The Here and Now…

Last night or I should say early this morning our two cross country travelers arrived home to roost for a while.

Thankfully they have their own key so I didn’t have to get up and let them in.

We thank the good Lord they made it safely through the rainstorm that was quite intense over the pass last night.

Things will be a little different around this old house while they settle in and start the process of looking for an apartment. They are breaking in the new but not completed bathroom, too. Yes…the saga continues on the bathroom.

In the meantime we’ll enjoy this next chapter in their adventure called life!

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!

Hither and Yon…

hither and yon, from here to over there, especially to a farther place; in or to a great many places:

That pretty much sums up the state of affairs with our family right now.

Our oldest, Josh, and our DIL Laura are in Cabo right now with my nephew David and his wife Kristin.

Our middle son, Dan, is working 2500 miles away from his home and his girlfriend is counting the days until he’s back where he belongs.

Our youngest, Katie, and our Son in law, Andrew have started their journey this morning from Jacksonville, North Carolina, to the state of Washington. Andrew has started his terminal leave from the Marine Corps after serving over 4 years with 2 deployments to Afghanistan. They will settle close to us so Andrew can finish his schooling.

I still feel like a fish out of water while the bathroom construction continues into the third week. Thankfully the end is near.

My brother and his wife are making their second trip today to the Ukraine to finish the legal work to bring their new young son home to his forever family.

We had some interesting sky views this past weekend. The Blue Angels were in Seattle for our SeaFair and to put on a air show during the hydroplane races. Along with the Blue Angels we had Fleet Week and the Marines put on some great demonstrations. I was able to capture some of the Osprey as they flew over our house on the way to the air show. Besides the great loud noise from the Blue Angels and the Osprey we had thunder and lightning from these amazing skies.

Couldn’t help but quote part of Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

So this is some of what is happening in my world. What’s happening in yours?

Eggs-cellent

Click over to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog to get the recipe for Gluten free Ranchero sauce for Huevos Rancheros and other Mexican dishes. We served this dish when my niece and her husband were visiting in June. My niece is Gluten and Lactose intolerant so I had to come up with a breakfast that would work for all of us. This recipe got the thumbs up from her and my son who is lactose intolerant and from the rest of us who don’t have to watch our gluten and lactose intake.

Last night my son, nephew and grand nephew attended the Seattle Sounders Soccer Game. My nephew got this photo of me with the few, the proud, the Marine Corp band. I enjoyed a fun back and forth with these Marines.

And here’s my son, nephew and grand nephew…

We had a good time in the sun even though our team lost.

Today at this old house the bath/shower tile surround is going in. Should be a full day of work here. Hope you all have a good Tuesday.

Here and Now…

We’ve been home from England for 10 days now and all I’ve been sharing are posts from our time in England but it’s time to show what’s happening in the here and now…

The bathroom renovation is moving along. What that means for me is that I’m pretty much home bound while the workers are here. The workers show up sometime between eight and eight thirty in the morning and then leave anytime from two and four in the afternoon. That great big bathtub delayed work for a day because there was a glitch in the ordering of it. When it finally came the plumbing work could proceed.

Last Sunday my niece’s family arrived for a little vacation here in Seattle from Southern California for a week. They have been keeping me company some days while the workers have been here. We’ve tried to fit in as many meals around the table together as we can. They are staying at my sister’s house since all her bathrooms are intake. After a very rainy Wednesday and Thursday, Friday dawned dry and sunny!

On Friday my niece Michelle, my dil Laura, my grand niece Avery and I went to Country Village in Bothell for a little shopping and fun.

Avery and I first concentrated on ponies that needed our help to make them move. Boy did I get my exercise and I think I might have earned my “Great” Aunt status.

When we were done with the not real horses we got free tickets to ride the little train that goes all around Country Village. Avery really enjoyed the train ride. I was amazed I could get in and out of that little car we rode in. While on the train Avery spotted the REAL ponies.

Yep! We had to have a real pony ride, too. At least on this ride I could just stand and watch and click some pictures. No running and pushing or climbing in and out required.

We also got to sit in the shade and watch all the ducks in the pond. Avery’s mom and my dil Laura found some fun items to buy while we were busy and we made it home just as the guys returned from their afternoon adventure at an indoor shooting range. It was a win win day for the guys and the gals.

On Saturday we made reservations for 10 at Cactus Restaurant in Kirkland to celebrate my sister Lana’s birthday. What a beautiful day.

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Husbands, Wives, enjoying time with each other.

A very Happy Birthday to my sister Lana and her twin, my brother Leonard on the 29th of July!

We continue to enjoy some wonderful weather here in the Puget Sound area of Washington.

Monday night Josh, Ryan, Jackson and I are going to a Sounders Soccer Game against the L.A. Galaxy. Then Tuesday morning my niece’s family makes the long trek south to California. We are hoping the bathroom work might be wrapped up by Friday of this week. Time will tell. Hard to believe we are entering the last week of July.

What’s new in your neck of the woods?

Daffodils and Sunshine

Although we were short on sunshine this past weekend we had some nice sunshine last week. I bought some daffodils that always have a way of adding sunshine to a table. They also make me smile. Today is Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. The day before the season of Lent begins. Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up leading up to Easter Sunday. In the U.K. this is Pancake Day. Shrove comes from the old word “shrive” which means to confess. Will you be eating pancakes today?

We had a great visit with our middle son and his girlfriend this weekend. I did not take one photo. We ate, played games, ate some more. Now that Dan has his own house we are slowly sending over his leftover belongings from our house. You know how that goes if you have adult children. This time around he was able to load 2 motorcycles in the bed of his truck to take back with him. I really do hope he didn’t take Dear’s head cold back with him. The roads were quite nasty on their trip home and on Monday the pass that they took was closed to traffic most of the day.

Everyone was talking about March challenges this weekend. Maybe I’ll challenge myself to do something in March, too. I’m thinking along the lines of exercise. How about you?

Those daffodils are now 13 inches high. It’s amazing how fast they’ve grown.

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.

In the Midst of Fog…

…there are still favorites. Things to be thankful for that shine through no matter what. I’m joining Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

1. January is a big birthday month at our house. Joshua’s birthday was on Sunday. We celebrated earlier in the month and the photo above was part of our celebration. Our Son Dan’s birthday was on the 16th and his girlfriend’s birthday was on the 15th. This year we celebrated Dan from afar while he celebrated in Eastern Washington. My brother Tim celebrated his birthday and our niece Hope will celebrate her birthday on Saturday. We love to celebrate our loved ones and that’s my first favorite this week.

Our son Dan and his girlfriend Jamie

2. My dear old pop has been having a hard time with a lot of shoulder pain and when he’s in so much pain he misses my mom even more. I was happy to see this photo of him with my niece Melissa enjoying a meal out and looking so alive and pain free. He has been feeling better and the pain with medication has been more manageable. I’m so thankful my father’s pain has been relieved.

3. We’ve been in quite a foggy overcast pattern here in the Puget Sound area. The afternoons where the sun finally broke through were another favorite of mine this week.

4. An early morning walk with Dear on Saturday was a blessing. It’s always good to get out and get some exercise in the Winter when we tend to want to stay inside and be couch potatoes. We were treated to some Eagle sightings.

5. Another favorite is visiting my bloggy friends each week. This week one of my favorite posts was this one from Gumbo Lily. I love seeing how other people live in different environments than my own and thrive “Day by Day”.

What were your favorites this week?

Update: I posted this last night and this morning I woke up to beautiful clear skies and amazing sunshine! Woohoo!

Sunday in Seattle…

On Sunday morning we headed to Seattle to have brunch at Palisade on Elliott Bay.

It was very windy and the water was choppy with white caps. We had the sun blinding us and then getting blocked with clouds that the wind whipped through the skies.

The sun kept breaking through so after brunch and our photos in the wind we decided to head to Pike Place Market and see if we could find a parking spot and enjoy the market and all it has to offer.

Our son just sent me this photo so I’m adding it into my post after the fact.

When our parking time was up Dear and I headed home leaving the “kids” to do a little shopping before they joined us at home again. The skies and views tempted me to take photos from the car on the ride home.

We had a wonderful weekend. Dan and Jamie left to go over the pass while it was still early and light on Monday. A very good choice as the weather is worsening with more snow predicted to fall in our passes.

The rest of the week is relatively free for us. The only thing on the books is our small group meeting here on Thursday evening. I’m looking forward to getting things thought through for Christmas. Maybe I’ll even start on our Christmas letter…maybe. Have you started thinking, planning, or buying for Christmas?

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.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Family