Category Archives: Easter

Easter Was Glorious!

What a lovely Easter Day we had here in the Northwest. We started out the day by going to a baptism of two little girls we know. Sisters getting baptized on Easter morning. It was a great event to witness. After that celebration we came home to prepare for our Easter lunch with our DIL’s family and my sister Lana and Steve.

 

Sorry I caught some of you in mid-chew! I realize that when we host an event like this my photo skills go out the window. Too busy with other details. Everyone is busy eating Rack of Lamb, rice with raisins and almonds, and salad with Persian dressing. For dessert we had a Russian Strawberry shortcake made with the Kulich, Seerney Paska and strawberries.

 

Our centerpiece was the Russian Easter Bread with hollow chocolate Matryoshka dolls for each of the ladies to take home and colored Easter eggs. We call our Easter bread Kulich but another popular name for it is Paska.

 

 

Our other traditional Easter treat is this sweet cheese spread that we make from eggs, butter, Farmer’s Cheese, whipping cream and sugar. After you mix it all up you put it in a mold lined with cheese cloth and weight it down and leave it in the refrigerator for a day or two to drain as much liquid as you can out of it. The X and B are for Christ is Risen which looks like this in Russian, Христос Воскрес!

 

 

I was able to use my individual place card vases for each guest which was fun.


 

Katie, Lana, and Laura

 

Sisters flanked by my daughters :0)

The cross was one of my hostess gifts from my DIL’s mother. Thank you Pat! I love it along with my other goodies.

All the dishes are washed and put away but I’m still enjoying the vases filled with the tulips. My brain is in slow motion today but I’m sure to perk up here sometime soon so I can visit everyone’s Easter greeting posts that I missed yesterday.

Looking forward to another great celebration tomorrow. I’ll tell you about it soon.

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Truly He is Risen!

Christos Voskress! Voistina Voskress!

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

Christ is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

We Welcome Glad Easter

We welcome glad Easter when Jesus arose,
And won a great victory over His foes.

Refrain

Then raise your glad voices, all Christians and sing,
Bring glad Easter tidings to Jesus, your King.

We tell how the women came early that day,
And there at the tomb found the stone rolled away.

Then raise your glad voices, all Christians and sing,
Bring glad Easter tidings to Jesus, your King

We sing of the angel who said: “Do not fear!
Your Savior is risen, and He is not here.”

Then raise your glad voices, all Christians and sing,
Bring glad Easter tidings to Jesus, your King

We think of the promise which Jesus did give:
“That he who believes in Me also shall live!”

Then raise your glad voices, all Christians and sing,
Bring glad Easter tidings to Jesus, your King

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Good Friday

 

John 17: 1-5

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

John 19: 16-18

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

This week in history is so important to our world. It’s no wonder that we still take notice 2000 years later. The events leading up to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ are powerful. His Resurrection will never be trumped by any other event in history. Even the name of Jesus has more power then any other.  Today my sister Lana G! and I will be baking and keeping with our Russian traditions of making Easter Bread (Kulich) and a sweet cheese spread for the bread called Seerney Paska in anticipation of our Resurrection Sunday celebration. Growing up Good Friday was a day of fasting until our church gathering Friday evening. After the service the congregation would break bread together and have a meal to break the fast. Good Friday was a very sorrowful day for the followers of Jesus 2000 years ago because they could not understand the miracle of His resurrection that brought them out of their despair. I’m glad we know the end of the story. Our Savior conquered death and He lives and still saves today. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Have a wonderful Easter Everyone!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Maundy Thursday ~ The Last Supper

GOTW-practice035

Excerpts from John chapter 13…

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;  so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.  “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Tablescape Thursday ~ Easter Brunch

My tablescape this week is from my home in Washington State. We had brunch with our children after church on Easter Sunday.

Our traditional Russian Easter Bread ~ Kulich. My sister Lana G! and I baked this by ourselves for the first time this year.

We also made the traditional sweet cheese topping for the bread called Seerney Paska in Russian. The X is the first letter in Russian for Christ and the B is pronounced V in Russian and it stands for Arose. Christ Arose…

Our little bunnies are holding the signs for the reason we celebrate Easter. Again this is written in Russian Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

 

Here are our children after our yummy brunch of Swedish Pancakes which Dear made for all of us. We had to get the Swedish heritage in there, too.

To see more Tablescapes please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Blue Monday Recap~

The word of the day is slow. I’m waking up slow, moving slow, and my brain is a bit slow. So much fun activity for the last 3 days has taken its toll on this good ole girl. So here’s a little blue and a little recap of some of our wonderful Easter…

 

My son Josh took me to the Seattle Sounders FC soccer game against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night. It was so much fun to join in on the parade to the stadium with the Sounders marching band and experience the excitement in the air. Josh has Season Tickets and usually my son Dan attends with him but Dan let me go in his place and gave me his scarf to wear with the instructions not to lose it! Fun times. I’m a big soccer fan and it was fun to see the Sounders in person even though they suffered their first loss of the season…

 

We had a wonderful Resurrection Day. We all went to the 9:00 am service together and heard and felt the power of the gospel. Afterwards we came home for brunch. Dear made his famous Swedish Pancakes which are a favorite at our house. We had our traditional Russian Easter Bread (Kulich) with Seerney Paska (a sweet yummy cheese spread). I used a plastic flower pot to form the cheese this year and I liked the result. Our Russian Easter greeting was repeated the traditional 3 times! Then on to the present day tradition…a little rock band family fun!

I’m going slow and easy today recuperating and getting back on my usual track. Hope all of you had a good weekend.

To see more “Blue” visit Sally at Smiling Sally!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

He Is Risen Indeed!

Christos Voskress! Voistina Voskress!

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

This is one of my favorite Easter Hymns that we used to sing every Easter at Bethany Baptist Russian Church in Los Angeles!

Low in the Grave He Lay

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Antique Easter Postcards ~

Greetings from the beautiful wet Puget Sound Area of Washington!!

I wanted to share these Antique Easter postcards that Dear’s Great, great, Aunt Emma received in the early 1900’s.

 

And then here’s a classic Easter shot from the 50’s of my sisters and me!

Vera, Kathy and Ellen b. We always got dressed up for Easter with a new Easter dress that my mom would usually sew for us. White patent leather shoes and white socks and a cute little purse finished off the outfit.

I took a stroll around the yard yesterday and I was so happy to see my Lenten Rose in full bloom for Easter.

 

Lana G! and I worked hard yesterday baking Kulich, (Russian Easter Bread), for the first time all by ourselves. In the past we’ve always watched my mom make it or were part of a group effort in making it. We had many questions in our heads yesterday wondering about the instructions and if we were doing things correctly. We were exhausted by the end of the baking process! Lana re-wrote the recipe and instructions so that someone who has never seen the process would understand what to do better…

 

My mother wants us to bring her back a piece so she can see how we did. Oh the pressure!!

 

Today we will decorate the tops of the Kulich with some frosting and sprinkles, color eggs and shop for our portion of the Easter dinner tomorrow.

The most exciting thing that is happening today, though, is that my son Josh is taking me to the Seattle Sounders Game tonight!! That’s MLS soccer for those of you who don’t follow soccer. My son Dan is giving up his season ticket and his scarf for me tonight! Whoohoo! Of course you’ll see and hear more about it later…

Tomorrow we’ll be celebrating with millions of people all around the world that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and was resurrected from the dead with the power to save anyone who believes in Him. Now that is something to celebrate everyday! Blessings on you and yours!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Good Friday 2009 ~

Luke 23: 44-46 ~ “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said thus, He breathed His last.”

I’m so happy we know the rest of the crucifixion story and that Jesus rose from the dead and lives, not just lives, but rules and reigns at the right hand of God and can rule and reign in our own hearts! Looking forward to enjoying the whole weekend with preparations and celebrations! Blessings…

The Last Supper ~

Since this is Holy Week around the world for Foodie Friday I thought it would be appropriate to remember the last supper and the reason Christians observe communion.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (English Standard Version)

  23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

 

For more Foodie Friday please visit Gollum at Designs by Gollum who is the hostess for this weekly event!

I’m on a plane to Seattle tonight. I will be there for 10 days. I hope to be able to get around tomorrow in between making Kulich (Russian Easter Bread) , Seerney Paska and coloring Easter eggs…

May your Easter celebrations be glorious!

ht: Lana G! took the photo of the cross with the Last Supper in Hawaii.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.