Today my daughter Katie arrives for a visit from Seattle. She will be here until next Tuesday. The main event she is coming for is the wedding of one of her Wheaton College friends here in Southern California. After I pick her up from the airport today we head to a family gathering in Whittier. We will be having many adventures while she’s here so if I’m AWOL from Bloggy world you will know why.
Blessings and see you sooner or later! :0)
We got the all in the family photos from my niece Debbee yesterday. I kind of like the whacky one myself.
My dear parents, Moisi and Nadia Bagdanov, with their newest granddaughter Hope. This picture represents the oldest and youngest at our family gathering at my sister Vera’s home in Huntington Beach. My parents have 8 living very adult children and 7 of those children with all their children and one great grandchild were all together for the first time at Christmas since 1991. We have one brother whose family does not celebrate with us.
My kids with their grandparents (Baba and Deda).
Katie and her cousin Melissa (one of my sister Kathy’s daughters). My kids with their Aunt Lana and cousin Caleb. Levi and Joseph (Levi, Caleb, and Joseph are 3 of my brother Steve’s boys).
My brother Leonard’s family. Leonard, Mandy and Miss Hope! They flew in from Dallas to celebrate with all of us.
We decided to walk a few blocks to the beach to take some family photos. This photo is of our girls, 3 nieces and auntie Lana.
Our kids.
All the cousins and spouses of cousins. We are missing 8 cousins including spouses in this photo…
The Ladies! Kristin (my sister Vera’s DIL), Melissa (my sister Kathy’s daughter), Katie (mine), Miss Hope (my brother Leonard’s daughter), Debbee (my sister Vera’s daughter) Jessica (my brother Steve’s DIL), Laura (my DIL), Michelle (my sister Kathy’s daughter).
The Gents! Caleb (my brother Steve’s #3 son) Ryan (my sister Kathy’s SIL), Jackson (my sister Kathy’s Grandson), Levi (my brother Steve’s #2 son) Joseph (my brother Steve’s #4 son) Timothy (my brother Steve’s #1 son) Dan (mine), David (my sister Vera’s son), Josh (mine)
The Newlyweds, Timothy and Jessica.
David and Kristin.
Jackson with one of his favorites, Debbee!
Katie down by the water. A storm was rolling in and we just finished our photo shoots before the rain started.
And here’s ellen b. having so much fun with Miss Hope!
After our very successful trip to Goodwill the ladies arrived at Madame Fifi’s Tea Room at Country Village in Bothell for an Afternoon Tea.
Madame Fifi (Christine) had our lovely room all ready for us. The usual after Thanksgiving Goodwill shoppers were in attendance and this year we inducted Pat (my DIL Laura’s mother) into the group.
We each chose our tea and enoyed a relaxing time.
Our sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and sweets were divine! After all this loveliness one would think we didn’t need any more food on this day but…
My SIL Letty made us a fabulous Mexican dinner. She made refried beans, Mexican rice, salsa, and carnitas for us all to enjoy. YUM! Ejola it was muy bueno!!
We capped off the night with a movie all cuddled up on the couch!
I don’t know how much longer I can keep up this pace but I’m enjoying every minute of my time in Washington with my family. Have a wonderful weekend…
***Please scroll down for Fridays Fave Five…
I am thankful for family and friends that go back to Russia, escaping to Iran, and finally by God’s grace immigrating to the U.S.A. Our families used to be more connected when they all first arrived as immigrants to the USA after WWII and through the 70’s. After the first generation kids got married we drifted off from each other. We always enjoy getting together for big events and reconnecting.
This photo was taken in Iran in the late 1940’s after my parents and sister Kathy had left for the U.S.A. The two families represented here are the Shvetzov Family (my mother’s family) and the Katkov Family (my Uncle Paul’s wife’s family). My Maternal Grandmother and Grandfather are seated on the right. My Uncle Paul and his wife Nina are standing on the right. My cousin Alex is at my grandmother’s side. The rest of the family are all Katkov’s and their spouses. The little girl standing on the left is the lady in the collage below with the yellow mickey mouse hat on. :0) The gal with the red and white polka dot hat on is the little girl being held in the top row of the photo from Iran. She was 5 when her parents immigrated to the U.S.A. The three young girls in this photo from Iran are the only ones still living, Tamara, Vera, and Zena. My cousin Alex died almost 30 years ago in a car accident.
Dear and I traveled across L.A. to Mission Viejo for a Nifty Fifty birthday party for Tanya, my youngest cousin on my mother’s side of the family. My mother had one brother Paul Shvetzov and he married Nina Katkov. My uncle Paul and Aunt Nina had 4 children. We were able to spend a few hours reconnecting with my cousins Valia and Tanya and some of their Katkov cousins and aunts that we all grew up with. It was great to get together for a fun celebration because we’ve had our fair share of funerals in the last few years. One of our Shvetzov extended Kasimoff cousins was there too (Hi Helen). It’s confusing people and that’s why we called everyone our cousin and our aunt or uncle growing up!
Aunt Nura is the oldest surviving Katkov. All her siblings except for her two youngest sisters, Zena and Vera have all gone to be with the Lord. She’s not in the photo from Iran either because she married a U.S. soldier and came to the U.S. before this photo was taken, too. Top row is Tamara, the daughter of Nura’s brother Vasilli, (Tamara is the little girl in the photo from Iran being held by her mother Zena in the top row) Valia (my cousin) the daughter of Nura’s sister Nina, Michelle (Valia’s daughter) and Shirley (Nura’s youngest daughter). Shirley and I have some fun history together from our teen years.
This is my side of the family that attended the celebration photographed with the birthday girl Tanya in the middle in red.
Who can resist this cuteness? Who can just leave it till Saturday? Not me! So this is my Happy Halloween to y’all and Happy Pink Saturday post.
This is my sweet little 9 month old niece in her butterfly costume that she wore in her neighborhood Halloween parade. Oh how I wish I could see her in person and kiss those cheeks.
For more Pink Saturday wait till Saturday and visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound…
This hasn’t been one of my favorite weeks for sure because of Dear and I getting sick and being “In” all weekend and Monday. But that won’t stop me from finding 5 things that made my week, anyway!
1. Seeing this photo of all my kids together having fun with two of their cousins at the Japanese Gardens in Seattle.
Niece-Michelle, Daughter-Katie, Niece-Melissa, DIL-Laura, Son-Dan, Son-Josh
2. Cracking myself up creating these Turkey Cookies!
3. Meeting my niece Michelle and my Grand Nephew Jackson at the Pumpkin Patch!
4. Hearing that our 911 neighbor is moving out soon. Hopefully peace will be restored around here…
5. My last Fave is having a little Attitude Adjustment at the Beach on Thursday morning this week.
I’m throwing in a few more photos of my kids from the Japanese Gardens as a bonus for ME! :0)
My Boys (Men)
Josh and Laura!
My Niece Michelle (Jackson’s mom) and daughter Katie.
Thanks Michelle for letting me steal these photos of you all at the Garden!
For more Fave 5 visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.
On Tuesday I met my niece Michelle and my Grand Nephew Jackson at the Underwood Family Farms Pumpkin Patch! It was a hot sunny day in Moorpark, California and in all of Southern California.
We had a tractor ride around the farm and then we were dropped off at the patch where we each got to choose a pumpkin of our own to take home. The farm really caters to “youngins”. There were several pre-schools visiting this day. Animals, pony rides, play equiptment, a corn maze were just a few of the things to keep the kids busy. Jack fed the animals carrots (he wanted to start with the cow). There were goats, emus, llamas, ducks, donkeys, horses, and a pig. Jack drove his own little motorized tractor.
They have built this great climbing apparatus for the Mountain Goats.
The Sunflowers were still blooming although many seemed to be at the end of their glory.
A fun day at the farm and thank goodness for sunblock!
Update on Wednesday: Our Santana winds are back today with a fury. We are dry and hot and a section of Camarillo where I grocery shop is without power. I was just going into the Von’s to buy a few groceries when the power went out so I came home instead hoping the power doesn’t go out here! I am really looking forward to some cooler fall weather but until then it’s sandals and t-shirts still in Southern California.
He would do the same for you!
Thanks so much for all your prayers for my dad, Moisi. He came through his surgery well and will be coming home Tuesday morning. Several of us “kids” were at the hospital all day hanging out together. We got to pray over him before he went into surgery. He’ll be in a lot of pain for a while but when everything heals up he should have some good relief from some heartburn issues that have been bothering him for a long time. I really appreciate my blogging community that responds to the needs of our cyberspace community! Blessings on all of you…
Two of our 3 nieces on Dear’s side of the family travelled to Seattle from New York and Los Angeles last weekend for a cousin reunion. Our third niece Kacie is still in highschool and didn’t make the trip. The great thing about this reunion is that it was all initiated on the cousins’ part not the Aunts’ and Uncles’. The Aunts and Uncles were in Southern California and all the cousins but one were in Seattle. What a blessing for our family that we all love each other.
Top left photo our son Dan, niece Annie, niece Jenna, our son Josh. Top right in the back our DIL Laura, Jenna, Dan, Annie and Josh. Our daughter Katie with her boyfriend Ben. Bottom Dan, Annie, Jenna. Bottom right our son Josh and Dil Laura. Is it just me or do these cousins resemble eachother?
Bear with me as I experiment with these collages. I stole all these photos from my DIL Laura and just love seeing my kids and nieces so it’s been fun creating these with their faces that I don’t see as often as I would like to…
Hey Josh! Look what I saw at Trader Joe’s today. If you were a wine lover I would have bought you a case!
