Category Archives: Family

Oh Happy Day!

My extended family is overjoyed today because of the arrival of a new baby. Our new little niece was born this morning to my Brother and his Wife. It has been 22 years since the last niece was born and 16 years since the last nephew was born so this is monumental! So what’s an Auntie to do? Why go to the mall and shop at the adorable Janie and Jack to find a little something to stick in the mail today for our sweet little niece to wear. Since my brother and his wife are way to busy to check my blog I’m posting a picture of what I bought and am shipping off…

 

If you have never shopped at this store beware! My gift is more on the practical side but they have wardrobes to WOW at this store. So many adorable things…
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Know & Tell Friday

Question 1
What is your favorite fairy tale?

I think my favorite fairy tale is Snow White. It might have been the first one I saw when I was little and it made an impression on me. I also like the 7 Dwarfs.

Question 2
If you could be guaranteed a spot on the reality show “Survivor”, would you go?

No, I really would not want to expose myself to the elements in that way. I’m past my physical prime and I wouldn’t want to be without my hormone pills. 🙂 I also wouldn’t want to be at the whim of the producers manipulating and exposing me in a bad light.

Question 3
Meanest thing you ever did to a sibling??? I know…. what kind of question is this 🙂

This one is easy for me. I would hide in the closet or under the bed and when my older sisters would come home from dates I’d grab at their legs from under the bed or I’d grab their hand when they reached in the closet for their nightgown! Made them scream bloody murder every time.

Question 4
Best Fashion Era… 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s or now…

I think the 60’s were great. I loved the classic Jackie Kennedy look.

 

Question 5
Have you ever skipped to the end of a book before you finished reading the book?

Maybe once. It is not a habit of mine to do that. If the book drags on at the end I might skim through to get to the end.

Bonus Questions (I found these questions through a website, and boy are these challenging…)  ~

Question 6
What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year? ~

To be able to move back to Seattle. ~

Question 7
What is one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God? ~

Talk to Him like He’s real and my best friend.  ~

For more Know and Tell click over to To Know Him.

Happy Birthday Little Brother! 50 Years Young Today!

Happy Birthday Dear Brother Tim! These first photos are from your very first Birthday Party in January of 1959 at 4635 Oak Street, Pico Rivera, California. This area was known as Montebello Gardens at the time or Jardines as our Hispanic friends called it…

 

Talk about a blast from the past. Look at the cousins around this table. The Loscutoff’s, The Bogdanoff’s, The Shvetzov’s and the hosts of the event the Bagdanov’s.  I wish the photo clearly showed Dedushka at the end of the table sitting next to Pop. Look at you so pleased with your cake!

 

Here you are in a classic 50’s highchair enjoying your cake with Mom watching.

 

Time for presents with cake still on your face and your older cousins Alex, Bill, brother Fred, Walter, and Jim surrounding you. Vera on the right…

 

Spring forward to the present! It was fun celebrating with you and Letty at the California Grill in Camarillo on Saturday night.

Dear and Ellen b
Happy 50th Birthday Tim
You are a wonderful brother, always ready to help us and any of your siblings and friends. Thank you for your compassion and kindness. We appreciate you! And did I mention that I can remember the day you were born and how happy I was when Pop told us we had a new baby brother! Enjoy your day…
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Wildflowers in Winter ~ Blog Carnival

So many fun bloggy things so little time. This is a busy week with lots of posts. I hope to visit lots of my favorites and lots of new places too! Enjoy. The phrase for this week is keep on scrolling, there’s more to see.

Wildflower Morning is having a Wildflowers in Winter celebration for the next few weeks. She has posted a wildflower related theme for each week and will have a Mr. Linky to add your blog entry.  Here’s what she has to say about her celebration and give away:

Every winter I find myself longing for spring. I just love the warming rays of sun and the wildflowers that start to open. It is my favorite time of year. Wildflowers bring me so much joy.

So, I propose some wildflower fun this winter to take us into the first days of spring. I will have a different theme each week through the middle of March. Join right in by making a post on your blog fitting the theme. You may copy the theme image for Wildflowers in Winter onto your blog entry, and link back to this blog so others will know where to look for more information. Then come back to my blog and enter your information in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the page, so we can all see your post. Late entries will be accepted up to March 12. My daughter wants me to make sure and let you know that children can participate not only in the children’s art contest, but in all aspects of the Wildflowers in Winter Theme, if they have the photographs or skill to do so, and thus be entered in the drawing

Please do spread the word so your friends can also enjoy Wildflowers in Winter. I would love to see lots of entries. It will brighten up my gray winter days.
The theme for January 16 – 22 is: Your favorite wildflower photo from your files.   Here is my favorite photo/oops photos!

 

This photo was taken on Whidbey Island in the State of Washington. The photo was taken in July of 2007 on a walk at Greenbank Farms. We are looking back to the city of Everett across the Puget Sound. Unfortunately I can’t tell you the name of these wildflowers.

Just one more please…

 

This one was taken on the grounds of Chatsworth House in England (where parts of Pride and Prejudice were filmed) My little wild flower is in the midst of these daffodils that are now growing wild on the grounds. This was taken in April of 2004 when we took our daughter to Great Britain for a graduation gift.

Click on the links above to see more wildflower entries…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Happy 29th Birthday Josh!

 Happy Birthday Josh! You are such a wonderful son to us and brother to Dan and Katie. We’re so thankful to God that He led you and Laura together. You make such a wonderful team. Here are some random photos celebrating you.
It would be great to all be together to celebrate!
We’ll remember other fun gatherings at La Corona
or fun times in Chicago,
or New York.

 

Your very 1st birthday with all your cousins and friends there to celebrate in Huntington Beach.

Easter 1980?

 

This was just after Daniel was born a month after your 2nd birthday.

Ventura with a couple of faces worth documenting.
I wish I had more birthday shots but all those photos are in Washington.
Your father and I couldn’t be more thankful to God for giving us a son like you. We pray that God would continue to bless you richly with his love, grace and mercy. We are looking forward to being together in the Spring.
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Show & Tell ~ Wedding Shower Favors?

Ellen b. is not known for being one to sit around making crafts. In fact I have a reputation for being not so crafty. That however does not mean I never get inspired to try to make something “cute”. I was inspired by Vicki at Windows to My Soul when she posted a great Christmas gift idea. A whisk stuffed with candy kisses wrapped in cellophane and tied with a pretty ribbon. On the card she wrote “Whisking you a Merry Christmas”. Here’s what the Christmas ones looked like.

I decided I wanted to do the same thing but with smaller whisks and for a New Year’s Gift for my Mom, Sisters and Nieces since we weren’t together on Christmas but we are having dinner together this week. These would also make great party favors for a wedding shower. Here’s the process I went through to make these.

 

I was making twelve so I got the big bag of Kisses. The pre-made bows I bought at Target at their after Christmas sale for 75% off. Yippee. The whisks were purchased at Business Costco in Washington State. They were very reasonable ($2.25) for the small ones.

You gently pull apart the whisk and gently stuff the head with Kisses.

You can use this food wrap to seal the head of the whisk or you can buy that fancy cellophane that you use for making gift baskets.

 

Tie the bow on with a gift card and you have a cute gift or party favor. And if you are me not only is it a gift that is cute but it is also a gift that causes a bit of a shock that I actually put them together. Fun all around…

Here’s how they looked at the place settings for our dinner.

For more Show and Tell head over to Kelli’s!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Thankful Thursday ~ Grace

John 1: 16-17

“And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

I am thankful today for God’s grace given to us because of Jesus Christ.

I am thankful for my 3 children who are all celebrating birthdays from December 27th to January 19th. God blessed us with 3 very unique individuals who are a gift to us and their friends.

I am thankful for my brother Tim who will be celebrating his 50th birthday with us this weekend.

I am thankful for a new niece or nephew who is due to my brother and his wife on January 19th! We’re excited to see when he/she actually arrives!

I am thankful for my family who I got to spend time with this week at my parents senior apartment. We laugh and enjoy each other till the neighbor bangs on the wall because we’re making too much noise at 7:30 PM. Some people grow old too fast, not my parents!

I am thankful that Iris is back. Welcome back Iris!

Blessings and may God’s grace be poured out on you…

For more Thankful Thursday visit Iris at Sting My Heart.

Happy 27th Birthday Dan!

 

We thank God for you Dan! You are a delight to us. May God bless you with His mercy and grace all the days of your life. Sorry we aren’t with you this year to celebrate your day. Here are a few photos from some earlier years…

 

Your first Christmas just before you turned 1 with your big brother Josh at Gommy and PawPaw’s in Corona.

 

Your first birthday with all your cousins and friends, eating your birthday cake, in Huntington Beach.

 

Easter 1982 at Baba and Deda’s in La Mirada.

 

Ventura in 1985

 

Your 9th birthday in 1990 in Washington. The famous choo choo train cake. Jamie D., Gommy, Josh, Dad, Bridget, Dan , Katie, Jamie S. and Ryan.

We’re so thankful that the two of you brothers are such good friends. Two years apart, both born in January, both born on Friday. Praying that you always look out for each other and for your little sister!
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Vareniky the Bagdanov Way ~ Russian Recipe

The Ladies got together to make Vareniky together at my niece Debbee’s house. Look at those cute aprons on Michelle, Melissa, Debbee, Letty, and mom! I want to say at the top here that this recipe is for a lot of vareniky. So you’ll need to do the math and cut it down. This recipe makes about 40 or 50.

Vareniky

6 eggs
1- 1/2 C. half and half
1/2 C Sour Cream
1 T. Oil
3 T. sugar
Flour sifted (at least 8 Cups)

Update! sorry peeps! I forgot the Salt…you’ll need to add 1 Tablespoon of salt to the dough, also.

Extra cube of butter and half and half for sauce at the end…

Sift flour. Make a hole in the center of the flour. Combine eggs, half n half, sour cream, salt, and sugar. Beat until combined. Pour into the hole of flour. Mix and knead adding flour until dough stays together. Dough will be very soft.

Filling:

3 lbs. farmers cheese or hoop cheese
2 eggs
1 t. salt
3 T sugar

Beat all ingredients together until combined.

Roll out flour mixture. Cut circles about 3″ in diameter. Put about 1 heaping teaspoon of the cheese in the center of the circle. Fold in half and pinch ends together then flute with finger. Place the vereniky in boiling water until they come to the surface and float. Drain and cool. At this point they may be frozen.

 

This is what they are suppose to look like. Just remember this one was made by a pro!

 

That’s the cheese mixture in the bowl that you fill them with.

 

This is the boiling step.

To serve, place vareniky into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Melt one cube of butter and pour over vareniky. Heat up half and half and cover the vareniky with the half n half. Bake at 375 degrees until the half n half boils. Serve with sour cream and preserves or syrup.

My family traditionally has these for dessert on Christmas Eve when they get together. They are also a favorite for breakfast. The joy of receiving and eating these treats is always wonderful. I’m going to have to be in L.A. for one of the cooking parties so I can really learn how to make them and enjoy them in the future!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Photo Hunters ~ Delicious!

Delicious or as we like to say with a Russian accent Duhliscious!

 

This is the delicious baked treat we had over Christmas and New Years. I will be posting the recipe in the future for my Russian friends who don’t have this recipe (Roolyet) handed down to them.

For more Photo Hunters go see TnChick!