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…

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Labor Day ~ Sept. 3, 2007

Happy Labor Day to You All ~

Hoping you find rest today!

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

To read more go here.

Good News for all those who labor!

Mathew 11: 28-30 ~

” Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

ht: http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm

The Wonderful Gift of a Letter

I’m reading Pride and Prejudice right now and I am always struck at how important letters were. A different time when this was the best form of communicating when apart. No phones, no email, no instant messaging. Wouldn’t it be fun to receive a good old fashioned letter in the mail. Signed, sealed, and delivered! Here’s some interesting tips from Emily Post.

Emily Post (1873–1960). Etiquette. 1922.

THE ART of general letter-writing in the present day is shrinking until the letter threatens to become a telegram, a telephone message, a post-card. Since the events of the day are transmitted in newspapers with far greater accuracy, detail, and dispatch than they could be by the single effort of even Voltaire himself, the circulation of general news, which formed the chief reason for letters of the stage-coach and sailing-vessel days, has no part in the correspondence of to-day.

THE LETTER EVERYONE LOVES TO RECEIVE

The letter we all love to receive is one that carries so much of the writer’s personality that she seems to be sitting beside us, looking at us directly and talking just as she really would, could she have come on a magic carpet, instead of sending her proxy in ink-made characters on mere paper.

Let us suppose we have received one of those perfect letters from Mary, one of those letters that seem almost to have written themselves, so easily do the words flow, so bubbling and effortless is their spontaneity. There is a great deal in the letter about Mary, not only about what she has been doing, but what she has been thinking, or perhaps, feeling. And there is a lot about us in the letter—nice things, that make us feel rather pleased about something that we have done, or are likely to do, or that some one has said about us. We know that all things of concern to us are of equal concern to Mary, and though there will be nothing of it in actual words, we are made to feel that we are just as secure in our corner of Mary’s heart as ever we were. And we finish the letter with a very vivid remembrance of Mary’s sympathy, and a sense of loss in her absence, and a longing for the time when Mary herself may again be sitting on the sofa beside us and telling us all the details her letter can not but leave out.”

20spring.html http://www.bartleby.com/95/28.html

Weekend Wanderings…

The L. A. Farmers Market

Farmers Market (no apostrophe!) was created in July 1934.

In July 1934 a contingent of farmers pulled their trucks onto an expanse of empty land at the property known as Gilmore Island at the corner of Third and Fairfax in Los Angeles. They displayed their produce on the tailgates of their vehicles, to their delight, customers quickly arrived and parked their cars on a hastily created dirt parking lot in spaces designated with chalk. They strolled among the trucks purchasing fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The atmosphere was casual, the open air commerce enticing, the goods fresh, and the result remarkable. Farmers Market became an instant institution.

We met our friends from Seattle at the Original Los Angeles Farmers Market for dinner and a stroll. Luke, (one of our former pastors in Seattle), Terri and their two daughters Sophie and Greta are in L.A. for some sight seeing that will include the ultimate first time visit to Disneyland for the girls on Monday and Tuesday!

A very upscale outdoor shopping center, The Grove, has been built right next to the Old Farmers Market. We ended our visit with an elevator ride to the 8th floor of the parking garage at “The Grove” to get an aerial view of this Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles and Hollywood. We were hoping to see the famous Hollywood sign but sad but true it was too “L.A. smoggy hazy” to see it clearly! We were able to see the Griffith Park Observatory.

On our way home after our visit we were driving through a couple multi-million dollar neighborhoods and were shocked to see this eyesore on one of the street corners. We were amazed and decided to turn back to take some digital shots of this monstrocity. My photos will not give this gaudy display of bad taste justice.

There were over 14 of these statues…

Yikes! This is a beautiful neighborhood of amazingly landscaped and manicured lawns. House after house displays beautiful architecture and upkeep. I can only imagine what the immediate neighbors think. We found out later that there was a lot of TV coverage over this property and a lawsuit that the neighbors brought to try to get these statues removed. They lost their suit. The bright white wrought iron fence was added after some of the statues were defaced.

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My weekend ended with a 250 mile round-trip out to Nuevo, California for dinner and a church service that my nephews Levi and Caleb were leading worship for (Levi in the red, Caleb in the orange). A nice ending to a busy weekend. Blessings on your week ahead…

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos from their site that I used on my blog since 2007 and I’m working to update my thousands of posts.

1994 World Cup ~ Los Angeles

I am a huge soccer fan. Our boys played soccer on club teams and on their high school Varsity teams. They both played defense, sweeper and full back. I never missed a game and after they graduated I still went to the high school games. Our daughter Katie played soccer on a recreational team. She played goalie and mostly defense. When World Cup is on I try to watch every single game that is televised. The following photos and memorabilia are from the 1994 World Cup. Josh got a 4 game package for games in Los Angeles. Dan and I went to the Brazil ~ Cameroon game at Stanford.

We all got to go to another game at the Rose Bowl, too. I drove them wherever we could get any soccer action. Fun times!

These are photos of Josh and Dan at the U.S. Soccer Team training facility and at the hotel where the team was staying. We were so excited to find the hotel where the team was staying. The players were so approachable and kind to the boys. They managed to get every players signature that was on the team and all but one of the coaches. Josh has that poster framed and in his office.

They also got Tony Meola and Cobi Jones to sign these magazines that we later framed.

I still hope to someday experience a soccer game (futbol) in England.

El Tecolote ~ por Bridget!

The Founder of El Tecolote (The Owl) ~ Mike

The Story of EL TECOLOTE:
The El Tecolote story begins in 1946, 50 years ago, in the neighboring community of Moorpark. A young man, fresh out of his World War II Uniform, decided to open a small restaurant, because there weren’t any jobs available and he loved to cook. The night before he opened his new restaurant, the young man, Mike Loza, locked himself inside with a shotgun to make sure no one broke in and spoiled his opening. Mike couldn’t close his eyes – the trees around the restaurant were full of owls! Mexican tradition considers the visit of an owl to be an omen of very bad luck, so to overcome the bad luck sure to follow, Mike promptly named his restaurant El Tecolote, The Owl. Mike moved El Tecolote to Camarillo, in 1948 to a small house a few blocks from its present location. The restaurant was so tiny there was always a long wait for one of the four tables. Finally, a frustrated customer offered to finance a larger building, and the first part of the current restaurant was opened in early 1952. The large dining room was added in 1957. Mike operated El Tecolote for 34 years.

Dear and I enjoy this restaurant. It’s very low key (no frills!). One of the things we think they do that is brilliant is they keep their salsa in those plastic water pitchers and come around and refill your salsa from the pitcher. At other restaurants they have to come take away your little salsa pot then come back with a fresh one. Too much time wasted in my opinion where dry chips are just sitting around waiting to be dipped! Prices here are also more reasonable. I hope you enjoyed this little post Bridget!

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

Happy Birthday Lana and Leonard! ~ The Sixties

The Twins, my youngest sister Lana and youngest brother Leonard (#7 & #8) were born on July 29, 1963. You can go on over to Lana G.’s blog and wish her a happy birthday!

A Very Happy Birthday to You

Here’s the decade of the 60’s in a nutshell for you to enjoy…

1960 ~ John F. Kennedy is elected.
1961 ~ The Berlin wall is built.
1961 ~ Freedom Rides are organized to promote racial integration on buses, trains, and in terminals.
1961 ~ Roger Maris of the New York Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s record by hitting 61 home runs in one season.
1962 ~ John Glenn is the first American to orbit earth.
1962 ~ Cuban missile crisis escalates the cold war.
1963 ~ Publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique marks the beginning of the feminist movement.
1963 ~ Zip codes are instituted.
1963 ~ President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in.
1964 ~ The Olympics are telecast via satellite from Tokyo.
1964 ~ Surgeon General issues the first cigarette warning.
1964 ~ Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act.
1964 ~ Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964 ~ Johnson is re-elected.
1965 ~ LBJ’s peace offer is rejected; the Vietnam War escalates.
1965 ~ More than 14,000 National Guardsmen control rioting in Watts, South Los Angeles. Your older sisters were at Bethany Baptist Church in Los Angeles for Youth Night when the riot was in full swing. Scary!
1966 ~ “Black Power” enters the civil rights movement, introducing the militancy of Stokely Carmichael.
1967 ~ Detroit riot becomes largest U.S. riot of the century.
1967 ~ Apollo 1 blows up, killing three. Space program halts for several months.
1968 ~ Nixon is elected.
1968 ~ Assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.
1968 ~ Your sister Ellen graduates from high school.
1968 ~ Computer RAM arrives on the market.
1969 ~ Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.

Some great quotes from this era…

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Wall Street Journal, November 13, 1962)

“America wept tonight not alone for its dead young President, but for itself…Somehow the worst prevailed over the best.” ~ James Reston (Columbia Chronicles, 1963)

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” ~ Neil Armstrong (Televised broadcast, July 20, 1969)

Enjoy your special day. I love you both dearly and thank God that He added you to our family in 1963, what an amazing day in history that was!

High School Meme ~ Memories

Montebello High School is located in the San Gabriel Valley approximately 8 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. Its famous alumni include tennis champion Jack Kramer, baseball great Bobby Knopp, basketball player and coach Jerry Pimm, Nobel Prize winner Bruce Merrifield, actors Edward James Olmos and Jack Larson, and California Democrat Party Chairman Art Torres.

I saw this meme over at Fiddledeedee. Dee Dee got it from another blogger. You know how that goes. Since High School was 39 years ago I’ll see how my memory is holding up. Yikes did I say 39 years ago…2007 minus 1968 = 39, Ouch! Have fun at your 20th year reunion (oops I mean 30th!) Dee Dee!

1. Who was your best friend? My best friend in Junior High and High School was Judy T. and Nanc M. (I want to respect their privacy so no last name even though they’re married).

2. Did you play any sports? I did enjoy sports. I was part of G.A.A. (Girls Athletic Association). I didn’t play any organized sports on an actual team, just in Phys Ed.

3. What kind of car did you drive? I drove whatever second hand car was available. I didn’t have my own old jalopy till college.

4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Football games, basketball games, or baseball games. I was a Song-Leader part of the Pep Squad so I attended most every sporting event and cheered and danced away! I lost about 5 lbs. (water weight) every Friday night!

5. Were you a party animal? No, I really didn’t see the point of parties.

6. Were you considered a flirt? Not typically. I did get along with boys and sometimes better than I got along with girls.

7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? Cheer Squad was my gig. I was part of the Russian Baptist Youth Choir.

8. Were you a nerd? Nope, not smart enough to be a nerd!

9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Never!

10. Can you sing the fight song? “Long ago she rose and stood, Montebello dear old high, Mid the sunlight’s golden flood, Montebello dear old high, Where the blue and gold flag flies, sheltering splendid enterprise, neath California’s summer skies, Montebello dear old high.” That doesn’t sound to fight songish. I think the fight song was more along the lines of “On Montebello, on Montebello, Fight on for your team da da da da da da da…..

11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Sawyer ~ English

12. What was your school mascot? Ollie the Oiler

13. Did you go to the Prom? We had a Junior/Senior Prom. I went to the prom in my junior year but not my senior year. Our prom was at the now demolished Ambassador Hotel (where Bobby Kennedy was assasinated). My date took me to the Coconut Grove for the pre-prom dinner and show and we saw the Righteous Brothers.

14. If you could go back, would you? No way, no how, well…maybe just to set the things right.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? The tiring all night party at a bowling alley and the senior trip I took with my best buddies right after graduation.

16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? We did not have a senior skip day.

17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, I worked for Link-Belt as an office assistant. I got off school half-day because I had enough credits.

18. Where did you go most often for lunch? Cafeteria with my sack lunch that my mom made for me every day.

19. Have you gained weight since then? Mercy, mercy me! Yes, anywhere between 10 – 60 with pregnancies, etc. Right now I weigh 26 more pounds than I did in High School. I’d like to get that down to 20.

20. What did you do after graduation? I attended University of Redlands and then Cal-State Los Angeles, both in Southern California. I graduated with a degree in Home Economics and a k-8 teaching credential.

21. What year did you graduate? I graduated from high school in 1968.

22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? Senior year no one, Junior year with Adam M.

23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I went to my 10 year and my 30 year. There weren’t enough of my old buddies at the 30 year reunion :(. I was happy to see the few that were there.

Please feel free to play along! Then let me know if you do…

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.

Safe and Sound In Southern California!

Katie and I arrived safe and sound today. The trip was easier than we expected. Thank you to those of you who were praying that my feet and legs wouldn’t cramp. God answered your prayers! Not one cramp in the 20 hours of driving. Of all the books on cd that we took our #1 favorite was Jeeves and the Song of Songs by P. G. Wodehouse. Funny and very entertaining. We enjoyed one of the Barchester Chronicles and Book 5 of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Today we listened to Meet Me at the Morgue which was an entertaining murder mystery. We wouldn’t recommend The Vicar of Wakefield, for us it was horribly dull!

Katie took this at the border of Oregon and California.

Katie being creative…

There is a story to this mountain range. Yes, what you see is a mountain range. The smallest mountain range in the World! Dear’s Mother Verna is buried in a cemetery with these mountains in the background. Our photo is from I-5 which is the opposite view from the one below.

Yuba City’s Sutter Buttes

Sutter Buttes Yuba City’s western horizon is dominated by the Sutter Buttes, renowned for being the “Smallest Mountain Range in the World.”

The range is actually circular with a diameter of 10 miles and covers an area of about 75 square miles. The mountains are the remnants of a volcano that has been dormant for over a million years. South Butte, the highest peak is 2,117 feet above sea level. North Butte is 1,863 feet and West Butte is 1,685 feet above sea level.

Before modern levees and dams were built to contain the rivers, winter storms and spring run-off frequently turned the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea making the Sutter Buttes an island refuge for Indians, settlers and wildlife.

The Buttes have had many names over the years. The Maidu Indians called them “Histum Yani” which translates as, “Middle Mountains of the Valley” or “Spirit Mountain” … depending on the source. According to Maidu legend, after death, the spirits of their people rest in the Buttes.

Gabriel Moraga, a Spaniard trying to locate possible mission sites, was the first European to see the Sutter Buttes in 1806. Another Spaniard, Luis Arguello, led an expedition in 1817 to explore Northern California by water. He called the Buttes “Los Picachos” or the peaks. He also named the Feather River “El Rio de la Plumas”, because he saw many feathers of wild fowl floating on the water.

Other names for the Buttes were “Marysville Buttes”, “Sacramento Buttes”, and “Los Tres Picos.” They were finally named the “Sutter Buttes” in 1949.

Today, most of the Sutter Buttes is private land and not open to the public. However, you can drive through and around the Buttes. It is a beautiful drive any time of the year! Each year, in the spring, over 1,000 cyclists converge to “Bike Around the Buttes” an event sponsored by the Diabetes Society of Yuba Sutter.

If you want to experience the Buttes up close, organized group tour hikes are available. You can also play golf in the Buttes at South Ridge Golf Course, but watch out for the infamous 16th hole!

http://www.syix.com/yubacity/sutterbuttes.html