Category Archives: Birthday

Working Together…

…was a great gift Dear got for his birthday this year.

Dear has been working on a portion of this old house replacing the siding. He has found many interesting flaws in previous work that he had to repair.

Every job can go a lot easier with the right tools. This handy dandy tool called Gecko makes it simple to space each row of siding perfectly.

Sunday on Dear’s birthday Josh and Laura came over for the afternoon. Josh helped his dad with the siding. Laura and I worked on the meal we would have together when the work was done. The work went quickly with two workers.

A few more rows to go and this side of the house will be all done.

We are pleased with the horizontal siding compared to the vertical. It will be a while before it’s completely done and painted.

After the work was done for the day we had a meal together and this Pear Tart was Dear’s birthday cake this year. Everyone gave it a thumbs up. I’ll be posting the recipe on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog in October. The kids all got together and gave Dear a generous gift card to Cabella’s. He’ll be spending it soon.

The birthday dinner setting.

Thank you Josh and Laura for the gift of “help” that you shared with us.

I’m happy to report that all my pears have been taken care of. I washed and cut the final bunch today. I made 3 pear desserts, some pear sauce, a pear topping for pancakes, a batch of sugared pears went into my Smirntopf. Dear took a couple dozen to work to share. Josh and Laura took a dozen home to use. I still need to come up with one more recipe to use up the prepared sliced pears. And yes, I’m still restraining myself! Fall Women’s Bible Study starts today and I’m looking forward to it.

Today is 9/11 and I’m still remembering that day. I’ll leave you with this photo from the Sounders game on Saturday…

Praying for our nation and for our Armed Forces with a shout out to our Marine son-in-law, our Border Patrol Agents, and all our first responders. May God protect you all from evil.

Sweet Sixteen

Our second celebration in Southern California on Saturday was a Sweet Sixteen party for my older sister Vera. Are you wondering why we had a Sweet Sixteen Party for a 64 year old? Our sister Vera was born on Leap Year so she’s only had a birthday that landed on her actual birth day 16 times now.

Happy Birthday Vera!

Vera’s kids decided to throw this party for their mom and the creative wheels started turning. They did a wonderful job.

My nieces on the right put together the decorations. Melissa is my sister Kathy’s daughter. Kristin is my sister Vera’s DIL and Debbee is her daughter. Kristin is married to my nephew David and they hosted the party at their beautiful home. There were about 50 guests.

They had each guests name written on the cups which was a great idea. Everyone was able to keep track of their cup throughout the evening.

As each guest arrived they were guided into the photo room with this prompt…I Love Vera because…

There were blank white boards for us to write our reason for loving Vera. Such an affirming act to encourage her with!

My parents lasted a long time at the party. It was great to see them. There were lots of friends from our former churches at the party and we were able to get caught up a bit on our lives.

We took advantage of the photo room for a cousin photo.

Katie and I had a quick sleep at my nieces house and headed back to the Bob Hope Airport at 6:00 A.M. Sunday morning. We were pretty useless the rest of Sunday but after a good nights rest on Sunday night we were good to go and got back to finalizing all the wedding details.

11 days to go!

Sassy at Sixty!

Well I for one am thrilled that a couple more of our Mennonite Girls are joining me in the Sixties Club! We still have 4 young-uns among us that help keep us in line and in style. Eight of our Ten girls converged on Harrison Hot Springs for Judy and Marg’s party on Monday. You’ve seen photos from some of the other girls and here is my contribution to our wonderful day of laughter and celebration.

Marg and Judy made the cutest place settings for us with our personal apron patterns to lead us to our seats. Sixty jelly beans in a vintage 1952 jar with a photo of Marg and Judy were at our setting also. Here are the party guests…

Guest of honor and one of our hostesses, Judy.

 Judy with Bev.

Kathy and Lovella

Julie and Anneliese

Guest of honor Marg with me

Time for some gifts…why not it is a birthday party after all. We had to take a break from gifts to order our food.

Lovella decked me out in a fascinator she purchased for me…

The hot pools were calling out to us and if you’d like to see photos from the pools you’ll need to visit Lovella, Judy, Marg, Anneliese or Kathy’s blogs. My camera stayed under cover during this time of our afternoon.

After the pools it was time for cake! Marg made a special gluten free dessert for our dear Julie to enjoy while we had cake.

Of course we sang the Happy Birthday song in harmony for our birthday girls. They got to sing, too, since they were sharing this birthday party.

There is still a mystery afoot as to the maker of this beautiful cake. Time will reveal the truth…

I don’t know when the last time was that I had 2 desserts in one seating but hey…2 birthday girls=2 desserts…right? I knew you’d see it my way.

As the sun started setting it was time to leave the beautiful Harrison Hot Springs Resort and head back to our homes. We give permission and encourage Judy and Marg to keep celebrating this milestone birthday the rest of the year. Happy Birthday girls! I’m so happy that God brought you into my life!

Birthdays!

January is a very significant month of birthdays in our family.

Both of our sons were born in January. Katie’s due date was in January, too, but she decided to come at the end of December. All three of our kids were born on a Friday.

Josh was born on January 19, at 7:34 a.m. weighing in at a solid 10 pounds!

Daniel was born on January 16, at 12:30 P.M. weighing in at 8 pounds 1-1/2 ounces.

Daniel loved to have a Choo Choo Train cake. I even made him one for an adult birthday of his.

Brothers and friends, a wonderful blessing!

Today is also my friend Judy’s birthday from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. You’ll want to click over there and see the ice storm that hit her area on one of her birthdays past…and wish her a happy birthday. It’s one of those “big” birthdays!

Sunday is my brother Tim’s birthday and next Wednesday is Miss Hope’s 4th birthday. Lots of very special people were born in January!

Dear and I are pretty much snowed in. The snow and icy rain just keep falling here in the Seattle area. We have seriously considered the necessity of having at least one snow worthy vehicle at this old house. Something 4WD with some good traction tires is on my new wish list. Just be forewarned you haven’t seen the last of the snow shots from our little part of the world. Thankfully we still have power and Dear is working from home. Our traveling kids have encountered many slick roads but have navigated well. They have one more treacherous pass to cross today. I’m thankful for the facebook updates and the calls that tell me they are doing just fine.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world!

Celebrating our Sons…

January 16th is our son Dan’s birthday. We weren’t able to be together for his birthday last year so it was great to be together to celebrate this year.

We are so thankful to God for our sons and that includes our new son-in-law. We celebrated them all tonight at dinner in Seattle. The snow didn’t hinder our journey to the restaurant in Pioneer Square and we had a wonderful time.

Joshua’s birthday is coming up on Thursday. We were also celebrating Andrew’s safe return from Afghanistan.

All the kids with dad!

All the kids with mom!

Interesting times in the Puget Sound Area this week. They are predicting a snowstorm on Wednesday that will stop us all in our tracks. Time will tell. Needless to say people will be swamping the stores on Tuesday to stock up on food, batteries and some will be looking for generators. They love to put the fear of the storm in us.

How are things where you are?

It is a Good Day…

…to celebrate our lovely daughter in law, Laura!

Happy Birthday dear Laura! We thank God for bringing you into the world and for bringing you and Josh together. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have you for a daughter in law. We love you and always hope for the best for you and for you and Josh together. God bless your new year!

FFF ~ My Dear…

It’s time to consider the past week and record 5 things that were your favorites. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story keeps us on track for this worthwhile event every week.

Friday is Dear’s birthday so FFF is all about Dear!

I pulled out some real oldies but goodies from my photo archives to share. This is Dear with our sons and with our daughter.

1. Dear is a faithful hard working man and that leaves me secure and content.

This mosaic is from our trip to Great Britain in 2006.

2. Dear is a handy man. He takes on most of the projects around the house and efficiently manages them.

3. Dear can cook and isn’t afraid of the kitchen.

4. Dear is a follower of Jesus.

5. Dear is smart and witty and wise…all things that attracted me to him. I thought he was rich, too. Oh well the smart, witty and wise gets us through a lot of tough spots!

Happy Birthday Dear!

I thank God that He brought us together and has kept us together for these past 37 years! You are the only one for me…

I’m making a special birthday dinner for tonight so it might not be until tomorrow when I can visit everyone’s favorites. Have a great weekend everyone. We’ll be flying our flag at half staff on Sunday the 11th.

Update on my 60 Things in my 60th Year List…

1. Finally make it to the top of the Space Needle. Completed on Wednesday January 26th!

2. Dinner with the Mennonite Girls and their husbands. Met for dinner at the Chuckanut Manor on March 13th!

3. East Coast Trip. Things are shaping up for a trip to Washington D.C.  (Any suggestions about what to see and where to eat would be highly appreciated) We were there from May 10th-18th. We saw more than our brains could take in!

4. Apply for my enhanced license so my trips to Canada will be easier. Completed in January!

5. Birthday getaway with my 3 sisters. Plans are afoot. Victoria B.C., April 1-3, 2011

6. Try one new restaurant every month of this year. Looks like this one is really going to be easy especially with trips planned.  Eastlake Bar and Grill~ Lake Union. The Hitching Post~ Monroe. Racha Thai ~Seattle.  Bishops Alehouse ~ Juanita. Chuckanut Manor-Bow. Barolo ~ Seattle. The Cabbage Patch ~ Snohomish. Pescatores ~ Victoria, B.C.

7. Send my parents a bouquet of flowers on my 60th birthday thanking them for loving me all these years. Sent on March 14th and my parents were thrilled.

8. Visiting a a new garden. Hillwood Garden in Washington D.C., Bishop’s Garden in Washington D.C. and Botanical Gardens in D.C.

9. Plant something new in my yard. I planted some Sweet Peas and 2 Top Hat blueberry bushes.

10. Have my flagpole installed. Installed on my birthday March 14th.

***11. Lose 10 pounds. Oh Nellie! I should have said gain 10 pounds! Woohoo!! Before I gain it back I want y’all to know that as of 7/18/11 I have lost 10 pounds. I started my program on June 12th. Now I’m moving on to lose 10 more. This past Sunday I fit into the jeans one size down that have been draped over the couch for a year waiting…

12. Enjoy a book by an author I haven’t read before. I’ve read a couple books by Jeanne Birdsall that I’ve enjoyed and I’m on the second book by Rick Riordan that I’m enjoying. I also read a non-fiction book by Lewis B. Smedes on Forgiveness.

13. Explore 6 cities/towns in Washington. Lake Union~  Monroe~  Snohomish~ Olympia ~ Lynden ~ Port Townsend

14. Try 2 new recipes every month. As you can see by my mosaic at the top of this update I have been trying lots of new recipes.

15. Go on a easy day hike.

16. Walk more.

17. Go to a new Tea Room. White Heather Tea Room in Victoria, B.C. (Oak Bay)

18. Purge 60 books off my bookshelves. Well on the way

19. Begin going through old boxes in the garage loft. Working on this with 4 boxes down to work on…

20. Go on an adventure with my daughter Katie. I’ve had many adventures. One fun one is going with her to register for her wedding! We just got back from a wonderful California adventure with family members. Our Bag-O-Rama Jamboree was a wonderful experience in Southern California from July 22nd to July 30th 2011~

21. Re-arrange some things that have been the same for 13 years in this old house. Moved antique hutch around and changed some wall hangings.

22. Buy a Welsh Sideboard. I’ve wanted one for years. Instead of a Welsh cabinet we found an Indonesian cabinet that fits our space perfectly.

23. Make and serve our Russian favorite recipes for family gatherings. Golubtsi, Pelemeni,

24. Find a couple new blogs to add to my favorites. Pondside, and more to be added soon…

25. Clean out my closet.

26. Take some time to journal.

27. Invite someone new over for a meal.

28. Invite old friends over for a meal. Had our dear friends over on April 8th for dinner.

29. Meet Dear downtown for lunch.

30. Do some volunteer work. Fulfilled on March 28th although I’d like to do more. United We Serve

31. Try baking a pie including the crust.

32. Bake cinnamon rolls from scratch.

33. Write some letters and mail them.

34. Surprise someone. Sent cookbooks to Dear’s Aunts and to a dear lady who encouraged me in college.

35. Get a manicure and pedicure. Fulfilled on July 18th, a gift from my brother’s family for my 60th.

36. Have more than one hour long massage. Fulfilled on June 20th, a gift from Josh and Laura for my birthday.

37. Use my sewing machine.

38. Be brave enough to get a new generation phone.

39. Call Dear’s Aunts on their birthdays. Called Aunt Audrey on April 14th ~ Called Aunt Carol on June 26th

40. Try something new with my camera. Tried doing some angled shots.

Now here are the final 20 of my list of 60 things to do in my 60th year!

41. Take a ride in a limousine with people she loves. Completed on my birthday March 14th with our sons, DIL, and Dear.

42. Treat people for her birthday. Bought drinks for all our season ticket neighbors at the opening game which was the day after my 60th birthday.

43. Find a purse that will accommodate my stuff plus my camera with a long enough strap to fit over my shoulder. Completed, I’ll share it soon.

44. Meet bloggy friends in person that she has never met in person before. Met the lovely Pondside in Victoria B.C. and she treated my sisters and I to a fine tour of her town. Met Jill from Jill’s World of Research, Reaction, and Millinery when she flew in to stay with us for the Lavender Farm Faire Tour.

45. Reorganize cabinets and purge some Chotskies.

46. Make those every so many year appointments you dread but need to do. Yearly-check, The Squeeze – check, Got my bone density done! check! Colonoscopy done!

47. Write a Psalm to God. Done!

48. Find a dress for our daughter’s wedding.

50. Learn to put the flagpole up and take it down. It’s not as hard as I thought and I’ve done it several times already.

51. Back up the files on my computer.

52. Create some photo books.

53. Mail a box of goodies to Katie’s Andrew while he is deployed. I’ve been adding things to Katie’s boxes.

54. Order a DVR. Got one March 24th!

55. Get a new modem that might actually make her internet work well. Got one and things have improved but we need more improvement! Finally got some good service and much improvement the week of May 23rd!

56. Send flowers to some unsuspecting person.

57. Detail my car.

58. Write poetic tribute of my history as seen on Debora’s blog.

59. Take a canoe ride on Lake Washington this summer with Dear. Him rowing, me taking photos.

60. Do a blog tribute to some of my favorite blog posts on other people’s blogs.

Coming up with 60 things was not an easy task. Maybe there will be some modifications along the way. It was a good exercise and I’ve already enjoyed the benefits of completing many of the 60.

Celebrating the Twins!

Today my youngest brother and sister who are twins are celebrating their birthday. The Bag-O-Rama Jamboree invaded Disneyland yesterday and at one point we were 15 strong. We had the twins pose for these shots at the “Happiest Place on Earth”. I survived and even made it all the way to the fireworks before dragging myself home to bed.

 We are having a barbecue at the beach to celebrate Leonard and Lana this evening.

Happy Birthday to you Leonard and Lana. We thank God for all the fun life experiences we have had with you all through the years!

The 4 Sisters…

…are all home again and resting their feet. We had a wonderful time and as soon as I get a chance to upload photos I’ll share more.

 

I’ve got quite a list of posts to check out in my Google Reader so I hope to get around and see what y’all have been up to while the sisters were walking about Victoria, B.C.

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.