Author Archives: Ellen

FFF ~ Back to It…

 

I’ve missed a few weeks of Friday’s Fave Five because of Christmas and all but I’m getting back to it now. Thank you to Susanne at Living to tell the Story for hosting this event each Friday. Click on the logo above to join in…

 

1. Fresh flowers in the winter are such a treat. Our winters can be pretty dark so it’s so nice when the sun shines and brightens things up.

 

2. Our very cold and clear weather has afforded us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Sunrises are easier to see from inside my warm house then sunsets. This is a Sunrise…

 

3. Lots of good food has been cooked and eaten around here. These were the lamb chops we had on New Year’s Eve with a pepper cream sauce.

 

4. Dear’s new smoker is becoming a favorite around here.  Dear has smoked ribs, a Prime Rib Roast, and Pork Roasts in it already.

 

5. This last one is therapy I purchased for myself for $1.60. When I was little I always wished I’d get a package of Life Savers like this for Christmas. I saw them at the store and then saw kids at church who were flaunting them on Christmas morning. I never got one. When I was at the store this week there they were…a whole table of them for half-price. I stood there looking, then I picked one up and opened it to check the flavors of the rolls inside. I almost walked away and then I decided it was time to lay the wanting to rest and I threw one in the cart with a smile on my face and walked away. Ahhh…I’m free from that deprivation in my childhood!

6. This is an extra. Our daughter Katie was feeling ill at the beginning of the week and we were afraid it was appendicitis but it ended up being a kidney infection that could be treated with antibiotics and she’s feeling a whole lot better.  Yesterday a bag of groceries tore and a large bottle of juice landed on my big toe. Boy was I in a lot of pain and I thought it was broken but it’s feeling so much better today.

I’m looking forward to catching up with all of you this week…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Snowflake Tablescape

Our daughter Katie turned 25 last week and on the morning of a little dinner party planned for her it snowed here! A theme is born…the snowflake table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her snowflake taco party was a success!

 

The cake was a spice cake with snow on top. Yes of course that’s snow in the form of powdered sugar! The only problem with snow on top of a birthday cake is when you go to blow out the candles you also get a snow flurry!

I’m linking to the lovely Susan at Between Naps on the Porch please click on over to see some very nice tables set for our enjoyment!

 

Plates: Nikko – Vintage Lace Platinum from Marshalls  ~ Snowflake tablecloth, centerpiece, napkins and napkin rings are from Martha Stewart K-Mart collection  ~ Candle holders are from a garage sale ~ Goblets, cut glass dessert plates, cake plate and scarf I used as a runner are from thrift stores ~

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

60 in 2011!

 

This won’t be the last time you hear about this but I’m turning 60 this year. 60! I saw this great idea when I was visiting Pink Purl, Tracy’s Blog in Norway. She had a list of 40 things she was going to do before her 40th birthday in 2 years. I really liked the idea but I don’t have 2 years until I’m 60 so I’m trying to come up with 60 things to do this year. If you have any suggestions leave me a comment. Some good ideas I’ve gotten so far are:

~ Take $60 in dollar bills and hand them out randomly.

~ Send your parents 60 cards thanking them for having you and the way they raised you.

~Take a cross country road trip with your daughter.

~Do a book signing in a local book store and invite some friends to join you!

~Each month drive 60 miles on a different route……

~ Do 60 posts about one memory for each of your years – granted you may need some help for the earlier years!!

I’ll be coming up with some of my own and then honing the list down to 60 things soon. Or maybe I should start on some and keep adding others till I get to 60. Time will tell.

This weather we’ve been having has given us some real nice sunrises. I took this one at the top of the post on New Year’s Eve morning.

Hope your week is going well. I’m getting back in the regular groove around here.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

In Retrospect…

…2010 was a very eventful year for our family!

 

January~

A job interview for Dear in Seattle.

Dan completes the first stage of his training and flies home to Seattle for a week before he leaves again for a 10 month training period in Yuma, Arizona.

 

February ~

Dear and I fly to Seattle to spend some time with Dan before he leaves again.

Katie’s boyfriend Andrew flies to Seattle for us to meet him and spends a week with us.

Dear receives a job offer and gives notice at his current job.

We put our condo in California on the market.

Sad goodbyes to good friends and family in Southern California.

 

Dear’s last day at his California job and we pack up and leave on a 3 day roadtrip with our vehicles packed to the gills.

 

March ~

Arrive home in Seattle for good for now…

Seattle Sounders opening game for the season.

Celebrate my birthday in LaConner and get the amazing experience of seeing Snow Geese.

 

April ~

Easter Sunday meal at our house with Kulich that Lana and I made for the 2nd year in a row.

 

La Conner to meet up with 5 of the Mennonite girls for the first time!

 

Return to California to supervise the condo being packed up and our stuff moved to Seattle.

Katie joins me in California and we enjoy 2 days packed with family gatherings.

 

May ~

Andrew comes for another visit with Katie.

 

June ~

CONDO SELLS and escrow closes!

 

Andrew arrives for another visit before his Bootcamp begins.

 

World Cup begins

Family kayaking trip

 

Katie walks in her graduation from the University of Washington.

 

July ~

Uncle Ray dies ~ we attend funeral in Yuba City, Ca.

Lavender Festival

 

Family visits

 

 

August ~

Trip to Eastern Washington

Mennonite Girls Can Cook Summit in British Columbia to sign contract for our new cookbook.

 

September ~

2 days of nonstop fun with the Mennonite Girls in Abbotsford and Chiliwack.

 

South Carolina with Katie to attend Andrew’s graduation from Marine boot camp Parris Island.

 

Andrew asks Katie to marry him.

October ~

Tendonitis

Wedding Dress Shopping

 

Trip to Dallas with Dear to visit Leonard, Mandy and Miss Hope.

 

November ~

Dan is back in Washington after completing all his hands on training.

 

Early Thanksgiving celebration before Dan heads to his new home and work in North Eastern Washington.

 

Tim and Letty are here for Thanksgiving and the girls continue our Tea tradition.

 

Katie flies to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with Andrew and part of his family.

December ~

We celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary on Whidbey Island.

 

Dan arrives for a couple days for our Christmas celebration.

 

Andrew arrives for 10 day leave from the Marines for Christmas.

Wonderful Christmas with all our kids and future kid Andrew…

 

Celebrations continue with Katie’s birthday and New Years Eve…

 

God is faithful and his goodness to us is always good to consider and reflect on. That’s what I’m doing with this post.

The Lord knows what 2011 holds for us and we trust Him to get us through…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

The Solid Rock ~ Hymn

 

My Hope is Built

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

Words: Edward Mote, circa 1834.

Click here for the story behind this hymn.

Matthew 7:24-28 (ESV)

Build Your House on the Rock

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Happy New Year!

Hello 2011!

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New
~Alfred Tennyson 1850

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife,
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweet manners, purer laws.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

~

Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth.
~Martin Luther

С новым годом!

A Quarter of a Century Celebrated…

Poof went the Powdered Sugar when the 25 candles were blown…

 

We’re moving backwards here today…

 

We started with tacos…

 

 

Katy K. brought Katie some roses and she brought me these tulips. It was a nice reminder that Spring is around the corner. Thank you Katy K.!

 

The morning of this party we had snow so I decided the theme for the table would be snowflakes. Here’s the snow covered spice cake I made with a new wonderful ingredient that I’ll tell you all about later along with the recipe. I’ll also show the snowscape later.

 

Earlier in the day I was at the grocery store picking up ingredients for the party. I rounded a corner and stopped in my tracks when there it was… a full display of Valentine Day goodies. Yikes!

 

After the food was eaten, the birthday song sung, and the cake eaten my sister and her husband arrived from the airport with goodies from my mom and dad in California. This next treat is one of my very favorite that my mom makes and I’m hoping to get the recipe soon. Rulyet is what it is called in Russian.

 

We are all done with our Birthday Celebrations of 2010. We won’t be getting a big break though because both of our sons have birthdays in January. I guess we just were bent on having winter babies.

Hope your last days of 2010 are going well. I’m hoping to have some time to reflect on the coming year and contemplate things I won’t want to accomplish in 2011!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

The Ghost of Tablescape Past…

Time for Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Click on the link to see tables set for your viewing pleasure. I decided to go back and share scapes that have gotten the most hits on my blog this last year.

I created this for St. Patrick’s Day called Simple Spring.

 

Bridal Shower

 

My manly table for Josh and Dan’s birthdays in January 2009

 

Apple Blossoms

 

Fun New Gifts. After Christmas last year this was a table I set using gifts I received.

 

Barscape…

 

My Birthday Dinner…

 

Checkers Anyone?

 

Pink and Silver…

 

 

Ottomon Scape…

 

Memorial Day…

 

Red, White and Black for my brother Tim’s birthday dinner.

 

Taco Night…

 

French Duvet and Blue…

 

A table for Miss W…

 

Red and Gold table inspired by a Moroccan bridal shower we gave.

 

This next setting is the one where I got bit by the Tablescaping bug. From my Moss Rose Tea Room Post in September of 2007.

 

Today I’ve been busy getting things ready for a taco birthday celebration our daughter is having with her bridesmaids. Katie’s birthday was on the 27th. Since it snowed today I was inspired to set a snow flake table. I’ll share it next week. If I don’t get around to see your tables tonight I’ll be around tomorrow. Tonight I’ll be busy at the stove frying up taco shells for the party! Blessings…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Katie Strikes Again!

 

The Birthday Girl is a good bowler. She even has her own ball and shoes. The Fiance beat her in one game by 3 points.

 

 

It was a fun birthday celebration and everyone improved on their scores here and there and everyone managed a strike or two. Katie had several strikes. Andrew had several, too.

 

The bowling alley was really hopping with almost every lane filled.

 

Two hours of bowling fun at Tech City Bowl.

Today I’m enjoying an off day with nothing planned. You need those every once in a while. The tree is headed outside today!

Tomorrow Katie is having her bridesmaids over to celebrate her birthday with dinner and a movie.

Thursday is another off day! Whoohoo!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

It’s Not Over Yet…

…we’re still in the midst of celebrating here. Monday is our daughter Katie’s 25th birthday. Really? How can it be that she is 25?

To celebrate we are going out for Italian and then headed for some fun at the bowling alley. I’ll be sitting and watching and taking photos since my tennis elbow which seems to be a shooting elbow is keeping me sidelined. In the meantime here are photos from our glorious Christmas day.

 

Santa was very generous with all of us. We start our Christmas morning with opening the gifts in our stockings. Then we head to the breakfast table. This year we went around the table reading the Christmas story from the Bible in Luke chapter 2. Next Dear cooked up his famous Swedish pancakes that are a Christmas morning tradition we will not give up! Dear is half Swedish from his mother’s side. It’s fun to know that Dear’s only brother is also busy cooking up Swedish pancakes at his home in Southern California for his family.

 

Now we head to the tree to open all the bounty. We all said we were cutting down this year but when you have 7 adults exchanging gifts cutting down is still a lot! Everyone was grateful, surprised, and overwhelmed with the love shared.

 

While Dear and I prepared for our meal together, the kids had a few rounds of their new game, Blokus.

 

The kids played with their new toys and Dear and I prepared our main meal of the day.  The red goblets were a gift from our son and daughter in love. I put them to immediate use. Dinner was all very tasty. Dear smoked our prime rib in his new smoker. We had potatoes, creamed corn, salad and Yorkshire Pudding to top it off.

 

Katie, the birthday girl, and her fiance Andrew. Andrew is a Marine and took leave to come to our house for Christmas from North Carolina. Katie is so pleased that she can have him here for Christmas, her birthday, and for New Years!

 

Our son Josh and our DIL Laura.

 

Our son Dan who was able to travel from Eastern Washington for our time together. He had to leave early on Sunday morning to make it back for his work shift that started at 8:00 P.M. on Sunday.

 

Dear and me enjoying the wonder of it all.

 

More sweets then have seen the inside of my house for the whole year all together in this place.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.