gardeners Rhonda Pickles and Joelle Storey. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review

Steve Soper with his hand-control-equipped car

No one knows Coeur d'Alene's thrift stores like my daughter. I am in awe of Megan's ability to turn a simple dollar into an elaborate outfit complete with shoes and jewels. Thrift-store shopping bores me but thrills and challenges Megan, who's 14. Where else but Goodwill could she find men's shoes on three-inch high platforms spray-painted gold? Or a three-dimensional poodle poster? Her shopping circuit includes seven stores and starts at Goodwill at 1212 N. Fourth St. Goodwill moved into the old supermarket two years ago, scrubbed the floors, added neon signs inside for a department store look and trashed the idea that all thrift stores smell musty.

The Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre.

Blame Kellogg's population explosion on Alice Edwards. She's a great-grandmother who likes to bring the flock home - at least for one weekend every now and then. In her case, the flock is 2,000 to 3,000 strong. Alice invites home anyone who wore the purple and gold of Kellogg High. "We just like to get together and visit, talk about people we dated. It's so much fun," says Alice, making the mega-gathering sound like a family picnic.

Liz Steve, left, and family members Becky Brown, Dee Dee Brown and Martha Votava, work the sausage booth.

Kasey Roth

The daisies outside the bedroom in the house where I grew up belong to someone else now. For all I know, the soft white rug on which I collapsed to do homework is serving as a nest for some other teenage girl. This year, Mom and Dad sold the house that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. They'd lived there 30 years. But the crime, earthquakes, traffic and smog finally pushed them north. On Saturday, they arrived in Coeur d'Alene to stay.

The Ridenours have turned "Annie" into a family project. Stephanie, Katy, Vickey, Steve and Elizabeth are all involved in the production at Lake City Playhouse. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Unpublished correction: The name of Higgens Point is misspelled in this story. This information is from the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation. Starlene Staudt and her sometimes-Elvis concrete goose stop traffic on Fourth Street in Dalton Gardens. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Sherrill and Pat Grounds

Joe Clark got his dream - Conkling Park Marina. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Fern Agte is one of the grand marshals for the Plummer Days parade this year. She was picked because she has lived in the area since 1911. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Father Simeon Kasik: "Children are struggling, screaming for help." Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Tedi Watson had to put her European vacation plans on hold after being hit in the head by a softball. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

The smiling faces in a newspaper engagement announcement a few weeks ago enraged Anneliese Miller. The woman in the photo was a home health nurse who had stolen $1,200 from Anneliese's grandmother-in-law, Estella Barnes, a year ago. According to the engagement announcement, Sabryna Klug of Rathdrum, Idaho, still is a nurse's aide. The state's Board of Nursing confirmed the news. It had renewed Sabryna's certificate in January, four months after she had confessed to grand theft. The reason for the renewal: Sabryna, 24, hadn't abused or neglected Estella.

Tom Tomlinson with team.

Ed and Karen Worthley and son Jason were burned out of their homes. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review