I turned seven shortly after our brother Tim was born in 1958. Today is his birthday so I decided to post some flashbacks that include him. After Tim, our parents had 3 more children ending up with 4 sons and 4 daughters. Tim and I are in the middle, number 4 and number 5. I was thrilled when he was born.
My four younger siblings, Tim, Steve, Lana and Leonard (twins).
We had fun times with Tim and Letty while we were living in Camarillo, California for a few years.
2013 at our niece Debbee’s wedding.
Tim and Letty visited us on many Thanksgivings while we lived on the Western side of Washington.
Tim was a huge help at Dan and Jamie’s wedding.
In October of the same year, Tim and Letty flew up to help our son Josh with their remodel of their first home.
We are trying to convince Tim and Letty to visit again this year! Letty has not been to Colville yet. Neither of them have seen our country bungalow.
Happy Birthday Tim! Still thankful for you. You are a good brother! We love you, we love you, we love you.
A Very Happy New Year to All! Welcome very soon to 2026!
This is my Happy New Year Post for Hodgepodgers. This post card was sent to Greg’s Great Great Aunt Emma. The card was sent from Chicago to Denver in 1906! It is a hundred year old Happy New Year greeting! The stamp was one cent. The written greeting is in Swedish.
1. Did you make resolutions or set goals for the year we’re waving goodbye? How did that work out for you? Will you set any goals for this new year, new season, or new month? Share one or two if you’d like to share.
The only goal I set for 2025 was to read the Bible through alongside Everyday Gospel, A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life by Paul David Tripp. I found it to be a good combination and encouraging. One other highlight was using our Church History Study Bible with notes stretching back from the first and second centuries and reaching forward to the twentieth century. As the introduction states about the contributors in the notes, ‘these are theologians, pastors, poets, laity, all offering perspective on God’s Word’ to aid us in escaping the ‘tyranny of the present to see wisdom from the past’.
The Puritan John Owen (1616-1683) offers us this encouragement:
If you have any regard to the constancy of your faith, to the comfort of your life, the honor of God, or the salvation of your own soul, labor immediately to get your belief of the Word better founded. Read the Scripture constantly, study it seriously, search it diligently, hear it explained and applied by others, meditate on it yourself, and beg of God an understanding of it and a right faith in it.
2. When did you have the most fun this year?
This was the family Christmas card photo this year taken over Thanksgiving weekend.
Hands down the most fun always happened when we were together with family or dear friends! The joy, the belly laughs, the support, the one liners, and the love flowing made for memorable moments all through the year!
One of the belly laugh moments of 2025!
3. What’s a song or song lyric you’ll associate with 2025? Tell us why.
Phil Wickham’s Hymn of Heaven because it is the hope that encourages me in my daily life. Songs of life that are filled with truth inspire me and cause me to worship God. This is important to me. Artists like The Getty’s, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, and others who sing what is true to the Bible are my favorites. I’m not a fan of imposters. It is my prayer that these and others stay true.
4. Best (or a favorite) bite of something delicious you tasted this year?
I grew up on my dear mom’s blintzes but I’ve not made them for several years. This year I made them twice and they are so good to my taste buds and memories. I choose them for my best bite this year!
5. What do you want to do more of in the new year? Less of?
I would like to read more good books this year. I would like to decrease my sugar intake this year.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Happy New Year to all my friends who stop by my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you! Wishing you a new year of peace and joy down in your hearts to stay…
Baking with Baba when they still needed a chair to stand on to reach the counters.
2022
2023
Baking day last year! They are taller this year and the mixing and rolling will be simpler for these two! Here’s hoping we remember to take a couple photos this morning!
Back to the present…
We woke up to an inch of snow on Monday but that has been washed away by rain. Between the rain and the snow we’ve had beautiful skies as you can see in the collage above from our Colville kids’ driveway.
Our Westside kids attended a early Christmas Eve service at Canyon Hills. Canyon Hills scheduled several Christmas Eve services this year and last night was their first of 8 services stretched out over 3 days!
We will be attending our Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at First Baptist Colville on Christmas Eve at 5pm.
I’m feeling a wee bit nostalgic looking at some photos from Christmas past…
I posted this one on Facebook yesterday.
Me, my sister Kathy and my sister Vera in Montebello, California 1967.
All eight of the Bagdanov siblings.
Our mom and pop.
Christmas Day growing up we had church on Christmas day regardless of the day it landed on. In the photos above taken on Christmas morning we were all dressed and ready to drive to Los Angeles for our Christmas services. We’d come home for lunch and then back to church in the evening. This might have been the last year we split our Christmas day at the Molokan church in the morning and the Russian Baptist Church in the evening.
Here is my first Fall puzzle and it was a doozey! I bought it at Union Gospel Mission Thrift store in Spokane for $5.
I’ve been working on it for a couple weeks.
Hooray! No missing pieces. I finished this up on Monday before JJ arrived for his afternoon at Baba and Gramps.
JJ lost his first tooth on Monday morning so we had to document that! It’s a little harder to bite into his snacks. This boy loves snacks.
Out for a trek to the mailbox with Gramps.
G.I. Joe with Gramps. The same G.I. Joe show his dad and uncle watched when they were boys. I remembered and mentioned to JJ that I thought his dad or uncle had their old G.I. Joe sleeping bag. JJ wanted me to call Uncle Joshie to see if he still had it. I said I would text instead. Then JJ added that if he still had it he could maybe bring it at Thanksgiving. Later that evening we got this photo with Uncle Joshie’s answer.
Yes! He will bring it at Thanksgiving!
Before we knew it, Jamie and Addy got back from Irish Dance to collect JJ. Addy always wants a rundown of all the snacks JJ had while she was at Dance.
Thankful in this season of thankfulness for the opportunity to spend time with our grandchildren and that we live in the same town.
Not often. If I’m going to shop for clothes it would be for a wedding or another special event.
What accessory do you always wear?
My wedding ring and my watch.
3. What’s something free that you feel grateful for?
The air we breathe. This is what came to mind because of the smoke filled skies and ash in the air. My throat is scratchy and my eyes are sore. Looking forward to our fires being put out and our skies clearing.
There are 5 fires burning in our area, maybe more. The two largest in our tri-county part of the state are within 15 miles from us. Agencies from across the state are camping in our little town as they help with the fires. I’ll have to get a photo of the camp sites to share.
4. Breakfast, lunch, dinner…which meal of the day do you enjoy most? What’s your go-to comfort food?
Any one of them is enjoyed when the food is tasty and good. I find soup to be very comforting. Russian foods that our mom made are high on the list for comfort, pirishky, lopsha, apricot filled pastry, Vareniki, Roolyet, blintzes.
5. This week the world remembers the tragic events of 9/11. Do you mark the day in any way?
A day we’ll never forget.
This was taken in 2001. In reaction to sitting and watching all the horror unfold on our television, the attacks on our country, I found the flag that was presented to Greg’s mom at his father, Rex’s, funeral. I slipped it out our daughter’s window on the street side of our home in support of our country.
On the 20 year anniversary we put out all the flags!
There is a 9/11 ride here in our town every year and when we can we go out and wave our flags somewhere along the route.
How do historical events shape your perspective on your personal challenges?
In our travels in Oxford and in Scotland and interest in reading books about the reformation and reformers and all the history surrounding those who stood for truth and were martyred for their faith makes my personal challenges seem trivial in comparison.
Having a son-in-law who was deployed twice to Afghanistan and friends and a brother-in-law who served in Viet Nam and knowing all the challenges that they faced during and after their military service also gives me a different perspective on my aches and pains.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
In 2026 we will celebrate the 250th Anniversary of our Country and the 25th Anniversary of 2011. We’ll have to pull out all the stops with all of our red, white, and blue!
This photo was taken in Persia in the late 1940’s, after our mom and pop immigrated to the USA. My maternal grandparents are seated on the right lower side of the photo. Our cousin Alex is standing between them.
The photo above is of the paternal side of our family from the 1950’s. In the middle is our Babushka and Dzedushka. Our cousin Johnny is on our Babushka’s lap. I’m seated below our Dzedushka , just to the right.
Our Paternal and Maternal sides of the family are Russian.
1. Next Sunday is Grandparent’s Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent.
Our maternal grandmother was widowed young while she and our grandfather were living in Persia so our maternal grandfather never made it to the USA. He died shortly after our mom and pop immigrated and that was very hard for our mom being so far away and getting the news that her father was killed. Our little Babushka lost her left hand and arm up to her elbow when she was a child. She only had one hand but her embroidering skills were amazing. She was very patient in trying to teach me that skill but it wasn’t something I could excel at. She was a praying grandmother and she prayed for all her grandchildren. One thing she would tell us young people, “Don’t got out when it’s dark, nothing good happens in the dark.”
The collage shows one of her wedding gifts to Greg and me. It is an embroidered table cloth and 8 napkins. I cherish this gift from her hand.
I had a closer relationship with my maternal grandmother.
2. What’s a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you?
‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to’ – Bilbo
by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is spoken by Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Truth be told, the quote I use more often is, “It comes in Pints?” (from the film)
3. What’s your number one food pet peeve?
I’m not a fan of someone chewing with their mouth open.
4. What’s one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young?
I’m still in the habit of smiling not to mention my hairdo!
5. September is National Preparedness Month…does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that’s kept there.
Our sons are prepared but we aren’t. My emergency plan is to get to one of our son’s homes in case of a major emergency. We do have our important papers, etc. in a quick grab container.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
On Sunday our own Seattle Sounders made history by winning the Leagues Cup Final against Inter-Miami. Josh and Laura were there to be part of the history.
We live too far from Lumen Field to participate in these games anymore so I love to live vicariously through Josh and Laura and their love of the game of soccer!
The Seattle Sounders’ quest to their first-ever Leagues Cup trophy is complete.
With Sunday night’s 3-0 win over Inter Miami, the Sounders were crowned champions of the tournament, becoming the only team in MLS to capture every major North American soccer trophy to date.
The game was not televised on any English speaking channel that we get on Dish so I had to watch it on a Mexican station. I was happy to be able to see it in real time and thankful for the Mexican station! I just set the volume low. 🙂
Lumen Field delivered an electric atmosphere, with a record crowd of 69,314 – surpassing the old mark of 69,274. And, in a rare sight, most of that support was for the home side rather than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner. Seattle fed off it from the start.
The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or a record eight times and he was playing on the Miami team.
This morning at 10:30 Pacific Time we will be live streaming the Memorial Service for Pastor John MacArthur. He was our first Pastor after Greg and I were married.
The Youtube I shared above is of a song that MacArthur wrote.
The Los Angeles Police Department will do the Flag Presentation. A bagpiper will perform Amazing Grace.
It will be a God honoring and Jesus exalting memorial with many participating in the service, Alistair Begg, John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, the Getty’s, Joni and others. Tune in for a encouraging time.
For April I’m challenging myself to an A-Z photo a day excluding Sundays and in addition to any regular posts that come to be.
Today is Friday April 25th and we are on the letter V.
V is for Vareniki or Vareniky~ A Russian traditional cheese filled dumpling. I will add a recipe at the end of this post.
The first sets of vareniki day in Southern California are when our mom was still on this earth.
I think this set of photos is from 2004.
In 2008 while Greg and I were living in Camarillo I was able to join in for the family day of making Vareniki for our Christmas celebration.
This photo above is from 2012, the last Vareniki day with our mom. Our mom was promoted to heaven in September of 2013.
The next set of photos are from Vareniki day in 2020.
Vareniki are a Russian treat we’ve enjoyed at Christmas for many years. Vareniki can be enjoyed any time of year but our family has made it our Christmas dessert tradition. This year the crew included my two older sisters, one sister-in-law, 4 of our nieces and one grandniece. My mom would be so proud of them all!
My oldest sister Kathy with the finished product which is first boiled and then ready to freeze and then bake in half and half and butter on Christmas Eve. Our family tradition is to stuff these dumplings with a cheese filling and serve them as a dessert or for breakfast in place of pancakes. We serve them with a dollop of sour cream and maple syrup.
Pierogi and Vareniki are actually the same thing. Again, stuffed dumplings, they are common throughout Central and Eastern Europe and most of the old Eastern Bloc states. While Vareniki is the more commonly used term in Russia, pierogi are the national dish of Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia.
Here’s the recipe from our family cookbook that our sister Vera created.
For April I’m challenging myself to an A-Z photo a day excluding Sundays and in addition to any regular posts that come to be.
Today is Thursday April 17th and the letter is O. I’m manipulating this one since it is Easter Week.
O is for Old and Older photos of Easter celebrations.
Easter in the 50’s at 4635 Oak Street in Pico Rivera.
Joshua’s first Easter in 1979 in Huntington Beach, California.
Easter on Arroyo Drive at Dzedushka’s and Babushka’s in the early 80’s.
Easter in Ventura 1986.
Easter in Yorba Linda, 1987.
Ventura 1987.
Easter in Yorba Linda, 1988.
Easter in Bothell 1989ish
All the rest of these photos are from Easters in Kenmore after 2001.
Our Russian greeting at Easter; Christ is Risen, Truly He is Risen.
Russian Easter Bread that we call Kulich and our Mennonite Friends call Paska.
2010
Sweet Cheese Spread for the Kulich/Paska that we call Seernaya Paska.
2011
2012
2013
The year we were in Italy just before Easter we brought home the Italian version of Easter Panettone from Milan for our Easter treat. We didn’t bake our traditional Easter bread that year.
2014 was another Panettone Easter.
2015
We baked Kulich in 2015!
Easter preparation day in 2016.
2016 was the daffodil year.
It was also our first year with our newest daughter-in-law.
Easter celebrations are a priority in our heritage and in our present lives.
The Resurrection we celebrate at Easter is the climax of the story of Redemption God planned throughout all of history. We worship and serve a risen Savior in whom we have redemption. He provided the sacrifice we needed for our sins to be forgiven. Because of that forgiveness, we can live a new life in Him with hope for our future.
Colossians 1:13-14
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Today on this year’s calendar and in Easter week we think about the Last Supper and Jesus Christ’s humility in washing His Disciples Feet. We also consider His instruction and encouragement to His Disciples on this night for what was about to happen.
God bless you with a heart to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 