Category Archives: Family

Overwhelmed and Thankful

I’m overwhelmed and thankful to family, face to face friends, and friends I’ve never seen, who have poured out their support, love, and prayers for my son and our family. He’s doing well and is having follow-up tests. God created us to glorify Him in community and it’s in times like these that we see how beautiful community is. Blessings on each and every one of you. I’m praying that God would return the blessing I have received back to you. Have a wonderful weekend.  Ellen b.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ~ “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

Ventura…Where it all Began, the Bayles/Spiro Friendship and First Hike…

On Sunday Dear and I drove North for a great breakfast at Allison’s Country Cafe in Ventura before we headed to the Ventura Fair Grounds Flea Market. The Flea market was row upon row of stuff,  Antiques, Shabby Chic, New, Old, Furniture, Chotchkies, Jewelery, Treasures and Junk…

The weather was lovely but we got toasted because we forgot our sunblock. Silly Washingtonians in California!

But the real fun treat was to see Two Trees. This was the site of our very first Bayles/Spiro Hike way back in early 1985. We know it was before Katie (Katherine) was born so Jamie was a wee babe…

I stood at this intersection to take the photo of Two Trees. That was quite the infamous hike with Dave, Jody (who we think had her arm in a cast), Lucy, Bridget, Jamie (a baby then), Dear, Ellen, Josh and Dan. Of course the first thing our boys wanted to do was to climb those two trees. We were never exposed to being outdoor type people till we started our friendship with the Spiro’s. We credit them with dragging us along on their outdoor adventures and teaching us the love of being able to tell the story of survival after the fact… God Bless them dearly!

Click to read more about Two Trees.

Wedding Customs ~ A Look Back to the late 60’s…

These Photos were taken November 22, 1969. This was the day of my sister Vera’s marriage to Nick. I wanted to show y’all what we used to do to all the cars in the wedding party. We’d make these huge crepe paper flowers and string them together and decorate the cars. We’d use the colors that were going to be used in the wedding. The kids in these photos are my 4 younger brothers and sisters. Tim, Steve, Lana G! and her twin Leonard.

Lana G! has curlers in her hair. She and Leonard were the flower girl and ring bearer in the wedding…

One other interesting note was that it was very difficult to get our favorite florist to arrange and deliver flowers on this day because they were USC Alumni and huge fans and this was the day of cross town rival games so USC was playing UCLA.

Big mistake in my photo album experience is using these magnetic layered page albums that were so popular in the 60’s and 70’s that make your pictures impossible to take out and scan today….

Another Happy Birthday at Julienne

Michelle of A Simple Sweet Life is having a birthday today.

 Happy Birthday Michelle!

Michelle, ma belle
These are words that go together well
My Michelle

Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
tres bien ensemble

(sorry couldn’t help myself)

Ryan and my niece Michelle

Jackson my Grand Nephew

Nieces Debbee and Melissa

Sister Lana G! and her husband Steve

 Sister Kathy and Ryan

Ellen, SIL Kelly, niece Debbee

 Dear and me

We drive, we eat, we laugh, we celebrate, Lana pays!!

We are blessed indeed. Thank you Lord!

ht: Michelle lyrics by the Beatles

Awalt Menn (1919 – 2007) ~ A Military Tribute to a Well Loved WWII Veteran

“They have laid aside their armor
For the robe of spotless white;
And with Jesus they are walking
Where the river sparkles bright.
We have labored here together,
We have labored side by side,
Just a little while before me
They have crossed the rolling tide.”

From the Hymn The Lights of Home by Fanny Crosby.

This was a funeral of a friend of ours who was stationed in Iran during WWII and met and married a Russian gal in Iran who was part of our extended family. His wife who has survived him is my cousin’s aunt. In our close Russian community we would call most of these once or twice removed relatives of ours aunts, uncles and cousins…

Moisi and Nadia ~ Celebrating 64 Years of Marriage!

  Because Thursday is my parents’ 64th wedding anniversary my thankful post is all about them…

Moisi and Nadia Bagdanov

 

Moisi and Nadia Bagdanov were married on Friday September 13, 1943 in Tehran, Iran.

My parents have been a wonderful Godly example to their children and community. They are still very much in love.  I thank God for bringing them together, giving them the vision to come to the U.S., and for showing me in word and deed what it means to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Today I’m overflowing with thankfulness for God’s gift to me in my dear parents!

A very Happy Anniversary to you Mom and Pop!

I hope to get to some other thankful posts late Thursday night or Friday. To see more thankful posts click on Sting my Heart.

 I’m off early on Thursday to Orange County to take my parents out to breakfast for their anniversary and then we are all headed to a funeral at 1 P.M. for an old family friend. We rejoice with those who rejoice and we weep with those who weep. This really is life on this earth for us. We’re thankful to be able to share the joy in the midst of the sorrow because our friend has laid aside his armor and he is finished with the battle…

Happy Birthday Dear ~ September 9th!

Happy Birthday Dear!

It’s been so wonderful spending so many birthdays with you. We all wish we could celebrate in person with you today. You are a wonderful husband to me and a great example to your children.

Here are some hats that Dear wears.

Husband, Father, Brother, Uncle, Pharmacist, Provider, Musician, Teacher, Mechanic, Painter, Carpenter, Scholar, Science Fiction Buff, Welder, Brewer, Listener, Servant, Plumber, Electrician, Builder, Great Friend!

Before Dear became a Pharmacist at the ripe old age of 39 he worked in a gravel pit in one of these…

Praying for God to continue to richly bless you and to give us many more years to celebrate together!

The Lights of Home ~ Fanny Crosby ~ Hymn

There have been so many deaths and tragic events in our community this week that I thought this hymn would be an appropriate one for this Sunday’s hymn choice. I’m headed to another funeral this coming Thursday. Thank God from whom all blessings flow we have a home wating for us with our Savior…

 The Lights of Home

words by Fanny Crosby (April 1899)~ music by Charles H. Harsh

 The friends that now are waiting,
In the cloudless realms of day,
Who are calling me to follow
Where their steps have led the way;
They have laid aside their armor,
And their earthly course is run;
They have kept the faith with patience
And their crown of life is won.

Refrain

They are calling, gently calling,
Sweetly calling me to come,
And I’m looking through the shadows
For the blessèd lights of home.

They have laid aside their armor
For the robe of spotless white;
And with Jesus they are walking
Where the river sparkles bright.
We have labored here together,
We have labored side by side,
Just a little while before me
They have crossed the rolling tide.

Refrain

On those dear familiar faces
There will be no trace of care;
Every sigh was hushed forever
At the palace gate so fair.
I shall see them, I shall know them,
I shall hear their song of love,
And we’ll all sing hallelujah
In our Father’s house above.

Refrain

Ellen B. and Lana G! ~ Traditions

Whenever there is a holiday where stores remain open and we are both in Washington Ellen B. and Lana G! go shopping at the Bellevue Goodwill Store.

Lana picked me up at 9 AM and we headed south on the 405 Fwy.

Lana heads to the book section while I make a return.

Our cart is beginning to get filled. My first find were 4 Riedel wine goblets for $1.49 ea. (but because it’s Labor day they are 40% off!) That was a steal…

The cart is full and it’s time to sort through and leave behind whatever we aren’t thrilled with.

This was my stash…

So here’s the fun part of our shopping trip. Lana is paying for her stuff. Whoever’s bill ends up being the most gets to buy lunch for both of us, too! Lana usually wins and gets to pay for lunch.

Oops this time I spent $5.oo more than Lana so I get to buy lunch.

We were so excited to find a Russian deli close by.

We bought piroshky (Cabbage and Mushroom)

The borsch was lousy 😦  but we ordered a hot pastrami sandwich with it and that was great!

Another successful Labor Day Shopping trip for the girls in Washington. Blessings on your day.

WFMW ~ Simple Lists & Rewards

This simple 6 x 8 notebook is my organizational wizard. I use this each week to organize myself and to get things accomplished. With a pencil I line out 7 boxes for the 7 days of the week starting with Monday. Each box has the date and day of the week. I put the set appts. in each box. Along the left side I list all the tasks I’d need to accomplish or would like to accomplish that week. I add more as I think of them during the week. In the upper right hand sidebar I list any birthdays that are in that month. Below that I keep a running list of anything I need to buy at the store. Nine times out of ten if I have something on this list it gets done. I take great joy in crossing off accomplished tasks or purchased items. I put fun things to do on these lists too. Below are some pictures of one of the fun things I always try to include on my to-do list.

This is Leticia our waitress at our favorite local Mexican restaurant near our home in Washington. Eating at her family restaurant was on my list this week and voila here we are!

The restaurant is called La Corona and we’ve been here often enough that they know what we like to order and we have more than casual conversations with Leticia about herself and her family.

Laura and Josh joined us for a late celebration of their anniversary.

Dear, Ellen b. and Katie stuffed already on our favorite salsa that they make here. Katie’s friend Heidi joined us too after the photo-op.

So not only do I schedule chores but I schedule some fun too. Bottom line what works for me is organization with my little binder and eating out at a Mexican Restaurant at least once a week!

To see what works for other people head on over to Rocks In My Dryer and join the frenzy fun!