Category Archives: Friends

Baba and Deda’s with the Girls and Jack

Deda and Baba

Niece Michelle, Daughter Katie, and SIL Kelly

We had a family “girls night out” gathering at my parent’s apartment since Katie is here for a short visit. As usual my mother went “over the top” in preparing a wonderful meal for all of us. We were doubly blessed this time because my SIL’s Kelly and Letty were able to make it.

Sister Vera, SIL Letty, and Sister Kathy

 

We had Apricot Chicken, a Honeydew Spinach Salad with a wonderful mint dressing, a mixed veggie basmati rice, not to mention appetizers. Now for that fabulous cake pictured above, yummy Pistachio Cream Angel Food Cake.

 

The sisters enjoying a laugh. What a blessing to have loving, joyful sisters with peace between us.

Vera, Lana, Kathy and Ellen

Nana Kathy with grandson Jack. “It’s a high mountain goat.” My nieces Debbee and Melissa were there but didn’t get into a photo shoot.

My photos are being held hostage at the Photobucket site as of July 2017.

Thankful Thursday ~ The Body of Christ

 

Psalm 27: 4-5 ~ One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

Today I am thankful for the churches that Dear and I have been a part of in our married life together…

(1974-1975) Grace Community Church, Panorama City, Ca. Although John MacArthur was teaching from the pulpit our most memorable teaching during our time here was in the College/Career class. We took a wonderful midweek college course that set us on a discipleship mindset in our Christian walk.

(1975-1984) Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach, Ca. Bob Thune was our pastor here. One of the milestone events that stands out was being discipled by the associate pastor Steve Hinrichs and the introduction of Fellowship Groups (Home-groups, cell groups, small groups) We were trained to lead a small group in a home and we’ve been part of some sort of small group ever since this time!

(1984-1988) Bible Fellowship Church in Ventura, Ca. Joe Albin was our pastor here. This is the church where we met our best friends for life Dave and Jody. Dave encouraged Dear to go back to school and become a Pharmacist. That set us on an interesting life changing path.

(1988-2006) Sunrise Christian Fellowship Church (Seattle, Edmonds),Wa. Bob Spiro was our pastor here. This is the church where we have spent the longest time so far. We value all the growth and learning we were afforded with this body of believers. We saw loving confrontation, forgiveness, reconciliation, friendship, hospitality, perseverance and healing, modeled in this body that has changed our lives forever.

(2006- ??) Evangelical Free Church Conejo Valley, Ca. Steve Larson is our pastor here. We are in a small group and have learned from the sermons. I have taken part in a weekly women’s Bible study. We are eager to see what God has in store for us as we continue to worship and grow with this new body of believers.

So on this Thankful Thursday I wanted to thank God for leading us and taking care of us in these wonderful church bodies!

Laurel is hosting Thankful Thursday this week so head on over to Laurel Wreath and read other Thankful posts.

Lakeside Bible Camp ~ Early ’90’s ~ Thankful Thursday

 I’m combining this post with Thankful Thursday. What I’m thankful for today are Summer Bible Camps! What a blessing they were in my life and in the life of my children. My heart became Christ’s at Hume Lake Christian Camp in 1963. My kids have grown in their Christian walk at Lakeside Bible Camp. I’m sure a lot of you out there have been blessed by summer camps, too. So thank you Jesus for all the summer camp workers and visionaries out there!

With Bible Camp season upon us I’m posting this little trip down memory lane for our very own upcoming Directors of  teen camps this summer at Lakeside Bible Camp on Whidbey Island! Blessings on you Jamie, Lucy, and Josh! You’ve come a long way….

 

Bloggers unite in praying for all the youth camps happening this summer. Haven’t we all read testimonies of many hearts that were changed as a result of summer camps. Praying for God’s mercy, protection, and grace!

To see more Thankful Thursday Posts go to Sting My Heart.

Recipe Round-Up ~ Summer Salads ~ Applesauce-Raspberry Jello

 Applesauce-Raspberry Jello

1 – 3oz. pkg. raspberry jello
1   cup hot water
1 – 10oz. pkg. frozen raspberries
1 – Cup applesauce
1 – Cup sour cream
1 – Cup miniature marshmallows

Dissolve Jello in hot water. Add frozen raspberries and blend carefully. Add applesauce. Pour into 9-inch square pan. Chill until set. Combine sour cream and marshmallows and spread over top of set Jello. Cover and Chill. Serves 6-8. I have doubled this recipe and put it in a 9 x 13 pan. Refreshingly cool salad!

Now for more great salad recipes head on over to Violet’s at Promptings.

Pub Reunion in Snohomish

Beautiful Snohomish in Washington State

 

We met up with our Great Britain walking buddies at an English Pub in Snohomish. Not only are they our walking buddies but we have had many a great traveling experience with this group of six.

An English transplant from Manchester opened this Pub over a year ago. It is called Piccadilly. We had Fish and Chips, Chicken and Veggie Pastie, Toad in the Hole, and Lentil Rosemary soup. Guinness on draught and good conversation. We were back in Great Britain for a couple of hours enjoying each others company.

Seattle is sizzling these days. They are threatening 97 degrees for today. That’s H-O-T for Seattle and don’t you know it’s the news here!

Photobucket is holding all the photos of mine from this post hostage as of July 2017.

I Finally Learned How to Post These Quizzes ~ Thanks Lana!

This might be bad news for some of you but I finally learned how to post these mundane, brainless, fun quizzes. I am taking baby steps in learning how to do things on the computer with this bloggy deal. Every little thing I learn makes me a little giddy. So here you are. Now I need to learn to do the Mr. Linky thing and some of those sidebar widget dealies. I’m so happy that you are a kind bunch of bloggity bloggers. Blessings on your heads!

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming.
People love you, but sometimes you’re just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

 

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don’t think plain – instead think, uncomplicated
You’re a low maintenance kind of girl… who can hang with the guys
Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that’s you: the friend everyone invites.
And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Now if you decide to play, let me know how you score…

Ht: Lux Venit for the Coffee Quiz and Above the Clouds for the Food Quiz

5 Random Questions Meme

Angie from The Toybox Blew Up tagged me for a question meme. The rules? Simple, she posed 5 random questions for 5 different bloggers who answer them and come up w/ 5  new random questions for 5 more lucky people….and so the cycle of the meme continues on and on! Thanks, Angie. I hope I can come up with 5 questions to pass along…

So here’s Angie’s 5 questions for Leslie, Linda, Ellen, Kim, and

1. You are given the chance to produce something that would help moms around the world… money and outlandishness not an issue… what would it be?    I would produce an extra set of hands for mom so she can keep more than 2 kids in tow and multitask.

2. You can star in anything you want (stage, radio, tv, etc…) what would your dream role be?   My dream role would be Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

3. What’s a *secret* talent that you have that would make you the life of the party?   I can dance up a storm when no one is watching.

4. What was one of your biggest successes? failures?   One of my biggest successes was finishing college and getting a teaching job. One of my biggest failures was not being good at submitting to authority.

5. Name something you despise doing, and what creative excuse/method do you use to get someone else to do the dreaded task.   I despise confrontation, especially face to face. I try to avoid these situations by pretending there isn’t a problem. I’ve tried writing letters in the past to deal with this but that is not the best solution. Face to face problem solving is the best method for resolution.

Now here are my 5 random questions:

1. God has decided to send you on a Mission trip, where are you going and why?

2. You have a free afternoon to read uninterrupted. Where would you choose to read?

3. You get to choose where your kids will go to college, money and grades are not an issue. Where would you want them to go and why? If you don’t have kids where would you have wanted to go to college if money and grades were not an issue?

4. If you were stuck in an elevator for over an hour what music would you want playing while you were stuck?

5. You have to travel from the west coast to the east coast of your country, what 5 cities would you want to spend time in?

I guess I’m going to tag Lana, Kathie, Sara, Bee, and Kim.  Ladies if for any reason you choose not to participate there are absolutely no worries… 🙂

If you do play make sure you send me your link so I can see your answers. Blessings…

More of Seattle In July

We had a wonderful time with family and friends on the fourth. Check out Lana G’s picture collages taken at the party. I’m thrilled she took photos to capture the day. Fellowship, burgers, salads, gazpacho, yummy desserts and continuous games of Mexican Train the Chicken foot version. Today I’m posting photos from our Tuesday tour of downtown Seattle and beyond with my brother Leonard and his wife Mandy from Dallas.

First stop was Piroshky, Piroshky across the street from the main market and a few doors from the original Starbucks.

Here’s a little Russian lady making some of our favorites. I had the Cabbage and Onion, Dear & Mandy had the Potato and Cheese, and Leonard had the Beef and Cheese. A great way to start our tour.

We saw some fish being tossed and L & M bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Then we had some liquid refreshments with Leonard’s caramel apple.

The view of West Seattle on our way to the car.

Across town to Queen Anne Hill and Kerry Park.

This was another beautiful sunny day in Seattle.

 

You can even see Mt. Ranier!

We walked down to the end of the street to see the Western view across Elliot Bay.

There was a little garden where these beautiful hydrangeas were blooming…

 

and this lovely Dogwood variety.

Off the hill to Fremont and we discovered that the troll is still there. Unfortunately Lenin is still there, also.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

These are my flowers from the market. They smell wonderful.

Photobucket is holding all the photos of mine from this post hostage as of July 2017.

Seattle Continued ~ Whidbey Island

Photobucket is holding all the photos of mine from this post hostage as of July 2017.

Monday Dear, my brother Leonard, his wife Mandy, and I took a ferry to Whidbey Island.

The car and passenger ferry is a short 20 minute ride from Mukilteo to Clinton on the South end of Whidbey Island.

Heading for the dock at Clinton.

We drove about 10 minutes to the great little town of Langley. Our first stop was Garibyan Brothers Cafe for a Lamb Kebab Sandwich, a ground Leg of Lamb Burger, Hummus platter and Stuffed Grape Leaves. We had the Russian Raspberry Creme for dessert.

Leonard and Mandy in the restaurant.

Views of Camano Island and Saratoga Passage.

This is the main street in this town with restaurants, antique shops, general stores, bakeries, and art shops, to name a few.

We drove north to Greenbank Farm and took a walk in their fields to get to these glorious views.

The day was so mild we could stand on the ferry outdoor deck on our way home.

The Puget Sound with the Cascade Mountains in the background.