This looks like fun. She pulled out a couple of pots so she could fit in there.
This is a bit scarier to see her climb on top of this activity box. Yikes. She has skills.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…there are so many developmental changes in the first year of life! She’s now 9 days shy of 10 months. I’m counting the days until I can see her in action in person.
When we can’t see her in person and are 6 hours away my eyes light up when I see the little green light on my phone saying you’ve got a message. Our daughter-in-law is good at sending us photo updates of little Addy May. Thank you dear Jamie!
Our two girls from across the state staying warm in their icy cold conditions.
Here she is just chillin in the kitchen while mama gets something done. Dan and Jamie are going to have to make a more secure play area for her since just this week she’s learned to use her play toys to climb up onto the couch and be able to escape her cordoned off play area.
What does all of this have to do with singing?
I’ve been singing all my life and it’s an important part of my life. My love for singing started in church. In my father’s Molokan church growing up into my teens singing was acapella. There were no instruments in the church and the songs were mostly from the Psalms in the Old Testament portion of the Bible. My father was a “songleader” in this church. For Easter and Christmas we would visit my maternal grandmother’s Russian Baptist Church where we enjoyed singing with piano and organ. In junior high school choir was one of my classes and I was introduced to notes and music. After my father attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angles in 1963 he started a new life of following Christ as his Savior and we eventually left the Molokan Church. We started attending my maternal grandmother’s church. At the Baptist church my sisters and I were part of the youth choir which eventually worked on recording tapes of Russian hymns for Far East Broadcasting and Slavic Gospel Association to be broadcast into the Soviet Union over radio waves. During my high school years our youth choir went out every Christmas Eve to carol in Russian and English at old folks homes. We’d choose the homes where folks from the Russian churches were housed. There was one apartment building a couple doors down from Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles where several of our widowed grandmothers lived in separate apartments next door to each other. We’d always start our caroling there. I have to add that in my junior high and high school years I memorized and sang along with the Beatles and Leslie Gore and with whatever other group was popular. I was a “songleader” in high school. We were part of the cheer squad at sporting events and mostly yelled chants while performing routines with pom poms. “Push em back, push em back, waaaaay back. LOL!
In my college years our Los Angeles Russian Choir added some Russian voices from around the state of California and we recorded an album in a professional studio. During this time we met a studio musician who directed a Christian singing ensemble that toured the states and Great Britain. My best friend at the time auditioned for his group. She was added and toured England with them in the summer of 1972. I met the members of Tom Keene and the Contemporaries before they left for England and when they returned an alto left and I auditioned and joined the group in fall of 1972. Dear, his brother and sister in law were part of the Contemporaries. Dear and I started dating. We performed most every Sunday evening at a different church in the greater Los Angles area singing and giving our testimonies. We had weekly practices. Dear and my relationship grew and we got married after our second tour of Great Britain.
This was a newspaper article from a British paper about our group touring and singing in local schools.
Chalk church in Gravesend
All this talk about singing was inspired by the fact that today Laura bought tickets for me, my sister Lana and Katie to attend The Sound of Music sing along at the 5th Avenue in Seattle. The four of us are meeting for lunch and then popping into the theater for what I’m sure will be a fun time of singing our hearts out! Have you ever attended one of these sing along events?
Looking forward to spending a few hours with these girls. Wish our girls from across the mountains could be with us.
My semi professional singing days are well over and now my favorite times to sing are still in church and to little Addy May. I sing nursery rhymes and other songs to her. She doesn’t care that my voice cracks and I don’t stay on key or…if I make up the words! Looking forward to when she can sing along with me!
Till next time, The hills are alive…
Happy New Year from Seattle! The Space Needle is getting a face lift/renovation. They are saying there will be a glass see through observation floor. too. Here are this weeks questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. It’s that time of year again…time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they’d like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, or genera uselessness) in 2018. You can read more about the decision making process and word meaning here, but this year’s top vote getters are-
unpack, dish (as in dish out the latest rumor), pre-owned, onboarding/offboarding, nothingburger, let that sink in, let me ask you this, impactful, Cofefe, drill down, fake news, hot water heater (hot water doesn’t need to be heated), and gig economy
Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you’d like to add?
I’ve not heard some of these words or phrases. I’m not tired of any of these…yet. I’ve not been following a lot of news these days. I had to look up some of them to see what they mean.
2. What’s something you need to get rid of in the new year?
Stuff…lots of stuff. But what stuff? What stuff will I miss when I move if I get rid of it? What stuff will just be a bother to move? What stuff is junk and what stuff is keepsake worthy?
3. Where do you feel stuck?
See question #2.
4. January is National Soup Month. When did you last have a bowl of soup? Was it made from scratch or from a can? Your favorite canned soup? Your favorite soup to make from scratch on a cold winter’s day?
I had a delicious bowl of Dear’s Tomato Rice Soup on Christmas Eve, made from scratch. Dear makes that soup. The soup I like to make from scratch is Borsch (Borscht) or Spinach Borsch or Lopsha (all soups from my Russian Heritage). The photo above is of my Borsch. My favorite canned soup is Cream of Mushroom to use it as an addition in other recipes.
When someone has a sore throat or a cold at this old house we like to get Hot and Sour Soup from a local Chinese take-out. It a nice spicy burn going down and clears the sinuses!
5. Tell us one thing you’re looking forward to in 2018.
Knowing what property we will be moving into would be very helpful to my dilemma in question #2.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
My favorite word for 2017 is Grandmother/Baba. This little one awarded me that title by being formed by God and born to our son and daughter-in-law. Thank you God and Father for this sweet gift.
I’ll be linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce From This Side of the Pond. She asks the questions and we provide the answers.
Hope 2018 is starting off well for you!
This is one of those posts that is for my own brain to keep this past year in a kind of order. These collages are prompts for my memory.
January is the only month I’m giving a full collage to because it was filled with family events in California. Joe and Hannah’s wedding at an orchid farm in Goleta, a family baby shower for Jamie and Addy, the Getty Museum, the funeral of a best friend’s mom where I was reunited with lots of old friends and beach time with family. Vera visited the Pacific Northwest and we went to Snoqualmie Falls and the Chihuly Glass Museum.
Dear and I took some short and long road trips and had some nice walks.
Family times in Colville and in Seattle throughout the year before and after Addy was born.
Josh and Laura
Katie and Andrew
Dan and Jamie and now Dan, Jamie and Addy.
Addy May
Uncle Josh and Addy
Addy May
Mommy, Daddy and Addy
Auntie Katie and Uncle Andrew with Addy
Auntie Laura with Addy.
Gramps and Addy
Gramps, Baba and Addy
Baba and Addy
May in California for Pop’s 94th birthday, Washington tulips, cherry blossoms, Japanese Garden, Magnuson Park, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, summer visits from nieces and nephews and sisters, birthday parties, fall colors.
I’ve had some thoughts about the New Year but nothing that is worthy of sharing yet. Our first day of the New Year was slow for me and as usual Dear was busy working on our master bath remodel while I watched the Rose Parade. After the parade I tried out a new salsa recipe to post later this month and then I watched the Rose Bowl game. That game was one of the best bowl games I’ve seen in years. Hope you had a good day.
I’m experimenting and seeing if I can close comments on this post.
We had a wonderful finale to 2017 this morning with brunch at Palisade in Seattle. Josh and Laura treated us to a belated anniversary celebration.
Such a cold beautiful day with the sun shining…hello.
The Space Needle is being remodeled right now and it will be fun to see the results from that. We saw Mt. Rainier to the south and the Olympics to the west.
The only thing that would have made the very last day of 2017 better is if we could have had cuddles with Addy and a hug from her mommy and daddy. They were busy snowplowing their driveway so they could get out for New Year’s Eve festivities!
We welcome 2018 with hope and are excited to see all that it holds for us.
Happy New Year to all my blogging friends and those of you who visit my blog throughout the year. I appreciate you all and the comments and encouragement you leave for me.
On Christmas Eve the table was set for four of us to enjoy Dear’s Tomato Rice Soup and Pesto Tortellini after our services at church. Katie and Andrew texted us and reported that it was snowing and they were on their way. We enjoyed one “Christmas” movie together and Dear and I went up to bed while Katie and Andrew watched White Christmas together. It was Andrew’s first time to see it and judging from the laughter we heard, it was a hit. Later in the night Josh and Laura arrived on the snow covered streets like Santa, loaded with gifts for under the tree. The kids found their guestrooms and fell fast asleep. While visions of sugar plums danced in our heads the snow continued to fall.
We woke up to a very white Christmas! The prompt that tells everyone it’s time to get out of bed and open stockings is “It’s the Thought” cd by Twila Paris. After we opened our Santa stocking stash, had Dear’s Swedish pancakes (a must on Christmas morning), then opened gifts (the order is important), we braved a walk in the snow after we all found the right footwear, coats and scarves.
Katie and Andrew even found some Pokemon Go whatevers in our neighborhood.
The younger set tried sliding along the icy streets and got some nice distance. I walked like a penguin to keep from falling.
A winter wonderland selfie. Dear loaded the dishwasher and washed the non-dishwasher breakfast dishes while the rest of us walked. He’s a keeper.
After the walk the table got a little tweak to it for Christmas dinner. The roast was in the oven wafting it’s great aromas to whet our appetites for dinner.
Josh thought to take this photo of Dear and me while we waited for the roast to rest.
Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding has become our Christmas dinner tradition. We’ve gone from mashed potatoes to roasted vegetables over the years. We were all quite satisfied after our meal.
Laura managed a selfie of all of us in front of the tree.
Our twentieth and last Christmas in this Old House was blessed from above and we thank God for His love.
We also were very thankful to get the two texts telling us each car filled with our best gifts had made it home safely on the snow and ice covered streets. The hardest part of their trip was getting out of our neighborhood.
In her Santa photos, Addy seems to be tolerating Santa but has her elbow positioned ready to jab him if need be and make an escape. She’s just not going to fully tuck in with this stranger.
Throughout the day we enjoyed videos, photos and texts from Dan, Jamie and Addy showing us what was going on for Addy’s First Christmas.
This was their Christmas Card this year. This was taken back in November. They had a white Christmas, too, only they got 14 inches to our 4 inches! All our snow is melted because of rain today but Addy’s house is still getting snow!
Josh and Laura sent her that onesie and the activity center. The videos were of her opening the gifts she received from her Baba, Gramps, Aunties and Uncles. She’s quite a pro at tearing off wrapping and discarding it for what’s inside. We were all smiles and chuckles as we watched the videos over and over again.
Someone is all smiles for her first white Christmas! Baba bought her that snow suit before she was born. So so thankful for technology that allows us to experience something from across the state or the world.
We also received many photos and a video of my extended family in Southern California celebrating with my dear old Pop. Here’s one of the photos with the back of my Pop’s head and many of his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. Wish I knew how to share the text video of them singing Joy to the World at the dinner table. Did you know Joy to the World really wasn’t written as a Christmas song? That’s another story…(hint, think 2nd Coming). One more photo with the front of my Pop (almost 95) and three great grands that were at the Christmas Eve gathering. Ellie was born on Christmas Eve two years ago! Jackson is now a teenager and Avery is not far behind. We’re exited for our little Addy to meet these cousins once removed for the first time.
One more Christmas for the record books or record blog. I’m working on a 20 year recap of Christmases at this old house for history sake.
Thank you for stopping by during these last days of 2017.
The stockings are all hung even though some won’t be here. Santa got the memo so he won’t be confused.
The new star is on the top of the tree.
Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
Are we in trouble or what? Look at this face. Love this look her mommy captured while Addy enjoyed her pears. Looking forward to photos from her first Christmas Eve and Christmas!
Hope all is close to being ready for your Christmas celebrations!
We are again pleased with our stress free Mystery Tree for 2017. We bought it at Home Depot this year and brought it home tied up with string. We skipped having it netted since we had the truck to bring it home in. This is a tradition we have kept going for several years now borrowed from my sister-in-law.
It’s a taller and chubbier tree then we’ve had in the past few years. My decorations have always been down home not fancy. Red glass balls that have now seen better days and ornaments we’ve received or collected over the years.
Our new ornament this year is Addy’s hand print and she turned 9 months old on December 20th!
Looking forward to the day that Addy will be able to enjoy the hands on Nativity sets.
I’m pleased to say that all the gifts I’m responsible for are wrapped and under the tree. Now I’m moving on to making the shopping lists for the meals we will enjoy on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
I’ve been asking myself what day it is each day this week. How are things going for you?
1. Where have you found unexpected magic or delight this holiday season?
See collage above. We decided last Friday night to take a quick trip to northeastern Washington state to see our kids who can’t make the trip to be with us on Christmas day. It was worth the drive to enjoy the day and a half and to see all Addy’s new skills and expressions and to enjoy time and meals with her fabulous parents.
The other delight for me is sitting in view of the Christmas tree with it’s lights on and enjoying Christmas music.
2. What’s your favorite type of holiday gathering? Will you/have you gathered in your favorite way this month?
Gatherings that include good food and Christian fellowship are my favorite. Besides my immediate family gatherings on Christmas Eve and Christmas day my favorite is our annual Christmas gathering with the Mennonite Girls and our husbands. The only thing that would make it even better is if our Manitoba girls could fly in for the party.
3. Time has named ‘The Silence Breakers’ (women who came forward with stories of harassment) ‘person of the year’ for 2017. Would you agree? If not, who do you think deserves the title?
I’ll consider the source for this yearly announcement and honor in giving my opinion. I don’t expect high standards from “Time” anymore. It really is the season of discontent and finding fault in our nation. I don’t discredit women who have suffered harassment. I hope women in the future will be able to speak up boldly as it happens and not hold onto the grief for years.
Who I think deserve the title this year are Firefighters and other First Responders who have come to the aid of so many during hurricanes and wild fires, sacrificing their own lives!
Then from a Christian perspective I’d have R.C. Sproul on the cover, the founder of Renewing Your Mind, who went to be with His Lord this past week. He was a faithful servant and teacher of God’s Truth.
Renewing Your Mind is an outreach of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian discipleship organization founded in 1971 by Dr. R.C. Sproul. We know that God uses his Word to change lives. In Romans 12:2, Paul tells Christians to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” That is our aim. We’re committed to faithfully presenting the unvarnished truth of Scripture, helping you to know what you believe, why you believe, how to live it and how to share it.
4. How did you spend your time this year? Are you happy about that? Elaborate
Accepting and embracing changes that have come to us. Accepting the retirement stage and the reality of what comes with that. Accepting the fact that we will be making a major move across our state next year and preparing for that. Accepting the new aches and pains that come with our stage of life. Embracing our freedom of doing what we want each day without many time restrictions. Totally embracing our new family dynamic with the addition of sweet little Addy into our family. This has been fun from a grandparenting perspective but also amazing to watch our children in a parenting role and our other children in an auntie/uncle nurturing role.
Yes, I am content and happy about it.
5. Bid farewell to 2017 in ten words or less.
Thank you for introducing us to the world of grandparenting.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
As I’m typing this my tree is getting it’s last string of lights so I can start putting the ornaments on it. I’m okay with the delay since our 3 day travel diversion yielded some sweet memories of Addy’s new skills.
We finally figured out her little tongue was feeling a new upper tooth that was trying to pop out.
Yum, unsweetened canned pears from Baba’s and Gramps’ pear tree.
She’s standing a lot more without holding on and still only takes a couple of steps at a time. Walking isn’t far off.
I just want to clap my hands! She really is enjoying clapping.
Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my answers.
Yahoo! The tree is finally decorated so soon I’ll have my Mystery Tree post ready to go.
…over the mountains and through the woods to see this little one and her parents!
We decided Friday evening to hit the road on Saturday morning to see our kids in northeastern Washington. We wanted to see them since they won’t be traveling to be with us at Christmas this year. I’ve been absent from visiting blogs because all my time has been spent chasing and enjoying our little Addy.
Addy recognized us and was willing to come to us with no hesitation. That is always a relief since there are weeks that pass between our visits.
Addy is cutting a new tooth and she continues to take a few steps at a time. Snow fell for most of the day on Sunday. We are heading home on Monday because of weather forecasts and the conditions on the roads and…I still need to decorate our tree.
It was a short and sweet trip getting caught up on all the new things Addy is enjoying from food to chatter to movement.
Fun times with gramps!
The Christmas tree was found and cut down on our kids’ property.
You have to catch a photo of her fast as she’s always on the go! She’s enjoying “pat a cake” and she can really move about in her walker!
It was fun to visit and have some sweet cuddles until next time.
The adults were able to complete a couple of projects, too, with extra hands keeping an eye on Addy.
We are hoping for clear sailing on the roads between Colville and Seattle today. Christmas is just one week away. Are you ready? We are more ready now that we’ve spent time with our kids in Colville.
Update: Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. We made it home in great time and with very nice conditions most of the way home. We are very thankful we decided to come home on Monday as Tuesday welcomed snow and bad conditions on most of the roads we traveled yesterday. Today I will finally put the ornaments on the tree and since it is so rainy and blustery outside maybe I’ll even start wrapping some gifts.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 