We started our beach walk at 6:00 AM today! The sun has not shown up in all it’s glory yet…
The colors in my photos change as the sun comes up over the hill.
We saw a lot of crabs today. The tide was not as far out and we couldn’t get as far on the sand this week.
The Pirates were afoot and we snuck by their ship.
Dear braved the surf while I took the higher road.
“Here’s looking at ya”
We finished our walk on the beach and were home by 7:45 AM. I then got ready to head out to San Marino, California to meet my nieces, sister, and mom for a birthday breakfast.
On the way to breakfast a car fully engulfed in flames was worth a photo! :0)
Julienne Restaurant in San Marino, California
My sister Kathy and her daughter Michelle
The sisters, Michelle and Melissa
My niece Debbee and me
My Mom
I decided on the Earl Grey Tea. Look at that pretty little bag the tea leaves come in.
A Gruyere omelette with scallions and avocado and rosemary potatoes.
Me, my mom, and my sister Kathy
Kathy and her daughters. Happy Birthday Kathy.
And yes it is hot in Southern California today. This was the hottest my outside temp registered when I hit Woodland Hills. (109 degrees) Notice that I’m standing still in traffic so no one was in danger when I took this shot. We’re breaking records today. Thankfully it is a lot cooler than Woodland Hills in our town…
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!
So many people I love are having birthdays in May. In Picture order not birthdate order…
My niece Annie, May 16th ~ My friend Lucy, May 20th ~ My niece Debbee, May 12th
Jan my good friend in Washington, May 14th ~ Jody my good friend in Washington, May 24
My nephew Levi, May 27th ~ My dear Father Moisi, May 25th ~ My sister Kathy, May 23rd
Beautiful people who bless me with their love and friendship. A very Happy Birthday to all of you in the Merry Month of May!
I’m off today to celebrate my sister Kathy’s birthday at Julienne, a lovely breakfast spot in San Marino, California. Hubby and I walked the beach at Emma Wood at 6:00 am this morning :0) so I’m getting a lot done this morning. I’ll probably crash when I get back from eating yummy morsels. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I’ll be posting my average walking steps on Monday. Keep walking (Lord knows I need to if I keep eating well at all these lovely spots around town!)
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!
Today is my mom’s birthday. On her official papers (she doesn’t have a birth certificate) she’s 85 today. She was born a year earlier than her papers say so she is really 84 today. Little things like birth dates got mixed up when filling out paper work during immigration.
God has blessed us richly with a mom who loves her God, husband, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Wedge Salad, Martinis, Porterhouse Steak, Rack of Lamb and a free Birthday piece of Mud Pie. All the food here was very good. We’d go again for a special occasion.
The Birthday Girl
The Guy who supports me in everything I do and always shows me love. Thank you Dear!
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
Today is my birthday and I decided to go down memory lane and post some older photos and show you a little of my history.
First I’ll surround myself with things I enjoy. I do know how to pamper me 🙂
I think this is my seventh birthday because of the candles on the cake which would make this 1958.
This is our dining room at 4635 Oak Street in Montebello Gardens. We lived here till I was in 5th grade. My brother Fred, sister Vera, me, my cousin Jim and my sister Kathy who got cut off when I posted this (sorry Kathy)
This birthday was either 1960 or 1961 because there’s my little brother Steve in the high chair and he was born in December of 1959. This is the kitchen and my cousins around me are Tanya, Valia, Vera, Johnny, and you can barely see Walter. These next 4 photos were taken just last Sunday when we ended up driving through Montebello to go to a family function in Whittier.
While we lived on Oak Street in Montebello Gardens (Pico Rivera) my 3 older siblings and I would walk to the Montebello library to check out books. We’d head to Whittier Blvd. and have to cross this bridge over the Rio Hondo River to get to the library. It was approximately 2 miles each way.
The library was located at Montebello Park. This is the building the library was housed in where I spent many happy hours looking at all those books and trying to choose just 4. Now it’s a senior center.
We moved from Montebello Gardens across the river to Montebello when I was in 5th grade. This is our house at 305 Los Angeles Ave. When we lived here there wasn’t a second story and there wasn’t a chain link fence. Although a chain link fence would have come in handy after the twins (escape artists) were born…
This was my high school. Montebello High home of the Montebello Oilers. It’s totally fenced in now so they can have Lock-downs. How sad is that?! That’s a reality of our times. No fences in the 60’s!
The football field that I spent most Friday nights at during football season in high school. It’s under renovation.
In my junior and senior year I was a Song-leader and part of the cheer squad. I’m in the bottom row on the right. Judy, my best friend from junior high and high school is next to me. Debbie next to her. The top row left to right is Kathy, Bet (yes we called her Bet), and Judy. You can see those same stands behind us. This photo was taken in fall of 1967. We’re seniors here and will all graduated in June of 1968.
These are the photos I had access to while I’m here at the condo in California. Tomorrow I fly to Seattle to see my kids and celebrate Easter with them. I’ll be there for a couple of weeks. I haven’t seen them face to face since January 1st so I’m really looking forward to my time with them.
This was taken last Easter in Edmonds overlooking Puget Sound at our good friends Dave and Jody’s. They started the tradition of eating fish on Easter because that is what Jesus ate after his resurrection to show the Disciples He was alive.
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Thanks for indulging me and I couldn’t resist the Beatles singing Happy Birthday to finish off this post. Thanks Myrna.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
Friday March 14th is my 57th Birthday. For my TT this week I’m choosing 13 very memorable years in my 57!
1. 1951 ~ My birth year. I was born in East Los Angeles, California.
2. 1963 ~ At Hume Lake Christian Camps in King’s Canyon, California God called me to become a disciple of Jesus Christ and I started a new life following him.
3. 1968 ~ Graduated from Montebello High School in Montebello, California
4. 1972 ~ Went on my first date with Dear in October of this year.
5. 1973 ~ Graduated from Cal-State Los Angeles with a degree in Home Economics and an Elementary Teaching Certificate.
6. 1974 ~ Got married on December 6th to Dear and have celebrated 33 years of marriage so far. We were married on a Friday evening.
7. 1979 ~ Our first child was born in January. Josh is our firstborn weighing in at 10 pounds. Born on a Friday.
8. 1981 ~ Our second son was born also in January, also on a Friday. Dan was 8 pounds and 1-1/2 oz.
9. 1985 ~ Our third child was born on a Friday, too but not in January. Our first daughter (and last) Katie was born at the end of December even though her due date was in January also. She weighed in at 8 pounds and 12 oz.
10. 1988 ~ We moved from California to the state of Washington so Dear could go to Pharmacy School at the University of Washington.
11. 1996 ~ We gave our dream home and all of our equity back to the bank because of a major landslide on the slope behind our home.
12. 2001 ~ Our first born son was married to our beautiful daughter in law, Laura.
13. 2006 ~ Dear took a full-time job in Southern California and he and I find ourselves living in Southern California again but without our children close by. They are all still in Washington. Dan and Katie are taking care of our home while we’re in Southern California in our Condo.
I’ll leave you with this party image of me way back in the 50’s. I’ve always been one to love a good time…
We got together on Saturday night at Moreno’s in Orange to celebrate my sister Vera’s bigger than the last big birthday party!
Vera the Birthday Girl and Me, Leticia my SIL and Tim my brother, The Mariachis, and the table conversation with David, Debbee (Vera’s kids) Noah, Melissa and my sister Kathy at the end of the table.
The Matriarch and Patriarch of the family…
There were these great old trees in the patio. The original part of this restaurant was a Friends church (Quaker) and built in the late 1800’s! Click here to read the interesting history.
And this joker on the right confiscated my camera when I wasn’t looking to take a photo of himself with the Birthday Girl!
Gotcha Ryan!
If you like non-spicy Mexican food that any Gringo can eat and enjoy this is the place for you. For us spicy hot Mexican food lovers this was fun for the history, fun being with family, fun with the mariachis, but not memorable for the food. 🙂
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
Update: The name drawn to receive the Butterfly necklace is Rosemary from Seasonings of the Heart! I’ll contact you.Thanks to everyonefor your kind words and visiting my party!
Happy Birthday Happy Wonderer!
So I contemplated how we should celebrate the anniversary of that day.
Should I serve one of my Russian favorites that my mom bakes, Roolyet? Make sure you roll your tongue on the roo part of the word.
Or maybe I could serve this dessert I’ve made that is so simple and I’ll include the directions below.
But in the great Hobbit Birthday Tradition I decided I would give away a gift to celebrate. The winning of this gift is open to all my regular bloggy friends and bloggers who participate in the same weekly memes I do. All you have to do is to leave a comment and make sure you include a good email address so I can contact you if you win. If you’re a guy I’m sorry that this is so feminine but if you win maybe you could give it to your wife, mother, sister, or friend.
I thought this was appropriate for the hope of Spring and new life it brings.
So thanks for stopping by my party and take time to comment and enter the drawing. It’s been a fun year for me getting to know all about blogging. I appreciate the friendships I’ve developed and am grateful for y’all.
Blessings.. ellen b.
Easy directions for individual trifle like desserts…
Cook one larger package of Vanilla pudding (not instant) according to package directions then put plastic wrap right on the surface of the pudding and let it cool in the refrigerator. While the pudding is cooling wash and cut 1 large carton of fresh strawberries into bite size pieces. Put them into a bowl and sprinkle sugar on top of them to make them juicier and sweeter. After the pudding has gotten cold whip up 2 cups heavy whipping cream (I add 1/4 -1/2 tsp. pure almond extract to the cream). Save some of the whipping cream to top the desserts and fold in the rest of the whipped cream into the cold pudding. Now all you have to do is assemble the individual trifles. Put some of the strawberries in the bottom of a fun glass or glass bowl, then add some store bought pound cake torn into pieces or angel food cake torn into pieces, next put some of the pudding mixture then keep layering in this same order. Top with a dollop of whip cream and a strawberry. Simple and refreshing and yummy. (You could also make the layers in a Large Trifle bowl)
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
My sister Vera was born on Leap Year Day in 1948. That means she’s 15 years old today. Well this is just the 15th time that her actual birthdate has occurred in her lifetime.
Vera is the one on the bottom row holding the cake. I’m next to her holding the skirt of my dress. My sister Kathy is in the top row between our cousins June and Nancy. My brother Fred is the the one in the overalls on the bottom row. My cousin Vera is next to me and my cousins Mike and Bill are in the top row as well.
This has to be Easter judging from the dresses and the white patent leather shoes. Vera, Kathy and Me.
This is Vera and me sometime in the 50’s. Fall or Winter judging from the black patent leather shoes! 🙂
This is a photo of the 4 of us sisters a year ago at another birthday celebration. Kathy, Lana, Vera and Ellen. We also have 4 brothers.
VERA! I hope your day is filled with love, joy and happiness. Looking forward to celebrate with you soon. Praying for God’s continued blessings in your life…
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.
A very Happy Valentine’s Day to all my bloggy friends.
And a very Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Beth, in the State of Washington. I’m so happy our boys became such good friends so we could in turn become friends. God’s richest blessings on you this year!
I John 3:1 ~ “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.”
Psalm 36:5-7 ~ “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your love!”
And now after reading these verses in Psalm I’m singing this song by Third Day..
“Your Love Oh Lord”Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean’s tide
I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 