Category Archives: Family

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Rose Hills

Last week our youngest brother traveled to Southern California to surprise our brother Steve and his wife Kelly at a 60th birthday celebration for them. While he was there our older sisters and he decided to go to Rose Hills to see our parents’ headstones. It took a while for our Pop’s to be done right.

On the bottom of the stones, our Mom’s says “The Lord is My Shepherd…” and our Pop’s says …”I Shall Not Want”

Pop’s wasn’t supposed to be larger but that’s the way it turned out and we are just letting it be.

Always happily side by side.

Our mom was famous for her cooking and she would be pleased at how our Piroshky turned out that we made on Saturday. Here’s a sneak peek of part of the process with Moisi’s great niece and his great granddaughter.

More photos and recipe coming soon.

Hello November

Our phones were chiming all Halloween Eve with photos of nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews all dressed up for the night. We got to see our Pirate family in person when they came to our door for their treats. Addy was eager to share her treasure with us, too. She and Great Aunt Vera had fun with the bouncy balls in the hall. She wanted to take Auntie Vera home with her. Too cute. Our Bothell and Lynnwood kids got creative with their costumes, too. Josh was Bob Ross and Laura was his happy accident. So clever! Katie and Andrew went back to the fifties for their inspiration. Still waiting to hear how many kids came to the door. But here we go on to November!

Look at how cute our little parrot’s costume was. Jamie created it for JJ.

Bouncy balls in the hall with Great Auntie Vera.

 

“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.”
–  Elizabeth Coatsworth

Happy November everyone. Today we are heading across the line into Canada to the town of Trail for some Persian food.

Family Colors

Early on Tuesday Laura started a text with our family members asking us to show our Sounders Colors. We texted her back our shots of support and she made the collage. When it comes to sports we are a Sounders Soccer Family. And right now David (Sounders) beat Goliath (LAFC) 3-1 on their home field. Our boys are going to the MLS Cup Final on November 10th against either Atlanta or Toronto. Those two teams play each other tomorrow night. It was fun sending texts back and forth during the game. It will be a while before I can fall asleep now…

…So I’ll add some fun things that more people can relate to in this post.

Speaking of colors Jamie and the kids were able to enjoy some color and leaves before the weather turned on us.

How cute are they covered in leaves!? Maple Trees are the best for an abundance of leaves. This was how the day was going before we had that freak snowfall on Monday the 28th of October. All the snow is gone and temps are still cold but we are on a slight warming trend.

Fresh apples off the tree before the bear eats them all. Yep, our kids have had a bear visiting their property. Hopefully he’ll go find a place to hibernate soon.

Do you have any wild animals that visit your property?

The Patch 2019

As we finished up at the Maze and Patch the rain started to gently fall. We patted ourselves on the back for coming early and leaving before the crowds arrived and the rain came down. We headed home for sandwiches and it didn’t take long for the guys to come home from hunting because of the rain. Naps were in order for the grands and some of the guys, too.

I’ll leave you a verse from God’s Word, The Bible, and a prayer from Spurgeon inspired from this verse:

Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever. (2 Samuel 7:29)

…Lord, we cannot doubt thee: we are persuaded that every word of thine is a sure foundation for the boldest expectation. We come to thee and say, ‘Do as thou has said,’ Bless thy servants’ house. Heal our sick; save our hesitating ones; restore those who wander; confirm those who live in thy fear. Lord, give us food and raiment according to thy word. Prosper our undertakings; especially succeed our endeavours to make known thy gospel in our neighborhood. Make our children thy children. Let thy blessing flow out to future generations, and as long as any of our race remains on earth may they remain true to thee. O Lord God ‘let the house of thy servant be blessed.’

Corn Maze and Pumpkins

So much has happened in 7 days and I’ll start a little catch-up by going back to last Sunday and our time at the local Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. While the guys were hunting the gals and JJ made a visit to the Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. Lots of photos and few words. Did I mention…lots of photos?! I’ll start with the Corn Maze and then add another post about the Pumpkin Patch.

Katie is the best maze navigator and Addy was interested in hearing her instructions as to where we should go.

We stopped at each marker we found and put up the appropriate number of fingers.

 

Along the way in the maze they gave you easy ways to exit if you needed an easy out.

We made it to station #8 and at this point Addy wanted to be carried which made it a little more difficult to soldier on so we took the next Easy Out we spotted and headed to the Pumpkin Patch.

JJ was content and contemplative about the whole experience.

We are making a slow transition back to life as normal after our trip to California for the amazing conference we attended. I hope to catch up with all your blogs early this new week. As happens frequently when traveling, we are experiencing an attack on our health from being confined in airplanes and rooms with many people who are spreading their germs and illnesses with the rest of humanity.

Hope the tornado warnings in the Dallas area were without injury to anyone. We were happy to hear our family members were okay and got the all clear. Praying October ends well for y’all.

Trusses Part 1

We got the revised plans to make the trusses right from the Pole Barn Company and it was full steam ahead to get the trusses to their spots on the shop pad. Cousin Jim helped Dear maneuver the very heavy trusses.

They learned a lot with the first truss and the next ones took a quarter of the time to get them to their spots.

So thankful for our son’s tractor.

While the guys worked on the trusses I mowed the lawns. This might be the last mow until Spring. Jim snapped these photos of me at work.

After the trusses were in their temporary spots Jim and Dear used hammers, nails, drills and screws to prep the trusses for the cross beams. Lots of hand, wrist and arm work. They were sore. We had a very nice steak dinner the evening after they had accomplished so much.

My cousin really wanted to see those trusses lifted to their final position to the top of the shop building but we have to wait for the extensions to arrive and Jim had to move on to his next destination on his way back home to California.

Thursday is catch up day here at our Country Bungalow to get things ready for our next overnight guests arriving on Friday and Saturday. We’re excited to see our kids all together again here in the northeastern corner of our state. Thursday is also wood gathering day for our son’s winter supply. Trucks, Chainsaws and chainsaw safety chaps are headed to the permitted areas of forest for wood gathering. Our son and Dear will put in a hard day of work in the forest.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~

From Russia to Iran to Los Angeles to Colville.

Next to our grandfather (Dzedushka) to the right in the center of the photo is Michael Ivan Voloshin. He was the son of Moisi’s sister who died after the birth of her 4th child in Iran. The child also died. Our Pop’s sister’s name was Akcenya. Michael’s brother Bill Voloshin is standing in the back row on the far left. Next to him is his brother Alex who our grandparents adopted and raised after Akcenya died. Sometime after this photo was taken in the Los Angeles area Michael Ivan Voloshin was married and had children.

Now fast forward many years from when this photo was taken in 1955 or 1956. Michael’s daughter Akcenya (named after her grandmother, my aunt) married a Russian fella named Steve Filipoff in 1994 in the Los Angeles area. They eventually moved out of California to Oregon. After being in Oregon for a while they decided to re-locate to Colville, Washington. They have lived in Colville now for 7 years. I had no idea that I had a cousin once removed who lived in Colville. Akcenya who goes by the American name Cindy was contacted by her sister Manya letting her know that she thought from my facebook posts that I was living in Colville. Cindy and her husband Steve have a painting business and they were contracted to paint our church addition. Cindy asked our pastor if I attended his church and he told her that Dear and I did. Our pastor informed me that he had met my cousin and I was a bit skeptical. I went to church on the day they were painting and we put two and two together and connected the dots to exactly how we are related.

Akcenya, our pop’s sister is the one in the top row with the dark scarf on her head. Her husband must be the one on her left. (Leonard, if I’m wrong with any of my info please correct me)

While my cousin Jim was visiting the last several days we decided it would be a good time to have Steve and Cindy over since Jim had never met Cindy who is his cousin once removed, too. Jim’s father Alex, our pop Moisi and Cindy’s grandmother Akcenya were brothers and sister.

One of Steve and Cindy’s three sons, Nicholas, was able to have dinner with us, too. Me, Nicholas, Steve, Cindy and Jim.

It’s a small world for sure. We marveled that after all these years we could meet and get to know one another in Colville.

Vicarious Enjoyment

Way back in our kids’ high school years I expressed to our kids the fact that I wanted our grandchildren to love Jesus. That was the desire of my heart. This was before grandchildren were on the horizon and before our kids were married. That is still the desire of my heart that our children and our children’s children would love Jesus and that He would direct their paths.

I’m so thankful to God that all our kids are on a path that He is directing and I continue to pray for their sanctification. I pray that God will have mercy on our grandchildren and that they would be born again into God’s family through the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross on their behalf.

This past weekend it has made my heart glad that all of our children have enjoyed time together. Our Eastern Washington kids flew to Seattle to spend time with our Coast kids. They all enjoyed time with my baby sister and her hubby, too. We were not a part in person with these celebrations but we were a part in heart with this wonderful time that they had. None of these photos are mine but they made me glad and I am happy to share them.

Friday

 

One of the playgrounds in Josh and Laura’s neighborhood.

 

Saturday

Josh and Laura’s home.

Sunday

We thank God for each one of these precious kids and grands that He has blessed us with.

Brunch at Palisade on Elliott Bay in Seattle.

Thanks to our DIL Laura who always makes sure these wonderful moments are documented.

Our Eastern Washington kids will be flying home on Monday and their furry family member will be happy to see them.

Monday is Dear’s birthday which we celebrated on Friday in Idaho with a great meal of lamb at a Greek restaurant. On his day I will come up with a nice breakfast, too, to celebrate his #66.

Have a good week y’all. We have a busy one ahead. If you don’t hear from me during the week I’ll try and catch up on the weekend.

Jaymison 4 Months!

Our little JJ turned 4 months on Friday the 16th of August. This was a very exciting day in our little family’s life.

We love you so much little guy. Your smile melts our hearts and makes us smile, too.

Besides it being a hallmark day for little Jaymison, documenting the months of his first year, it was family reunion time. Daddy had to be away for work in another part of the USA for a full month and when Addy saw him appear from the security section of the airport she clung to him with joy. All is right with her world again. God is good.

This mama had her hands full for a month and was a supermom for her little ones. Aunt Lolo came to help during a couple of the 4 weeks. What a blessing she was to the family.

Speaking of Auntie Lolo, her and Josh were at a family reunion in Wisconsin with Laura’s Dad’s side of the family on this same weekend.

All of this excitement was happening as 4 of the Mennonite Girls and their hubbies arrived at our Country Bungalow for the weekend. I’m busy gathering the photos and thoughts about the time we had together and will post about it soon.