…and other things with my grand nephew and grand niece who are visiting with their mom, our very first niece and their grandmother, Dear’s SIL. I will be scarce on the webs these days. See you next week.
Category Archives: Cousins
While we were in the Country…
…our oldest kids flew to the big city of Los Angeles.
While they were there for a quick weekend with friends to enjoy a special concert together they managed a getaway to see my pop, their Dzeda.
They also managed to get all these cousins together for brunch.
Beautiful girls. Two of my nieces with our dear daughter in love, Laura.
We are all back in our own homes again. Home from the big city and home from the country.
This country scene is from our middle son’s neck of the woods.
On our way home today we stopped at the scenic overlook of the Columbia River just before you get to Vantage. A selfie was in order. This is about halfway in our trip.
It’s good to be home after six days away. Watering was the first thing on my list to do and now I will relax till tomorrow. We are finishing up listening to a Bruno Chief of Police novel. On our trip to the country we finished Louise Penny’s The Cruelest Month.
Hope all is well whether you are in the big city or the quiet country.
Five More Hats!
Five more hats that I have worn from college on…
# 1 ~ I was part of a Christian Rock group where I met Dear and we fell in love with each other and with Great Britain in the early 70’s.
“Hymns give way to Jesus Rock in morning assembly at St. George’s Church of England School, in Meadow Road, Gravesend yesterday. The concert was given by the Contemporaries, 14 musicians from the United States who are in the middle of a world tour. They have already completed a number of successful “gigs” in Liverpool. They are all professional musicians but they are giving their services free”…
Dear and I are in the center of the photo on the bottom row. 1974 was the last summer tour Dear and I participated in.
#2 – I was a bride and became a wife to Dear and changed my name in December of 1974.
#3 ~ I was an elementary school teacher in the Montebello Unified School District until our first son was born.
#4~ I’m blessed to be a mother to these three children and my mother in law sheet is complete with two daughter-in-laws and one son-in-law.
#5 I’m an auntie and great auntie to so many lovely human beings! I’m sharing a few photos so I can get all of the nieces and nephews and great nephews and nieces in. I haven’t met two of the latest greats in person yet.
Our family and Dear’s brother’s family from Katie and Andrew’s wedding in 2012.
Dear’s only brother’s family and our family in 2015 at Riverside National Cemetery (missing Jenna, Justin, Skylar and Travis).
My kids and nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews surrounding my pop at my mother’s memorial service in 2013.
Our kids plus my nieces and nephews with my youngest niece Hope and youngest nephew Andrew in 2015 at my brother-in-law Nick’s funeral. So let me count. 7 brothers and sisters. 7 brother and sister in laws. 19 original nieces and nephews. Many of those nieces and nephews are married now and I have 9 grand nieces and nephews. I have 4 nieces and 2 nephews who aren’t married yet.
I have one brother (out of my 7 siblings) whose family has estranged themselves from all the rest of us siblings and our families. They are not enjoying the love and support and comfort that the rest of us enjoy when we are together. I’m adding this truth here to let my dear readers know that things aren’t all rosy in my family relationship category. My brother and his wife have 4 kids and we know for sure 3 of them are married. We aren’t sure about our oldest nephew from this family. We have at least 3 grand nephews or nieces that I’ve never met. I also have never met two of my nephew’s spouses and the oldest niece’s spouse. They have chosen to cut off all ties and relationship with us. Haven’t seen my brother since 2009 and haven’t seen my sister in law since 2004. So sad but true. We pray that there will be reconciliation in the future. Gott Kann!
I have a few more current hats to share before I totally bore you to tears.
I’m linking up with Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday and with Susanne for Friday’s Fave Five.
I’ll be on the road for most of Friday and hope to check in once we arrive at our son’s house in Eastern Washington for the weekend later on Friday. Blessings…
A Thankful Rebel
It’s been ages since I joined in with Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five but this morning I’m going to post some favorites from my time with family last Thursday thru Saturday in Southern California. And because I’m overwhelmingly blessed with a wonderful family there will be more than Five photos! I’m a rebel that way…
The reason for my trip down was to meet my new little nephew Andrew (he’s 5). My brother’s family lives in Texas and they were flying to California for Miss Hope’s 7th birthday and a trip to Disneyland and my extended family filled in all the edges of their trip with parties and fun. Andrew became a part of their forever family last August and is already a U.S. Citizen. He was adopted from the Ukraine. He now sings God bless America! So cute. I’ll share more photos from Miss Hope’s birthday party later.
Fresh off the plane last week I met up with Dear’s SIL, Christina, and my best friend from college days Heidi. Heidi, Christina, Dear, Dear’s brother and I were all in a Christian Rock Band in the seventies. Heidi and I attended the same Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles and had lots of adventures together! We caught up as much as we could in our couple hours together.
What a blessing to spend some time with my soon to be 92 year old pop. He’s a sad guy without my mom by his side.
He was surrounded by some of his grandchildren at Hope’s birthday party.
Josh and Laura took the long way home to Seattle from their trip to Kaui through Southern California so they could meet Andrew, too, and visit with my pop and their cousins.
All my pop’s kids except for one were together in one spot so we took some photos.
Our youngest siblings, the twins, are flanking my father on the couch.
I love this photo of my older sisters and I love them, too.
Andrew is fitting right in and it’s so much fun to listen to his half Ukrainian and half English sentences!
When we all got together this time my Father prayed a blessing over his new grandson Andrew and over his great grandson Thomas. My brother thanked all his friends and family for praying them through the adoption process and helping financially to bring Andrew to the U.S.A. We all sang Great is Thy Faithfulness and another of our Russian favorites together acknowledging the fact that God is the faithful one in our lives. Of course we had lots of good food and good conversation and laughter.
So I’m thankful for my Faithful God, my faithful pop, my family, my friends, and all our fun times together! We’re not perfect, mind you, but we have practiced forgiving each other and keeping our relationships going. We try not to neglect each other. What are you thankful for?
E is for Ellen…
ABC Wednesday is already on the letter E. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt the proud founder and to the whole ABC team!
E is for ellen b. and a few of her favorite things…
This is a theater on Main Street in Bozeman, Montana spotted by daughter Katie on our cross country road trip back in April.
Ellen loves and enjoys spending time with her family.
Ellen loves her brothers and sisters and her dear old pop. This photo was taken last September at my dear old mom’s funeral.
Ellen loves her nieces and nephews. These cousins have so much fun together!
Ellen b. with her sisters and mom enjoying each other 6 months before her mom died.
Ellen loves Dear’s brother’s family to the left of the groom and below.
Ellen loves her whole big family including her brother in laws and sister in laws.
Ellen loves the girls from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and is so thankful to have them as her true blue friends.
Ellen loves to travel to England and all of the United Kingdom.
Ellen loves Soccer/Futbol and has been to games in Manchester and Milan. Her favorite team is the home team, the Seattle Sounders.
Ellen is a Seattle Sounders season ticket holder along with her son and daughter in law.
Ellen loves Dear. Their 40th wedding anniversary celebrations have begun already.
Ellen B. and Dear started celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to England in July where they spent one of their days in Oxford.
Ellen likes to read Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers and a little Chesterton so it was a treat to eat in the Pub where these authors were known to meet.
Ellen loves God and His son Jesus who has given her eternal life through his death and resurrection.
Congratulations if you made it to the end of this very long post!
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!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 