Author Archives: Ellen

200 Fridays of Favorites…

Today Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is celebrating the 200th Friday’s Fave Five!

I picked up a book at Goodwill of Prayers by Michel Quoist. On the subject of Thankfulness he writes:

“We must know how to say, “Thank You.” Our days are filled with the gifts the Lord showers on us. If we were in the habit of taking stock of them, at night we should be like a “queen for the day,” dazzled and happy with so many blessings. We should then be grateful to God, secure because he gives us everything, joyful because we know that every day he will renew his gifts.”

Because Jesus died and rose again paying the debt for all my sin to God, I am forever His thankful child.

Here are my 5 for this week:

1. Thank you Lord, for these girls who came into my life unexpectedly and have become my true blue friends!

2. Thank you Lord, for my “Dear” who provides for me, is faithful in our marriage and is always willing to do those little and big home improvements.

3. Thank you Lord, for our children and the good relationship with have with them. Thank you that they stay in contact with us and find ways to spend time with us in person or with phone calls.

4. Thank you Lord, for all the beauty you have created for us to enjoy.

5. Thank you Lord, for our abundance of good things to eat and that we’ve never gone hungry.

What are your favorites this week?

I’m adding this link to my very first Fave post.

Summer Fullness…

I love this time of summer when everything is still lush and green and full.

Soon enough things will dry out and wither.

Tonight we’re having a party on the deck. Our Bible Study small group is getting together since we haven’t met since May. The weather sounds like it will cooperate for us.

Dear’s vacation starts tomorrow. We have some fun things planned before just like an American he has some work on the house planned. Why is it we Americans use our vacations for work? Europeans really know how to take a holiday. I think I’ll dub 2013 early as our holiday year! I declare that 2013’s vacations will be vacations. Now Lord willing we’ll be granted that desire…

Have a great day everyone!

Mid-Summer Note Card Party…

I’m linking up with Vee at A Haven for Vee for her Note Card Party.

We are still in an interesting weather pattern here in the great Northwest. We’ve had thunderstorms and sunshine off and on. Wednesday night I’m looking forward to an International friendly soccer game between the English Premier team Chelsea and our own Seattle Sounders. I’ll be attending with my son Josh. Hope you are all having a good summer…

Party Crashers!

It seems as though every time the 10 Mennonite Girls Can Cook get together these two party crashers show up!

They always have a lot to say.

They made hints that we slighted them and ignored them while they were traveling through Chilliwack on the train. They claim they saw us and waved and we ignored them.

They travel with the latest “Herald” magazine in hand and always have a loaf of bread with them.

It is quite uncanny that they can find our gatherings no matter how remote…

 We always enjoy their brief appearances!

I’m beginning to wonder if they are long lost relatives of our own Kathy and Marg…

Almost Fully Bloomed…

Our hydrangea is finally showing us it’s color. Soon it will be fully bloomed.

I made 2 trips to Canada this past week. My first trip was full with a reunion of the girls from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It is rare that the 10 of us can all be together but we were able to pull it off on Wednesday of last week. We enjoyed a full day together with great food and fellowship. Tuesday and Thursday sandwiched all 10 of us together on Wednesday with smaller gatherings. Hearty slices of time with a wonderful filling in between!

Fun little gifts kept coming out at our different gatherings. Here are the gifts I brought home across the line…

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul. Proverbs 16:24

Friends are the flowers in the garden of life…

This description for this gift made me smile!

A fun basket of treats on my bed from my hostess Marg. Marg brought all of us a special treat from St. Petersburg, beautifully woven napkins. My gift to the girls was not confiscated at the Border…

Bags filled with lavender. I’ll be staying in the U.S.A. this week but am looking forward to a soccer game with the English Premier team Chelsea vs. the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday.

I’m linking up with Mary for Mosaic Monday.

O Be Careful Little Eyes ~ Children’s Bible Song

O Be Careful Little Eyes

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There’s a Father up above
Looking down with tender love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

O be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little ears what you hear
There’s a Father up above
Looking down with tender love
So, be careful little ears what you hear

O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There’s a Father up above
Looking down with tender love
So, be careful little hands what you do

O be careful little feet where you go
O be careful little feet where you go
There’s a Father up above
Looking down with tender love
So, be careful little feet where you go

O be careful little mouth what you say
O be careful little mouth what you say
There’s a Father up above
Looking down with tender love
So, be careful little mouth what you say

Did you sing this song in Sunday School?  There are different versions out there. This song was running through my head this week and I decided to post it for my Sunday hymn.

I Never Dreamed…

…”Mongolia” could come to your own backyard. The Mongolian Grill guy and his sweet wife came to Marg and John’s lovely yard to prepare a fun meal for all of us.

The grill is the Mongolian Guys own creation and the men folk were very interested to see how it was put together. The grill surface is a saw blade re-purposed for cooking on. You push down on a pedal with your foot to turn the saw blade. Reminded me of a sewing machine pedal.

Rocks played a big role for our outdoor meal, too. Different sized and shaped rocks helped to identify whose bowl of goodies dumped on the grill belonged to who. That lovely pile beside the big rock was my meat and veggie choice. I’ll show you the choices of veggies and meat and sauces we had after I show you the other role the rocks played…

Thankfully on this warm evening there was a very nice breeze so the rocks were stationed strategically to hold down the table linens! The wind also kept some mosquitoes at bay.

Marg thought of everything in creating a wonderful atmosphere for our evening meal together.

Her “appy” table was filled with yummy spreads and salsas and Rainier cherries.

When the grill was hot and ready to go we got our instructions on filling our bowls with our choices of veggies, nuts, seeds, hard noodles, and raw meats. I chose celery, bean sprouts, baby corn, zucchini, water chestnuts, almonds, and beef.

Now it was time to pick the sauce…

I picked the lemon ginger soy and headed out to the grill.

I fought my way to the front and dumped my bowl of goodies on the grill.

The “Grill Guy” did the rest and it was cooked to perfection. You can see why I picked the large rock to identify my portion. There was no missing it for sure!

After the grill was shut down it was time to set the island for dessert!

“Many hands make light work”

Thank you Marg and John for an unforgettable evening.

More to come…

Back in the U.S.A.

Oh the fun we packed into our time together in Canada. This shot of the MGCC was taken at Marg’s house on Wednesday night. It’s always quite special when the 10 of us can get together. Not an easy feat for sure.

On Thursday morning I said goodbye to Canada and was welcomed back into the U.S.A. with a smiling Border Agent who told me to have a nice day.

On Saturday I’m headed to Canada again to a meeting at the MCC Conference in Vancouver. Pretty soon I’ll be speaking Canadian…eh!

Hope you all have a nice day, too!

A Lovely Weekend…

This was our first true summer weekend here in the Pacific Northwest. The sun has been shining brightly since the 4th of July. We finally just puttered about the yard and stayed home.

After I finished my puttering inside I sat out in the shade to keep an eye on Dear while he was up on those high ladders.

He worked on the trim on the garage. Thankfully he was shaded most of the time.

I think pansies and violas are the sweetest little flowers. They make me smile.

I still have a few more pots that need some fresh flowers in them. On Sunday there was one more project I needed to get done.

Rosella reminded me that it was time to add our next layer of fruit to our topfs! Rosella’s is Rumtopf and mine is Smirntopf! We both added cherries. I know I have a cherry pitter somewhere that Dear’s mother owned but it’s probably tucked away in the attic so I improvised and used a fondue fork to pit my cherries. You were right Rosella…it’s not easy to pit cherries and it’s good to wash a load of dishes when you are done so you can get the cherry juice stain off your hands and fingernails! My blueberries aren’t quite ready to pick yet so they will wait till the next layer…

This is the beginning of a very busy week for me with travel to Canada for 3 days included. I don’t know how often I’ll be checking in. Still praying for those of you suffering in the hotter than normal temps and for the areas that are desperate for some rain. May God shade you and refresh you with his rain…