Friday Already

Friday has a way of arriving sooner when you have a Monday holiday or at least it seems that way. So many things to be thankful for and I’m joining Susanne and a few of my bloggy friends in sharing Friday’s Fave Five.

1. I’m always grateful for a little sunshine in between the rain showers.

2. A heart shaped box of hand picked candy from See’s. Katie and I went to See’s on Valentines day morning and we hand picked 2 boxes. One of the boxes came home with us for Dear, Katie and me to enjoy and the other box was dropped off at my son’s office for him and my daughter in law to enjoy.

3. Our tax prep appointment is behind us and I always give a sigh of relief when that is done. Hopefully we’ll hear good news when the accountant completes all the forms. Some people don’t mind preparing their returns themselves but I am grateful for someone to do that for me.

4. I’ve been continuing my quest of scanning some of our old photos and as I look at them I’m grateful for my little Russian grandmother who prayed for all of us and prayed for the people we would marry. This grandmother was widowed just before she immigrated to the U.S.A. When she was young she lost one of her arms up to her elbow. She still was able to raise her children and do any housekeeping without modern conveniences. She did more with one hand than many people do with two. She was a great cook and she was a talented embroiderer. We called her our little babushka. I’m the one in the yellow dress with the Buster Brown hair. This was taken at Easter in the 50’s.

5. Today Katie and I are meeting Dear downtown for Happy Hour and then we are going to the Seattle Home Show. Looking forward to the good food and seeing what’s new out there for the home. We are specifically looking for products for a bathroom remodel.

Do you have any favorites from this week? Hope you have a good weekend.

Birds of a Feather…

We have had birds and more birds pecking about our yard the last couple of weeks. It has been fun to see the many varieties.

This European Starling is a new addition in our yard this year.

They like to stick together and they fly off together, too.

We had a fun time this weekend with a few members of our family. Girls of a feather that enjoy sticking together, too. It wasn’t the whole flock but we take what we can get. My oldest sister Kathy’s two daughters were able to fly to Seattle to stay with my baby sister Lana. Our daughter Katie and DIL Laura joined the girls at Lana’s for a few days of nonstop fun.

Michelle, Melissa, Katie and Laura

Our hostess, Auntie Lana, joined the girls for a photo!

And Auntie Ellen, too.

Between seasons of Downton Abbey we were able to fit in a trip to Country Village in Bothell where we made some fun purchases and after the shopping trip we met up with all the guys for dinner at the Purple Cafe.

There were 10 of us at dinner but I couldn’t get a great shot of everyone. Lana’s husband Steve, Dear, Ryan (my niece Michelle’s husband) and our son Josh joined the girls for a lovely meal out and then it was back to Lana’s for more Downton Abbey…

The guys were very accommodating to the girls this weekend and we appreciate them very much. We only had enough time to make it through 2 whole seasons and the Christmas Special from Downton Abbey. My sister Lana is the only one of us who hasn’t seen season 3 yet and we left the DVD’s with her so she can finish off the series before Season 4 starts here in the states in January.

We said our farewells and our guests headed back to the airport to fly back to Southern California. We all look forward to the next time we can be together.

We are in a foggy pattern here in the Western part of the Puget Sound that has extended up to British Columbia. We are hoping the sun can break through the fog in the next days ahead.

Back to the Beach…

When we were in Huntington Beach for Debbee and Lenny’s wedding we had the chance to walk to the beach and enjoy the sand and surf for a couple hours after a delicious brunch at Nick and Vera’s (Father and Mother of the bride).

My sister Vera lives within walking distance to the beach so we put our flip flops on and started walking…

We had quite the volatile weather on Monday, winds, calm, sunshine, fluffy clouds, dark clouds, downpours, lightning, thunder. How are things in your corner?

Of Showers and Blessings…

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps
covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
to a thousand generations, (Deuteronomy 7:9, ESV)

The next bride in our family, Debbee.

Our family had a bridal shower for our niece Debbee this past Sunday in California. The shower was at our niece Michelle’s home. This first photo is of my mom with all the granddaughters that could attend the shower.

Debbee with her Baba.

My sister Vera is Debbee’s mom.

Deb with her mom and future mom in law

My three sisters with our mom. Lana, Kathy, Nadia (mom), Ellen and Vera.

Our cousins on my mom’s side of the family were able to attend the shower. My mom only had one brother who had 2 sons and 2 daughters. His two daughters are in this photo along with one of his DIL’s.

This one also has 2 of my mom’s DIL’s in the photo (my SIL’s). Top row Letty, Lana, Kathy, Kelly, Debbie, Tanya. Seated are Valia, Vera, Nadia, and Ellen.

My sister Vera has 2 children. David is married to Kristin on Vera’s left. Kristin, Vera, Vera, Debbee, Debbee, Lenny’s mom Linda, and Lenny’s sister Tina.

Debbee’s Bridesmaids

The cousins at the shower…Melissa, Michelle, Kristin, Debbee, Jess, Katie, and Laura.

My niece Melissa and my niece Debbee were roommates for 10 years! They are both adjusting to a new place to live until their next chapter begins.

My girls and my sister Kathy’s girls.

Debbee and me.

My family does not take lightly the blessings that God has showered us with. The times we have together filled with love, fun, and laughter will always be cherished and enjoyed.

I will share photos of the food and table settings at another time.

Tomorrow Dear and I are headed to Milan, Italy. Time will tell how much I can keep up with all the happenings online. Blessings.

Set the Table…

…and they will come!

On Monday night we gathered around the table to enjoy our visitors from California. We had stuffed cabbage that we call Goluptsi. You can see the recipe here. We had a wonderful salad with lots of goodies chopped in it and dressed with our favorite Persian Dressing.

Thursday the MGCC girls are being interviewed by Suzanne Woods Fisher at 2:00 PST and 5:00 EST on her Amish Wisdom show. You can listen in on a live feed here.

I’m linking up with Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for her weekly Let’s Dish Linky Party!

Nostalgia…

July of 1988 ~ Yuba City, California having an overnight at Aunt Carol and Uncle Ray’s on our big move to Washington State.

1967 and 1968 Montebello High School Song Leaders. Remembering losing 5 pounds every football game we cheered for. We’d go out for hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes afterwards to put the pounds back on. Sometimes we’d go to Bill’s Paradise and I’d always order the soft tostada. I’ve never had one since high school and I can still crave that taste…

London from St. Paul’s Cathedral February of 2003.

Thinking of our kids, remembering high school (not missing it mind you, except for that soft tostada), and still enjoying the Olympics in London on T.V. and starting to make some plans to return hopefully in 2013, Lord willing. Tomorrow I’ll be watching the U.S.A. ~ Canada women’s soccer semi-final.

If God puts him on your mind please pray for our son Josh as he is directing junior highers at Lakeside Bible Camp. We’re praying for an accident free week with kids finding peace with God.

It is the hottest day this year in the Seattle area and I’m headed to Century-Link Stadium to watch the Seattle Sounders play L.A. Galaxy. I wonder if Beckham is back from London to play with his L.A. team tonight? I hope I don’t melt. I’m waiting for someone to say, “I thought you were going to take a bloggy break?” That still might happen…

Julienne

A favorite breakfast destination for my family in Southern California in San Marino is Julienne. Their logo says Fine Foods and Celebrations and it is true. We have had many a fine celebration at Julienne. While in California to celebrate with my family Wednesday morning was set aside for the girls to have breakfast.

This was Laura’s first Julienne experience…

Niece Debbee, Niece Melissa, DIL Laura, Katie, Niece Michelle

We were seated in the Library.

In the mirror…

My youngest niece Hope joined us for the first time here, too.

SIL Mandy, Sister Vera, my mom, and my sister Kathy.

It really is a joy to have all these cousins enjoy each others company. My girls and Little Miss Hope are the out of towners that look forward to any trips when they can all be together. They make the most of these get-togethers. The next time we will all be together again will be for Katie and Andrew’s wedding next March. Miss Hope will be the flower girl, our grand nephew Jackson will be the ring bearer and my brother Steve will officiate. We are all looking forward to it!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods…

Fun Times in the City of Orange…

Sunday morning we started the day with a trip through Starbucks on our way to Old Towne Orange. We browsed through a couple antique malls and the Army-Navy Store. We later drove to my sisters in Whittier for a family meal with my parents, siblings, and nieces.

It’s always good to see my mom and pop. Mom is having lots of pain in her back and hips and walking is getting more and more difficult for her.

After lunch and lots of lively reminiscing Katie and I headed back to the city of Orange where we are staying. We decided to stop at Orange Hill Restaurant for some refreshment before we settled in for the night.

They take their name seriously here and the fact that they are in the city of Orange. Have you ever seen an orange baby grand piano?

We enjoyed ourselves so much in these orange surroundings we decided to go on Monday night with my nieces who also live in Orange.

It was sunny enough that we had to wear our shades inside for a while until the sun went down some.

Tomorrow our DIL Laura arrives and we are having a bridal shower for Katie. We are looking forward to Katie’s first shower and seeing dear friends and relatives we haven’t seen for a while.

I heard our summer decided to hide again for a few days in the Northwest. I hope it reappears soon…

Casa de la Playa

Katie and I are in Southern California enjoying family get-togethers. One of our favorite places to gather is at my sister Vera’s house in Huntington Beach. She and my BIL Nick are always willing and able to host and cook wonderful meals for our large family gatherings. We call their place “Casa de la Playa” because they live in Huntington Beach within walking distance to the Pacific Ocean.

We were there on Saturday for brunch, the beach, and then for dinner!

Besides Katie and I flying in, Miss Hope flew in with her parents from Texas. She loves Uncle Nick and she loves the beach! Vera made a delicious Chile Relleno casserole. Miss Hope was checking Katie and me out. After brunch and a nap we headed down the street to the beach.

Miss Hope loves the beach.

Hi Mommy! Look at me!

Daddy took the first shift with Hope in the water until her teeth started chattering and they came in to get warmed up.

Katie decided to brave the cold water.

Hope’s cousins took the next shift helping Miss Hope hop over the waves and avoid being toppled by them.

Time to pack everything up and head back to Casa de la Playa to shower before dinner.

Tim, Letty, Len and Kathy joined the rest of us for dinner. Nick barbecued ribs, tri-tip, chicken, mushrooms and zucchini and Vera made mashed potatoes, wild rice and salad. We were introduced to Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt for dessert. The salted caramel and the watermelon frozen yogurt was delicious! Thanks Nick and Vera for treating us so well and thank you Mandy for the frozen yogurt.

Thanks to my cousin Jim in Clovis we are calling our week of festivities the Bag-o-rama Jamboree! More fun to come.

I have not watched T.V. since we flew into L.A. but I’ve seen some stories on line about the horrible massacre in Norway. My heart and prayers go out to people of Norway and all the families there who have lost loved ones in such a senseless act of violence.

FFF ~ Summer?

Friday already and time to look back for a week and think about blessings in your life. Thank you Susanne for the reminder to think on good things.

1. I’ve had the chance to enjoy summer vicariously in seeing photos like these my niece in California shared. Our daughter Katie is visiting my family and enjoying summer where the sun is shining more consistently than our area. The pictures would be bigger if I was there but remember this is a vicarious little experience with the sun and beach and summer…

2. On the same vein…I’m thankful our daughter has been able to spend time with my mother and father while she’s been in California. The girls went to my mom’s for brunch yesterday and my parents were so happy to feed them and enjoy their company. They all spent Father’s Day together around a meal, too.

3. I am enjoying all the birds and their songs early in the morning. I was happy to see my little hummingbird friends return just outside the window where I sit at my computer…

4. SOUNDERS! Last night I was at the Seattle Sounders game against the New York Red Bulls. What a great game it was. We went up by 2 goals and N.Y. tied up the game with 2 goals and we finally won with two more goals by Roger Levesque. Did I lose you? The final score was Seattle 4 ~ N.Y. 2! A happy night at the stadium.

5. Last Friday night Dear and I picked up a couple of long time family friends of ours who happened to be in Seattle to embark on a cruise to Alaska. We went to one of our favorite restaurants and enjoyed a rare for this year sunny evening. These gals are my brother in laws sisters and we grew up in the same Russian community in the Los Angeles area. After they married, Laura and her husband settled in Canada and Ruth and her husband settled in Michigan. It was good to see them and enjoy a good meal together.

I think I can speak for the majority of us here in the Great Northwest and say that we are really looking forward to more nights like these around here….

What were the highlights of your week? Are you experiencing summer yet in your neck of the woods?

Tomorrow Dear and I are headed out on a little adventure. I enjoy planning these little day trips. Hope you have a good weekend…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions 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.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Cousins