Category Archives: Birthday

Family Celebration for my 70th

A week ago nine of us met up in Spokane for my birthday dinner.

Three vehicles made their way to Spokane for our dinner reservation. Two from Colville and one rental car from the Spokane airport. My dear friend Jeanie sent me the 70 and Fabulous tiara and sash and I wore it happily. When we were directed to our table for 9 this beautiful bouquet of flowers was on the table.

Reading the card I was so surprised to see that they were from Lovella all the way in Canada. She arranged with our daughter in law to have them delivered to the restaurant by a local florist. A very sweet and thoughtful surprise. Thank you, Lovella.

Addy looked carefully at my tiara and then proceeded to draw a likeness of me with the tiara while we were finishing up our dinner at Churchill’s. I love it!

Laura’s mother sent me this apron for my birthday. How very thoughtful was that!? Thank you, Pat!

From the restaurant we all traveled north 70 miles back to Colville. We met up at Dan and Jamie’s and they had me sit down and get comfortable on the couch to watch a video of greetings from the 9 Mennonite Girls Can Cook in Canada, my siblings, Dear’s brother’s family, my nieces and nephews and some life long friends. I was overwhelmed and grateful. Jamie had the idea and Laura was able to contact everyone and put it all together. Laura added songs that my family have sung and she had recorded them a few years ago. I told my kids afterward that it was a lot nicer to view a tribute like this now instead of having that kind of video at my funeral. So remember no video at my funeral instead Sing together in worship, share the Gospel and then go eat!

When you are 70 you need posts like these to help you remember all the good times!

Full of Hope Hodgepodge

2016-04-13 pablano soup

Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the Wednesday Hodgepodge Questions!

1. “Hope springs eternal”…discuss.

I’m taking the quote out of the realm it came from and putting God’s eternal twist on it.

From a mother’s perspective I always hope for our children to progress in their walk with the Lord, to be content, to stay faithful in their marriages and to look forward to their eternity with God.

From a grandmother’s perspective I ask the Lord continually to have mercy on and save our grandchildren and my hope is for their salvation.

This is my same prayer for any friends or family who are not born again.

For me personally, my hope is in eternity with my Lord and Savior.

2. Last time you needed to ‘spring into action’ or ‘spring to someone’s defense’…explain.

These days my springing into action generally happens around our grandchildren quickly diverting them from danger.

3. Tulips or daffodils? baby birds or baby bunnies? The cherry tree or the dogwood tree? Jelly beans or peeps? March madness or spring training? Peas or carrots?

Tulips, Baby birds, Dogwood Tree (see photo at the top of this post), Jelly Beans, Spring Cleaning no madness or training, Carrots.

4. I read an article here on the South’s best cities on the rise. They are-Baton Rouge Louisiana, Fayetteville Arkansas, Greenville South Carolina, Huntsville Alabama, Lexington Kentucky, Norfolk Virginia, Tulsa Oklahoma, Waco Texas, Wilmington North Carolina, and Winston-Salem North Carolina. Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person?

Katie and I drove to Airlie Gardens in Wilmington North Carolina when our Son-in-law was stationed at Camp LeJeune.

Which one on the list would you most like to see?

Waco Texas because of the Fixer Upper phenomena. Would be fun to visit Magnolia.

Have you spent much time in the southern states (USA)?

We’ve spent more time in the Southwest vs. Southeast being born and raised in Southern California. We’ve spent time in Arizona and New Mexico. We’ve visited family in Dallas, Texas. We’ve been to San Antonio (for a conference).We’ve spent time in North Carolina when our Andrew and Katie lived there during his Marine days. Katie and I traveled to Beaufort, S.C. for Andrew’s Marine Corps graduation. Dear and I spent a few days in Florida for a medical conference he attended. We’ve been to Atlanta, Georgia for another conference. On a road trip from Seattle to Jacksonville, North Carolina, Katie and I spent nights in Tennessee, Asheville N.C., Raleigh Durham.

Any spring road trips on your calendar?

Only a short one across the mountains to our kids home after Easter.

We are making plans for a longer road trip to North Carolina for a wedding in October. On the way we do plan a stop in Lexington, Kentucky after we visit The Ark. Our route home from North Carolina will take us through Dallas to visit my brother’s family. Looks like we could hit a few of those cities on the way to Dallas from North Carolina if we wanted to.

5. Tell us how your outdoor space needs sprucing up this spring?

We still have a lot of grassy bushes that need some work, pulling out the old to get ready for the new growth. Now our front acreage has a million small pine cones that the trees have shed. Those are a bear to clear.

Which do you enjoy more (or hate the least-ha!) yard work or house work?

I enjoy riding my lawn mower to cut the grass. Not a big fan of pulling weeds and less of a fan these days since it makes my back sore. The housework that I’m the least happy to do these days is to clean our shower. I’d love to have the unit replaced. There is calcium deposits that are impossible to remove that look like dirt. We are on well water here. So all that to say there are parts of outdoor work that I like and parts of indoor work that I like. Other parts are not pleasant both indoors and outdoors.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We are catching our breath after a celebration filled weekend with our kids from the ‘Coast’ here. A belated birthday dinner for me on Friday and then our granddaughter’s 4th birthday on Saturday. We were all in church together on Sunday morning. We had all our meals together from Friday dinner to Monday lunch except for Sunday morning. The ‘coast’ kids flew home on Monday evening.

Party Fun

At the party some outdoor activities required safety goggles and safety ear muffs.

Peek a boo fun and someone has mastered the pouty lips!

Presents!

Time to try out a birthday gift before cake!

Another Happy Birthday for the books!

Our deer/dear Addy, we are so happy to be close enough to watch you grow. You are learning so many important things and we pray the things that are true will stay with you your whole life. We love you and Jesus loves you!

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

It’s been a whirlwind 4 days here in the country. Our ‘Coast’ kids are back home. We got a lot of quality time in and we look forward to the next time we can be together. The dishwasher has been working overtime.

I have had very few minutes online and hope to catch up with you all in a day or two!

Happy Birthday Addy!

Our dear little granddaughter turned 4 on the first day of Spring and family and friends gathered to celebrate her! Warning: This post will have lots of photos. It was a hunting party.

The guests were instructed to wear camo or orange clothing to go with the ‘Hunting’ theme. And…yes, Addy chose the theme.

Our little Deer…

One with Addy smiling.

One with JJ cooperating.

Baba, Addy and Gramps

Granny and Addy

Great Uncle Scott, Rhonda and Addy.

Uncle Josh, Aunt Lolo (Laura) and Addy.

Auntie Katie and Addy. Uncle Andrew was busy with work responsibilities.

Addy and her friend.

Long time friends of the family.

JJ and Auntie Lolo. Another post is coming with all the activities at the party.

Loose Ends

The struggle is real. Some progress on this puzzle. It’s a tough one. We congratulate ourselves when we find one or two pieces to fit!

When we finally get the owls done we will move on to this one which was a 70th Birthday gift from my friend Jeaneen.

Looks like a fun one from my favorite country to visit.

My sister Kathy made this for me for my birthday. I love it!

Josh and Laura sent this beautiful bouquet that arrived after we returned from our little getaway in Idaho.

Tonight the celebrations continue with a meal in Spokane with our family except for Andrew who has work obligations. Our newest toddler has not had many restaurant experiences and it will be interesting to see how a fancy restaurant and JJ get along. I’ll let you know how it goes.

We are moving into a busy weekend. If I’m scarce you will know why.

Springing Ahead Hodgepodge

Hodgepodge lands on St. Patrick’s Day this week so Jo From This Side of the Pond has come up with questions surrounding that theme. Thank you Jo for your creative questions!

1. This week’s Hodgepodge lands on St. Patrick’s Day.

Will you wear green?

Yes! (If I remember)

Eat corned beef and cabbage?

We enjoyed corned beef and cabbage last evening at our son and DIL’s home.

Drink green beer?

No to drinking green beer but I have used a Guinness pint glass as a flower vase coloring the water green.

Have you ever been to Ireland? Is it on your travel ‘bucket list’? 

No never been but would love to!

2. Something you think is ‘worth its weight in gold’? 

My riding lawn mower. And very soon it will be time to start riding it again.

3. Something that makes you ‘green around the gills’? 

When someone else ‘tosses their cookies’.

4. What puts a ‘spring in your step’ these days? 

Whenever I know our family will be gathering like this coming weekend!

5. Write a limerick using one of the following as your theme….March, St. Patrick’s Day, Covid, 2020 and/or 2021, the color green, or life lately. Yes, you can do it. 

I’ll admit up front that hubby helped came up with this.

There was a nice gal from Seattle

Who rarely engaged verbal battle

She blogged with her friends

Entertained to no end

And tried to avoid empty prattle!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My kids have planned the following for this Friday. Our DIL Laura created this gif. It will be good to be together! My actual birthday was March 14th but our kids are flying over to celebrate two birthdays in one trip. My family dinner party is Friday night and Addy’s 4th birthday will be celebrated on her day, March 20th.

St. Patrick’s Prayer

May the Strength of God pilot us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.

May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.

May the Host of God guard us
Against the snares of the evil ones,
Against temptations of the world.

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!

May Thy Salvation, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen.

The Roosevelt Inn

For my birthday getaway we chose to stay at The Roosevelt Inn which is a Bed and Breakfast in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Welcome to The Roosevelt Inn,  a stunning Coeur d’Alene inn.  This grand brick building was the first permanent schoolhouse established in 1905. Now, experience historic elegance at The Roosevelt Inn a romantic and relaxing bed and breakfast located in the heart of beautiful downtown Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

We chose The Principal’s Suite for this stay. When we checked in they delivered a welcome small portion of a very tasty bread pudding along with a fresh rose and water.

This elegant executive suite offers the best of both worlds; beautiful stylish accommodations with a separate sitting room.

We enjoyed our breakfast. Once upon a time they would have a large breakfast buffet along with choices for you to choose from the kitchen. Now because of you know what everything comes from the kitchen with no buffet service.

After we made our reservations we found out that the owners have sold the Inn and new ownership takes over in April. I don’t know what the new owners are like and how they will continue or modify the Inn so I’ll hold back on our recommendations. We did enjoy our stay.

Celebrating

We enjoyed my birthday meal at the Wolf Lodge Steak House in Coeur d’Alene.

If you are a fan of meat this is the place for you!

The restaurant was dark inside so the photos taken with our phones are a bit muddled.

My birthday started out earlier than usual since it was Spring Forward time of year! First thing in the morning I was greeted with the sweetest video of our grands singing happy birthday to me on a video. A wonderful way to start the day. On the way to church our daughter called with her sweet wishes. Our church service was so good with lots of laughter and then a more solemn time of Communion. After church we drove to Idaho and the texts and phone calls continued. Both our sons called with their wishes. Another call from my brother with his family singing happy birthday to me. Another dear friend called and then my college roommate from the University of Redlands called out of the blue. I’ve been overwhelmed with the many wonderful birthday greetings I have received through phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages. And now that I’m in this new decade I need to document all these things so I can remember.

Thank you to all my blogging friends, too, who have left such encouraging words on my birthday posts!

Seventy

Tomorrow is my 70th birthday, March 14th.

The fifth child of Russian Immigrants to the United States after World War II settling in the Los Angeles Area of California. Raised by parents who sought after God and taught us Christian values. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord at twelve, repenting and being born again spiritually. Married to a fellow believer for 46 years. Blessed with two sons and a daughter. Blessed again with two daughters-in-law and a son-in-law. Crowned in our old age with two grandchildren. Thankful to God for all He has done in my life, my husband’s life, our children’s lives and our grandchildren’s lives. Keeping on the straight and narrow until He returns or we are called home.

I’ve been so humbled and joyfully weepy over all the greetings, gifts, and flowers that have been delivered by friends and family via Amazon and USPS with postmarks from the USA and Canada.

The gift and flower senders! Top of the collage my dear friends since the 70’s Jeaneen and Heidi. The bottom of the collage my brother Leonard and his wonderful Mandy.

My brother’s family sent me this Borscht in a container. We are all curious how it will turn out. You just add broth and then meat if you want.

These ‘girls’ (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) are part of my tenship. They’ve only been in my life for a little over a decade. They have become the best of friends. We communicate almost daily and we share life together praying for one another and encouraging one another. We laugh and we weep together. Waiting for that day for the border to open so we can celebrate in person again! It was fun to get birthday cards for my 70th from across the line. Thank you girls!

As with my 60th birthday celebrations my 70th will be going on for as long as I can stretch out the fun. A lot of changes in a decade of life. There will be a photo in the near future with me wearing my Fabulous 70 crown and sash.

Another Milestone Hodgepodge

Another Milestone Birthday is on it’s way (March14th). Boy we’ve aged in 10 years but…that’s the way it is supposed to be. Cheers! The photo above is from one of my 60th birthday celebrations.

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge and Jo From This Side of the Pond has some deep questions for us this week.

1. March 9th is National Get Over It Day…what’s something you need to ‘just get over already’? 

For years we’ve all been able to live under the radar when it comes to people not holding the same convictions as us. Today there is blatant disagreement on how to live our daily lives. I’m working on how to respond to those who are polar opposites. Most of the time no response is the best response. Sometimes it is good to engage in some dialogue.  Wisdom and discretion are needed.

2. Something you’re currently ‘over the moon’ about? 

I’m looking forward to March 14th through the 22nd when some celebrations will be happening on this side of the mountains. See #5.

3. What’s something you’re ‘chewing over’ these days? (meaning-thinking over carefully)

Christ’s substitutionary atonement for believers; “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21)

And…

“God’s gift of redemption brings salvation from both sin’s oppression and sin’s consequences-and one day from its very existence. Hence, we no longer need to fear our former master; neither should we fear the wrath of God. Christ defeated sin and Satan at the cross, and He also bore the full punishment of God’s wrath for all who believe in Him. His death set us free from sin, condemnation and fear.”

Quote from the book; Slave-The Hidden Truth About Your Identity In Christ by John MacArthur

4. The last thing you cooked or ate that was overdone? 

Can’t think of anything. We have had some under seasoned meals at one of the restaurants in town.

5. In celebration of hitting volume 411 in the weekly Hodgepodge, give us the 411 on something happening in your life in the next 30 days. 

On Sunday, March 14th, I’m hitting a milestone birthday, turning 70! How did that happen? Dear and I will celebrate with a couple nights in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho at a nice Inn and with some nice meals out in open restaurants. On Friday the 19th our Coast kids are flying over and we will meet up in Spokane for a birthday meal with all of us except for Andrew who has to fly somewhere for his job. Then on Saturday we will celebrate little Addy who turns 4 on the first day of Spring. The kids will be around for the whole weekend so there will be lots of fun and frolic. It will be good to be together.

In the next few days we will have a new grand niece join the world. She’s due on my birthday but she’ll probably come sooner.

Also within this time frame Spring arrives! Aren’t we all ready for Spring?

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

These photos are from March of 2011 when we celebrated my 60th birthday. We had a delicious meal in downtown Seattle. Our son Dan hadn’t met his bride to be yet. Our daughter Katie was in North Carolina marrying Andrew at the Justice of the Peace before he was deployed to Afghanistan.

We had a wedding for them a year later on their anniversary in Seattle after Andrew returned from his tour of duty and got a few days leave. Their 10th Anniversary is tomorrow, March 11th!

Happy 10th Anniversary Andrew and Katie!