Category Archives: Family

Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to all!

We’re headed to the airport to fly back to Southern California from Washington early on New Year’s Day. We’ll be in the air and on the road for a large portion of the day. Today I have to totally de-Christmas my house and try to pack everything I want to take back to Cali with me. I won’t be back in Washington till Easter. The last few days of 2007 were spent with family and friends celebrating our daughter’s 22nd birthday and then just celebrating our friendships. It’s been an eventful busy year. Looking forward to what 2008 holds. Blessings…

The Birthday Party

The Cake

The Soup Party the next night…

 

It’s always good to have a tupperware drawer way down low…

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and is holding them hostage. I’m slowly cleaning up my posts to remove the ugly black and grey blocks that photobucket has inserted instead of my photos.

1947 in Iran ~ the Shvetzov and Katkov Families

For my Show and Tell Friday I’d like to share this old family photo. We do not have many photographs with my maternal Grandfather. I love the photos that we do have of him. God blessed these families with a way out of Iran to the United States and blessed them with faith in Him that has sustained them over the years. My little babushka (grandma) as we lovingly called her was a prayer warrior for our family and her friends. I look forward to being reunited with her and meeting my maternal grandfather for the first time in heaven…

 

My mother was a Shvetzov before she married my father. Her brother Paul married Nina Katkov. This is part of the Katkov family and part of the Shvetzov family after my parents had already immigrated to the U.S.A. The Katkov’s and Shvetzov’s spent much time together at many meaningful events through the years in Iran and in the Los Angeles Area in the U.S.

In the front row you have Vera (Katkov), Nicolai Katkov the Patriarch, Manya Katkov the Matriarch, My maternal grandmother Vera (Shergaev) Shvetzov and my Grandfather Feodor Shvetzov, Zena (Katkov). My cousin Alex Shvetzov at my grandparents side.

Top Row: Vasilli Katkov married Zena, she’s holding their oldest daughter Tamara, Nicolai Katkov, Lida (Katkov) Titov, Alexsei Katkov, my Aunt Nina (Katkov) Shvetzov and my Uncle Paul Shvetzov.

Everyone in this photo eventually immigrated to the U.S. from Iran except for my grandfather who was stabbed and killed in Iran. He was a Baptist minister in Iran. My Babushka immigrated as a widow and lived with my aunt and uncle for many years until she got her own apartment a couple buildings away from the Russian Baptist Church in L.A. A few of the other widowed Babushka’s also lived in this same apartment building including Manya Katkov who lived right next door to my Babushka. My family started attending this church when we left the Russian Molokan Church. Only 4 of the people photographed here are still alive. My Babushka’s last days were spent in my parent’s home.

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

Our Little Girl is 22 today!

Happy 22nd Birthday Katie!

Photos from Katie’s 1st ~ 21st Birthdays
1st in Ventura with family & friends
2nd in Ventura, California
3rd in Downey, California. She’s pretty happy even with that tiny cake!

 

4th  in Bothell, Washington.

5th in Bothell

 

6th at Baba and Deda’s sharing the day with Aunt Nina and cousin Stephen both born on the 27th too.

7th in Bothell, Washington
7th with family, Titov’s and Spiro’s
8th at Discovery Zone
9th with fam and Spiro’s

 

10th at the Skating rink where your dad broke his wrist…

11th in Bothell (1st rental) with Jamie, Christie, and Johanna

 

12th bowling with fam and Hiller’s

 

13th with Jamie, Kristen, Heidi, and Christie (sorry Christie this was the only photo I had)

 

14th with Jamie, Heidi, Kristen, and Christie (very nice photo this time Christie!)

15th with Kristen, Heidi, Christie, and Katie K.

16th Ice Skating with fam, Katie K, Christie, Heidi, Jamie, Kristen, Brad and Joe
17th ~ fam, TCL crowd, school crowd
18th smaller TCL and School crowd

 

19th ~ the year of the ice cream cake…

 

20th ~ The year of the maple bar cake!

 

21st the Spice Bundt cake and another small crowd with Kristen, Christie, Jamie, Heidi, Ben and fam.

22nd will be another wonderful celebration with Bowling, Tacos and another Spice Cake!

We love you dear Katie and are so happy that God brought you into our lives 22 years ago. May your birthday and everyday be filled with an awareness of who created you and who you are in Him.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and is holding them hostage. I’m slowly cleaning up my posts to remove the ugly black and grey blocks that photobucket has inserted instead of my photos.

Thankful Thursday ~

I am so thankful for all the love from family and friends that has filled my life this past week.

Today (December 27th) is our daughter’s 22nd birthday and we are so thankful that God blessed us with a little girl 22 years ago and that she has grown into a lovely young lady.

I am thankful that God continues to shower us with His blessings and extends His mercy to us each day.

Praying that God will fill your life with His love and Joy this coming New Year!

For more Thankful Thursday Posts visit Lynn here.

How Much Do You Know About Christmas?

So it’s Saturday and for anyone who has time for some fun I’m posting this little quiz for you. Dear arrived safe and sound from LAX (LA) to SEATAC (Seattle) last night. It is so good to have him here. Today he’s doing last minute shopping with our daughter and bending a hoop for Dan’s rollcage (Blazer restoration) while I walk my 6 miles with my buddies. Hope you have a light and merry heart today!

You Know a Lot About Christmas

You got 6/10 correct You know tons about the history and traditions surrounding Christmas.
When you celebrate the holidays, you never forget their true meaning – or all the little fun details. Random Christmas fact: Thomas Edison has the first Christmas lights, three years after he invented the electric lightbulb.

How Much Do You Know About Christmas?

 

Antique Postcards ~ 1908-1912

 These Postcards that I am sharing for Show and Tell Friday are all from Dear’s ~ Great, Great Aunt Emma Daniels. Great, Great Aunt Emma was Swedish and she never married. The Postmarks are mostly from 1908 through 1912. Some of them are made in Germany and others are Tuck’s Post Card, Raphael Tuck & Sons, Art Publishers to their Majesties the King & Queen. These are from our collection of Christmas and New Year’s Postcards. I’ll share more at Valentine’s Day and Easter.

PM1910

PM1908

PM1912

PM1909

PM1909

These are all close enough to being 100 years old that I took the liberty to call them Antiques. To all my Show and Tell friends may your Christmas be filled with love and joy!
For more Show and Tell Friday head on over to Kelli’s.

Thankful Thursday ~ Ephesians 3: 14-20

 I am thankful today for all we have in Christ and for my friends and family.

My gift for you who visit here and all who participate in Thankful Thursday is this prayer from Ephesians. It is so rich and so full. Blessings on all of you at this wonderful Christmas time.

Ephesians 3:14-20 ~

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives it name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

For more Thankful Thursday visit Lynn.

Christmas Tour of Homes ~ 2007

 Boo Mama is hosting a Bloggy tour of Christmas homes. Come join the fun.

Christmas Tour of Homes

Please do come in and enjoy my home at this beautiful Christmas time. Jesus has prepared the way for us to love and enjoy this season. There would not be a Christmas worth celebrating without Him!

 

The wreath welcomes you at the front door. Please do come in and make yourself at home.

I’ve been busy preparing for your visit.

From a Christmas past on to Christmas present…

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care…

and lighted garland is placed here and there…

 

Some Christmas decorations handed down from years gone by…

Now here’s a Caramel Pecan treat before we go any further. If you enjoy them you can find the recipe here.

 

Now to some tables set for my friends. First red and green on cream.

 

or how about gold with green?

 

Here’s the fun Christmas breakfast table set for the family with placecards and placemats from long, long ago.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my home. It would be so much fun to see you in person and share a cup of coffee, cocoa, eggnog or tea to go with the Caramel pecan cookies. We could sit by the fire and enjoy the lights on the tree. Blessings on your day touring other homes. Click here to continue your tour from Boo Mama’s.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

Show & Tell Friday ~ Fun Christmas Table

Last year at the after Christmas sales I bought these great chair covers for half-price. Our everyday and breakfast Christmas table is casual and fun with Santa Bear place-mats from our daughter Katie’s 2nd birthday party 20 years ago.

 

 

The chair covers are Christmas hats with a little bells on the back of the covers that jingle when you move the chair.

For more Show and Tell head over to There’s No Place Like Home.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.