1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. 4 serving size jello instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 C. water
1/4 C. oil
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. all-spice (optional)
1/2 raisins finely chopped (optional)
Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl of electric mixer and blend then beat at medium for 4 minutes. Pour into well greased and floured 10 inch tube or fluted tube pan. (I’ve used a bundt cake pan and angel food cake pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. DO NOT UNDERBAKE. Cool in pan for 15 min. remove and cool on rack. When the cake has cooled and before I serve it I give it a dusting of powdered sugar.
This goes really well with whipped cream or a good vanilla ice cream, too. This has become a favorite in my house and is requested for birthday cakes very often.
We are going to celebrate four birthdays on Saturday evening, our December girl and our January boys and girl. We will have 4 individual mini cakes for the event. Two of this Spice cake, a lemon cake and a Chocolate cake. I’ll have lots of photos and posts in the coming weeks of all our Christmas time and beyond celebrations!!
I hope Jesus was at the center of all the Christmas festivities with your family and friends!
Saturday the 29th of November we shopped small on Main street in Colville.
While we shopped the guys entertained themselves with chopping a lot of wood and then enjoyed table games.
Plans were afoot on this day to celebrate Auntie Lolo’s birthday early since we wouldn’t be together for her actual birthday on December 3rd. The birthday theme was lemon/lemons, a favorite flavor for Laura.
Jamie embroidered this special sweatshirt for Laura with her beloved title, Auntie Lolo! Addy and JJ helped with some of the embroidery.
Laura looked at this purse while we were shopping and she admired it enough that Katie snuck it up to the register to purchase it for Laura’s birthday gift. I didn’t take a photo of the solar decorative hummingbird lights that we gave her for their outdoor patio.
Lemon and pistachio Macarons that our son Dan made were the ‘birthday cake’. Dan has mastered the art of making them!
There is a back story to this drink that Katie had never tasted. While the guys were at the grocery store Andrew found it for her to try.
More Skyjo rounds commenced. The younger ones among us stayed at Bayles Mountain well into the evening while Gramps and Baba headed home.
Sunday morning most of us were in church together filling out a row.
Before the last of the Westsiders left for home after church there was some fun in the snow to document.
Another full and thankful time was spent over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
Our focus shifts now to preparations for Christmas.
It means honoring and obeying the laws of my country and doing whatever is in my power to insure the freedoms our founding fathers established. I love singing the National Anthem at sporting events. A little flag waving is good, too. Displaying the flag on holidays and other key times during the year.
2. September-October-November…your favorite fall month? Tell us why. If you live in the southern hemisphere use these months but sub spring for the word fall.
I’m cheating and naming something that is special to me for each of these months.
September ~ it always seems like the fresh start back to routine activities that make me feel grounded and we get to celebrate Greg’s birthday in this month.
October ~ where Fall colors shine the best and we enjoy the annual corn maze.
November ~ the Thankful month. gathering with family on Thanksgiving.
3. A song you love with the word thanks (or some form of that word) in the title or lyrics?
I’m sharing one of many songs that make me say thank you, Jesus!
My hymn of Praise shall always be forever Jesus! In Jesus I have sooo many reasons to say Thank You!
4. November is National Peanut Butter Month. Are you a fan? What’s the last peanut butter bite you had? Fill in the blank: peanut butter and _____________________ .
Oh, and you can’t say jelly.
It is peanut butter and honey for me. I had a piece of toast with peanut butter and honey for breakfast on Monday.
5. This week’s gratitude question-What event from this past year are you most grateful for?
The year started out with an epic surprise visit from Josh and Laura. We were having our local kids over for a birthday dinner on a Saturday. Dan and Jamie have birthdays 1 day apart and Josh has a birthday 3 days after Dan. Dan and Jamie arrived and 5 minutes later Josh and Laura came in the house with shouts of surprise!! It was such an epic surprise and so much fun to be able to celebrate all our January family birthdays together! I’m so grateful to God for the love he extends through our family.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Speaking of patriotism I’m copying a post here from 2011. This is from the Orange Circle Flag Ceremony, a weekly event, in Orange, California.
Before they lowered the flag and folded it properly Mark Wayland acknowledged 5 veterans in the audience that had served in World War II. One of the veterans was celebrating his 90th birthday and his family brought cupcakes for everyone at the ceremony. We got to sing Happy Birthday to him. This vet with Mark in the photo above, served in WWII, Korea, and the Vietnam War. He comes to the ceremony every week. It was great to meet him.
Mark also acknowledged a young bride in the audience who’s Marine husband was serving in Afghanistan right then…our Katie. He made her cry but the tears were good tears and then when the big burly Vietnam Vets came over to give her a hug with tears in their eyes we knew they understood and we cried some more. It was great to hear these Harley riders tell her they would be praying for her and Andrew.
Dear’s brother Terry and wife Christina with one of their 3 daughters with Katie and me. Christina got to know Mark while working with the Orange County School Board. She invited Katie and me to attend this ceremony.
I got the following information from an Orange County Register article written by David Whiting although my sister-in-law who knows Mark from working with him at the Orange County School board also filled me in about Mark and his giving heart, a Purple Heart retired Marine.
“Mark Wayland, Marine Vietnam vet, retired firefighter and Orange school board member, looks like a biker with his denim vest and bushy mustache. And he is. So are many of the men in the Circle.
Most are members of the Patriot Guard Riders. In particular, they ride to remember fallen military brothers and sisters and to ensure things go smoothly at military funerals.
With his black Harley Electra Glide decorated with Marine logos parked just 50 yards away, Wayland explains tonight’s mission.
Every Wednesday night, Wayland, his buddies, their wives, friends and supporters gather in the Orange Circle. They come to lower the flag at 6 p.m. and honor, as Wayland puts it, “those who are in harm’s way.”
What an honor to be able to meet these folks and to honor them and others who have sacrificed so much for all of us. Thank you Mark for all you do and may your sacrifices return to you tenfold.
ht: Orange County Register, David Whiting.
The Patriot Guard Riders honored our brother-in-law at his burial on Veterans Day in 2015.
Thanks for the time you took to visit this very long and wordy Hodgepodge. I’m grateful for all who stop by here.
This is the shirt I’m wearing today for the National Day of Remembrance of Charlie Kirk. Today, October 14th, would have been his 32nd birthday. The front and the back is shown above. It’s a small gesture of respect for his short life.
“His life was shaped by his faith and the idea that in America, debate and discussion are crucial to the betterment of our country. He believed in God, the American dream, the value of family, and the principles of our great nation.”
On Monday morning we woke up with the tops of our higher elevations sprinkled with snow.
I’ll be happy for the real snow to hold off until at least November!
On the other side of town, the first fire of the season was lit and enjoyed!
Sunday the 5th of October we made a quick trip to Spokane after church. The scenery was spectacular with clear skies and fluffy clouds.
A neighborhood cat without a tail visited while our grandson JJ was here on Monday afternoon. This was the friendliest cat that has ever visited our yard.
On Tuesday while I pulled some weeds I noticed this garden spider. Yikes!
On Tuesday our Colville kids had us over for a belated birthday celebration for Gramps!
Addy made sure Gramps was the one to blow out the candle.
After our meal and dessert JJ was excited to launch his rocket for us to see.
The first launch was very successful and didn’t land in the trees but the second launch was not as hazard free. They will have to wait for a big wind storm to free the rocket.
On Wednesday several deer came to visit.
We had some nice warm days that started with very chilly mornings.
Friday morning started with a beautiful sunrise.
Happy Columbus Day to all in the United States of America and a very Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in Canada!
I can’t let this day pass without acknowledging this historic day!
UPDATE: Waking up to news that after 738 days all the Israeli hostages have been released. What a glorious day for the hostages and their families and friends and nation!
All living Israeli hostages officially freed from Hamas captivity.
President Trump made a promise on the campaign trail:
“We will never abandon them — and with God’s help, they will come safely home.”
While we were on the other side of the Cascades our Westside kids treated their Pops to an early birthday dinner out at the Keg in Lynnwood. We all enjoyed our food and time together.
On our way out we found another guest to take our photo. And…thanks to Laura for this next one!
Time will tell how we will celebrate today.
This post keeps expanding.
And just like that an interesting way of celebrating became necessary. Jamie shared this photo of Greg arriving on their property to deliver 200 gallons of water for their cistern and to help with encouragement to Dan in determining why their well is not pumping water.
For those of you who pray, we would appreciate prayers for a solution that yields water! Thank you!
I’m grateful to God for all these years we’ve had together. You are a faithful husband and father and grandfather. You were a faithful son, too.
I love you, I love you, I love you, then, now and forever. Happy Birthday! God bless you and keep you.
Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.
This post is from December 27, 2015.
Our youngest turned thirty today. We started celebrating yesterday.
We, our daughters and me went to the Queen Mary Tea Room to celebrate birthdays on Boxing day.
Jamie was married into our family in June of 2015.
Laura and Katie have birthdays in December and Jamie, Dan, and Josh have birthdays in January.
“Such items, if properly prepared and portered, jingle and tinkle, twinkle and shine, as if to announce their approach, and all the cups and saucers, the silver spoons and the sugar bowl, the steaming hot water and the shining strainer, the teapot and the plate of delicate sandwiches – all seem to combine and say as one, “Let your worries cease for now; the world is aright again!” And in the welcome pouring of the tea and the delightful crunch of the cucumber and cress sandwiches, not to mention the promise of the coming cakes and the possible surprise of strawberries and cream to follow, all else is held at bay: the past is forgotten, the future does not exist, and all is peace. ”
Toad Triumphant ~ by William Horwood
It was Jamie’s first time to enjoy a formal tea. Pinkies up!
This is the last in my series of Tea Time 2025 where I’ve gone back and reposted all the fun tea experiences from the past. If by chance or by will we end up in another tea room this year I’ll share the experience but until then I say toodle pip to our Tea Times.
Tuesday July 29th was my brother and sister’s birthday. They are twins. It was fun to have one of the ‘twins’ with us to celebrate his birthday this year. Our Colville kids own a boat and the plan for this Tuesday was for them to treat their uncle and cousin to a day on the water. Their boat is not a yacht so Greg and I stayed home for boat time.
While the crew were boating I baked a cake and prepared our taco dinner. The candle on the cake had a small explosion of edible confetti that was fun. Note to self: read the directions before you light the candle. For the first candle I didn’t read the fact that I was supposed to put in the edible sprinkles ahead of lighting the candle. Thankfully there were two candles in the package and Jamie loaded up the second candle and Dan lit it for a successful ‘second take’ on singing and lighting and exploding!
The evening was capped off with a game of SkyJo which has become our ‘go to’ card game this year.
Wednesday morning was pack up day with a trip to the airport for our visitors. We stopped for breakfast at Frank’s Diner and another stop at Spokane Falls for a quick view before we continued on to the airport.
The Spokane International airport was a short ten minute drive from here. We dropped off my brother and nephew with hugs and good wishes. ‘God be with you till we meet again’.
We still had to make a couple shopping stops on the way back to Colville for supplies for our Vacation Bible School. After stopping at the Chef’s Store and Costco we drove the rest of our 70 mile trip to Colville with views of clouds that warned of Thunderstorms that were ready to burst at any minute.
We are thankful for the time we could all spend with my brother and nephew in our corner of the world.
Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.
This post was from a day long celebration of our daughter’s birthday in 2013. Her birthday is December 27th but the post didn’t go live until December 28th.
Our first stop for our Celebrating Katie day was at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle which is located close to the University of Washington.
The waiter popped by our table and asked if we were celebrating anything special and we said, “Why yes, today is Katie’s birthday”. He asked if she’d like to wear a crown…
We said yes!
A long time friend of ours lives in the neighborhood and was able to join us for breakfast.
Queen Katie and Bridget
Bridget’s sister Jamie was Katie’s Maid of Honor. Jamie has been gone for over a year now on a trip around the world. We talked about Jamie and wondered if she’d be back home by next Christmas. Bridget is going to meet Jamie in New Zealand for several days in February before Jamie heads to South America.
Back to the Queen Mary…
The traditional tea sipping shot!
We said farewell to Santa and our breakfast buddy and headed to Destination #2. I’ll share that next week.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 