Category Archives: Family

Sisters!

It’s been 5 years since we’ve had a “Sister weekend”.

We made some good memories then and it’s time for some more…

Last time on the first weekend of April 2011 we took the Clipper to Victoria for a weekend. This time we are staying in our homes in the Seattle area and venturing out from here.

Last time we were in Victoria we met up with Pondside and she gave us a grand tour of the area. My sisters and I loved spending time with her. She is a blogger that I so admire for her work ethic and her caring heart for all the people in her life.

I’m hoping to show my sisters our fields of daffodils this time around. Here’s hoping for decent weather and rows and rows of daffodils!

I’m getting things ready at this old house for my sisters. Trying to plan some easy meals in between our outings. I’m thinking about breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and desserts. I’ve got two guest rooms ready for my oldest sister Kathy and my next oldest sister Vera. My younger sister, Lana, lives walking distance to me. Kathy and Vera live in southern California. I’m picking them up from the airport on Friday morning. I hope to share some of our adventures on my blog next week.

SAD NEWS FOR BLOGGERS!

I was so sorry to hear that Sally of Smiling Sally Blog has passed away. She hosted Blue Monday for years. I participated in the past but haven’t for some time. She was always encouraging and positive and kind.  I love what bj said in her comment on Sally’s blog…

Bye, bye, Sally…you are now in the best BLUE of all….Blue Heaven.

On her blog she has this verse as her favorite so I know I will see her again in the future in heaven…

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. I John 5:13

The Home At Peace

This post is all about this old house, the home that we have treasured memories in.

The Home At Peace

Here is a little world where children play
And just a few red roses greet [September];
Above it smiles God’s stretch of [autumn] sky;
Here laughter rings to mark the close of day;

There is no greater splendor far away.
Here slumber comes with all her dream supply,
And friendship visits as the days go by;
Here love and faith keep bitterness at bay.

Should up this walk come wealth or smiling fame,
Some little treasures might be added here,
But life itself would still remain the same;
Love is not sweeter in a larger sphere.

This little world of ours wherein we live
Holds now the richest joys which life can give.

~Edgar A. Guest

Our front door in the summer and our front door at Christmas…

Views of our house from the back.

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Side yard with art details on the garage/shop.

Before the patio covers are up.

With the patio covers and before we built the privacy fence.

View from the house to the privacy fence.

 

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The living room of our home and the same room transformed for a Christmas dinner party!

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Looking from the family room to the heart of the home…the kitchen and eating area.

A view of our kitchen before the hardwood floors. And the table full for our Christmas breakfast 2015!

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All decked out for our annual fourth of July party in the past and this shot for our 2015 party…

Our daughter, son-in-law, niece and nephew. Our niece and nephew were visiting from Texas with their parents.

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Our family of eight. The most treasured part of our home!

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday for H is for Home and to Tuesday Treasures.

Later in the week I’ll link this post to Thoughts of Home on Thursday with Laura at Decor To Adore.

Thank you to Mrs. Nesbitt and her team and to Tom at The Backroads Traveller.

Enrich:

:to improve the quality of (something) : to make (something) better, etc.

Our family has been enriched with the addition of another daughter in law this year. Dan and Jamie are a team that yield new things for our family to enjoy.

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Don’t tell anyone but I do not can. My mother canned but it’s not something I’ve tried or am comfortable trying. Jamie does can. Dan and Jamie plant a garden and they have fruit trees on their acreage in the country. They have apple trees. They use their bounty well by canning some of the excess.

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Their salsa is amazing and we have gone through 3 of these large jars of it in the last few weeks. We are so happy they shared their canned bounty with us! Their land is not a farm at this point so instead of farm to table we’ll call it land to table!

We appreciate the fact that our son is not alone on his acreage anymore but has a lovely wife by his side to enrich his life and ours!

Absent from the Body…

…present with our Lord. Nick died late this afternoon at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills, California.

Our brother Nick’s suffering has ended and he is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This next photo is of Nick and my sister Vera at our son Dan’s wedding June 27th.

Nick was my friend before he married my sister Vera. We were in youth group together at Bethany Baptist Russian Church in Los Angeles. His parents immigrated to the U.S.A. as did ours. Nick was engaged to my sister before he was drafted and sent to Viet Nam in the late 60’s. While in my first year of college (68-69) we exchanged letters while he was in Viet Nam. He returned to a world that did not appreciate his service. Nick and Vera were married November 22, 1969.

Not sure the date on this photo but it was shortly after Nick and Vera were married.

After Dear and I were married we spent many fun times with Nick and Vera.

Our first home that Dear and I bought was across the street from Nick and Vera. Our second home was around the corner from them. This photo is from our second home in Huntington Beach at a family gathering after Nick and Vera’s daughter Debbee was born.

This photo above was from a surprise anniversary party we had for Nick and Vera.

Debbee, David, Josh and Dan were such good buddies growing up. This next photo is in the backyard of our house around the corner from Nick and Vera in the early 80’s.

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Katie came into the family dynamics later in Ventura, California and soon learned of Uncle Nick’s antics!

Nick was a very generous and giving person and he was always willing to help a brother. We will never forget his acts of service to us through the years, the last being his help at our son Dan’s wedding.

I’m thankful I was able to see Nick and tell him that I loved him one last time before he died. We grieve the loss of our brother on this earth but we rejoice that He is with our Lord and we will see him again. Praying for my sister Vera and her kids as they navigate through their grief on earth…

Thank you to all of you who were praying for Nick…

 

My Pop!

On thursday I was able to travel from Huntington Beach to La Habra, California to see my 92 and half year old Pop. It’s been 10 months since I’ve seen him face to face. We had lunch at The Habit close to Cal-State Fullerton. My pop said he wasn’t hungry for lunch but my niece and I were so he said, “Okay let’s go. I’m going to pay because what else am I going to do with my money?” So when we got to the habit we all ordered the #1 and he ate the hamburger and every last fry! I get to see him again on Sunday before I head home on Monday night. He has aches and pains and still would rather be in heaven than here on this earth but doesn’t he look great!?

Another great Moisism (my dad’s name is Moisi in English) that we heard again today was…”he sold the house in Thirty Nine Palms instead of Twenty Nine Palms.” He will not be corrected on that and we don’t care…we love Thirty Nine Palms!

Hope you are all doing well. I fly back home on Monday night and hope to be able to visit you all later next week.

The Last Two Days…

Recovered Autosave

Thank you for your prayers for my BIL. Things remain pretty much the same. My first day here was 20 hours filled with lots of back and forth, in and out, ups and downs and freeway driving.  My BIL was airlifted to a renowned hospital in the Los Angeles area the evening I arrived. A long drive from my sister’s home. There are some impressive views from the critical care waiting room. I’m having quality time with my sisters and today I’m going to go visit my 92 year old pop. I hope to see more of my family on the weekend.

Headed South…

…to rally around my sister and her family.

Don’t know when I’ll be back online.

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 (The Message)

All In A Days Work…

…the first stage of the kitchen cabinet installation was completed! We had a weekend filled with hard work and lots of fun. My brother Tim (on the right) arrived with his dear wife Letty late on Thursday night for the weekend. On Friday, because of Tim’s expertise in cabinetry and installation, Dear, Josh and Tim had all the cabinets installed in Josh and Laura’s kitchen. Our son in law Andrew has also been working alongside Dear on the complete renovation of the kitchen/eating area of J & L’s home but he has classes on Friday and had to wait for Saturday to join in the fun.

While the guys worked on Friday Letty and I shopped at a couple Goodwill stores and had lunch at Ariana (an Afghan restaurant). We bonded with the hostess/owner who spoke Russian to us and offered us the most delicious roasted pumpkin appetizer (pictured in the center) which was her mother’s recipe. I will be on a quest to try to duplicate it. When I asked her about the spices in the dish she was close-lipped, guarding the family recipe! We enjoyed Lamb Shashlik for our main dish and each had a cup of the restaurants special steeped tea.

On Friday night we had a full house for dinner and dessert. Letty and I made chicken fajitas and Letty made her signature Mexican rice and beans. I was photo challenged and only got one shot of the fajitas in process not the nice finished product with tri colored peppers and onions mixed in. Oye! We had a pumpkin dessert that I will be posting on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog on Thursday.

On Saturday the men (Dear, Tim and Andrew) headed back to Josh and Laura’s to work on trimming out the cabinets, electrical, installing the island pendant lights, and taking out a few more walls to add much needed insulation in the home. The girls, Letty, my sister Lana, Katie, Laura and I had a girls day out shopping and eating lunch together.

Our favorite store of the day was Charming Charlies. Do you have this store chain where you live? We all were able to find something we liked and we each left with an item or two or three.

On Saturday the guys took a lunch break, too, and ate at a Mexican restaurant together while we were eating at Coho. We all gathered in the evening at our house when the days activities were done and enjoyed left overs.

On Sunday after church we headed to Josh and Laura’s again and Tim and Dear added some finishing touches to the kitchen. Tim added the knobs and pulls, in less than an hour with the jigs he made. We were all so impressed! Dear tweaked the electrical while Josh added insulation to some walls. The ladies gave their expert opinions and guidance! We went out for one more meal together before Tim and Letty had to fly back to Southern California.

Our kids really appreciated the willingness of their uncle to fly up and add his expert assistance and skill in completing the kitchen cabinets. They would have never been able to complete this project so quickly without his help. Because my brother has the gift of helps and service this was not work for him but a joy! Thank you Tim and Letty!

Happy Monday to all of you. We have a free day today so time will tell what calls to us…

New Space…

Our son Josh and his two partners have recently acquired new office space and were ready to invite clients and friends to celebrate with an open house. Josh and his partners are branch managers of Capstone Home Loans.

This is our son, Josh.

His new office.

A wonderful spread of good eats.

This was a great cascade of veggies that I’d like to recreate at a future event!

Everyone we spoke to at the open house had such good things to say about Josh and his work ethic. Dear and I were happy to hear these reports and we are so thankful to God for how he has blessed Josh and his work.

While I’m on the subject of Josh and his company I’ll share some photos from a Client Appreciation Event he had at Sounders game the last Sunday of August.

Josh is a huge soccer fan and this was an event he really enjoyed hosting.

Free tickets for the game and a pre-game buffet in the Coach’s Loft with VIP entrance. A fun way to show appreciation. And the cherry on the top was the fact that we beat the Portland Timbers!

Wednesday already and September is half over! Hope your week is going well.

Dear and Me B.C.

For my flashback post today I’m posting photos of Dear and me after we were married but before we had children.

img570Here we are just after our wedding all ready to take off for our honeymoon. I’ve already shared our honeymoon photos but hadn’t scanned this one yet.

In 1976 we took a trip across the country. We stopped in to see Dear’s Great Aunt Matilda in Oberlin, Kansas on our way to Michigan. She never forgot anyone’s birthday and she and I shared the same birthday.

img576This is Dear’s grandmother Nettie from Illinois visiting us at our first apartment in 1974.

Pregnant Josh newbornDear, Grandma Nettie, and Dear’s father.

Christmas at Dear’s parents’ home.

img573Our first apartment and our first couch that we bought with our own money. We had lots of hand me downs when we were first married that furnished our apartment. We also bought a few items from second hand stores.

Today we have a nice cloud cover with some rain promised for today and the weekend. Everyone is excited about the prospect of the rain and hoping it also helps put out the fires that are still raging here…

Hope you all have a great last weekend of August!