Category Archives: Memorial Day

Living Vicariously

Four of ours were able to travel to Kalispell to meet up with many of their cousins over Memorial Day Weekend. There was a special wedding that six of our people were attending on Saturday so the annual ‘Arizona Cousin’s Memorial Weekend’ was moved to Kalispell this year. It was a great accommodation to make.

Their VRBO was on Foys lake close to Kalispell.

Our niece Debbee turned 50 in the middle of May and our DIL Laura was inspired to order a special t-shirt for each of the ‘cousins’ with a special moment in their life with their cousin Debbee. The photo above shows the original cousins with Babushka and Dzeda all together back then and then this photo below of the now.

A re-enactment…

Laura found special photos for all these peeps!

It was a wonderful way to celebrate Deb Deb’s birthday.

It was time for these six to leave for the wedding.

These 6 enjoyed a meal out while the others were at the wedding.

Sunday was a full day for all to be together.

 

 

On Memorial Day it was decided that a trip to Glacier National Park and a hike was in order. Donning their Memorial day t-shirts and coats they set out at 5:30 am!

Another meaningful, encouraging and rewarding Cousin Memorial Weekend in the books!

Ellen with an E, Hodgepodge

Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for our weekly Hodgepodge questions.

1. Do you like your name?s

I have grown into it. I do not have a middle name on my birth certificate.

Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)?

No. After my older sisters got the more traditional Russian names, my mother decided I’d get a name none of her friends would choose for their children. Ellen is not a typical Russian name.

In Russian, the name Ellen translates to Эллен (pronounced EL-len) when used for an English name.
However, because Ellen is a variant of the name Helen, the traditional Russian equivalent is Елена (pronounced yeh-LYEH-nah), which is often shortened to the nickname Лена (pronounced LYEH-nah)
Лена is what I was called by our Russian family and friends.
Ellen, Ellen, Watermelon. That is something I remember some classmates in elementary school repeating to try to irritate me. 🙂
I also had to correct people over and over again when they tried to call me Helen. I’d say, NO, Ellen with an E.

If you have children how did you choose their names? 

For our sons we chose strong Biblical names, Joshua and Daniel. For our daughter we chose a name from Greg’s heritage and also a strong name, Katherine.

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one…which will you choose?

I’ll go with red velvet cake.

If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

Fourth Festivities3

I love a good patriotic berry trifle.

3.  What’s a job you’d like to try for just one day? 

I’d like to try being a detective and solving a murder.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

Yes! And I’m on the lookout for more since this is the 250th year of freedom!

5. It’s the end of May, so let’s exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!

M emorials beginning and ending the merry month of May with

A wakening buds and weeds displaying a springtime

Y ard that needs attending to!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Memorial weekend scattered many of our family to Texas and Montana, far south and far north! The travelers originated from California or Washington State.

Kathy is our oldest sister and turning 80 over Memorial weekend she deserved a celebration all her own. She was in Texas on her day so our sister, Lana, threw a birthday party for her. Our youngest sister, Lana, lives in Texas.  Both my older sisters (Kathy and Vera) were in Texas to attend our youngest niece’s graduation from high school. The graduation ceremony was on Friday. Our youngest niece is the daughter of our youngest brother who also lives in Texas. Are you following? Anyhoo, hats off to Lana for giving Kathy a very special celebration.

In Texas our friend, Heidi, sat in for me for this ‘sister’ photo above since I couldn’t be in Texas for the events this past weekend. Lana, Heidi, Vera and Kathy on Kathy’s 80th birthday.

Kathy’s kids and grands were all in Montana for a wedding. Our kids and Vera’s kids were in Montana, too, for the annual ‘cousins memorial day weekend’. This group of cousins sent their mom, nana, auntie a special photo greeting for her 80th. There was some face timing, too.

Meanwhile back in Texas…

Our niece, Hope’s graduation ceremony.

Graduations, weddings, cousin’s annual gathering, it was a full weekend! Why were we absent? We enjoyed taking care of our Grands while their parents had fun with the cousins in Montana!

Each of these loved ones got a t-shirt with a photo of a special moment in their history with their cousin Debbee. She turned 50 in May and our DIL Laura was inspired to celebrate her at cousins weekend in this special way.

The original ‘band of cousins’.

Whew! That was a very busy weekend. Our Colville kids made it back Monday evening and our ‘sitting’ duty was over. We shared our time watching over our Grands with our DIL Jamie’s dear mom. She got the evening/overnight duty while and we got the daytime duty. I’m sure our Grands had stories to tell about their caretakers and didn’t hesitate to throw us ‘under the bus’. 🙂

And just like that, May is almost over!

Memorial Day 2026

Blades of grass and pure white stones
Shelter those who’ve come and gone.
Just below the emerald sod
Are those who reached the arms of God.
~
Buried here with dignity
Endless rows for all to see,
Freedom’s seeds in sorrow sown,
‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.
~
Blades of grass and pure white stones
Cover those who left their homes
To rest in fields here, side by side,
Lest we forget their sacrifice.
~
Buried here with dignity
Endless rows for all to see,
Freedom’s seeds in sorrow sown,
‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.
~
Written by Lowell Alexander, Orrin Hatch, and Philip Naish.
Hope you have a meaningful Memorial Day.

Gathering the Long Weekend

The Long Memorial Day weekend gathered many of our family together in different environments in person and with the help of media. We enjoyed seeing loved ones near and far enjoying each other and growing together. Relationships grow intentionally with the help of God. We love each other, correct each other, sharpen each other, forgive each other and encourage each other. God builds these relationships on the foundation of His saving grace and His forgiveness. Because He has forgiven us much we can forgive and love others.

Some snapshots from Arizona where cousins got together for their annual Memorial Day Weekend in Surprise.

Our son Dan gifted Jamie with the weekend away while he stayed home and was Mister Mom. Our DIL’s enjoyed lots of ‘girl’ time with our nieces from California and Arizona.

Our oldest son and some of our nephews from California and Arizona had their annual golf tournament and for the first time it ended in a tie!

The cousins, original and by marriage! These are our kids, my sister Vera’s and my sister Kathy’s.

On Saturday our son Dan came over with Addy and JJ for fun and dinner with Baba and Gramps.

There was an inspection of the hole dug for the new hydrant.

A vehicle got washed and a couple kids got soaked.

Big Wheels were brought out of storage.

This year all the effort to get those wheels moving were up to Addy and JJ. We did not have to give them a push or carry the Big Wheels up to the top of the walkway.

There was a lot of exploring on our acreage.

Some searching of unsuspecting bugs commenced.

They know to not disturb the Bumble Bees.

After all this outside fun we all came in and enjoyed a crock pot roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli, more conversation, reading a story book and time to head home for bed. We are proud of our son for giving his dear wife the gift of a much deserved break from her constant excellent mothering.  He is a great hands on dad to Addy and JJ.

Our daughter and her hubby enjoyed some outside time on the weekend, too. We love seeing their smiling faces and that beautiful rhododendron in their front yard.

We were blessed with amazing weather over the Memorial Day Weekend. That is something we do not take for granted here in the Pacific Northwest!

On Sunday after church we took an hour long drive to Curlew Lake State Park to enjoy some time with several families from our church who were camping together. We had some long conversations, enjoyed dinner together and then headed back home. We crossed the beautiful Columbia River at Lake Roosevelt going and coming back home.

On Monday, Memorial Day we had some rain and thunder in the morning and I thought I’d have to move my mowing to Tuesday but the sun broke through and dried things up enough for my weekly mow. I’m happy for God to water my Spring planters! Our deep red peonies are the first to pop here so I’ll show them sometime soon.

Memorial Day 2025

Blades of grass and pure white stones
Shelter those who’ve come and gone.
Just below the emerald sod
Are those who reached the arms of God.
Buried here with dignity
Endless rows for all to see,
Freedom’s seeds in sorrow sown,
‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.
Blades of grass and pure white stones
Cover those who left their homes
To rest in fields here, side by side,
Lest we forget their sacrifice.
Buried here with dignity
Endless rows for all to see,
Freedom’s seeds in sorrow sown,
‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.
~
This was written by Lowell Alexander, Orrin Hatch, and Philip Naish.

The Viet Nam Memorial in Sacramento, California.

Korean War Memorial in Washington D.C.

Memorial Day, a solemn day to remember those who died serving our country.

Cousins Weekend 2024

The annual Memorial Day Cousin’s weekend in Arizona was another special time together. Half of our kids and several of my nieces and nephews were able to gather again in Surprise, Arizona. My sisters and I love to peek in and see the fun our kids have together. We praise God, from whom all blessings flow, that these relationships are strong and helpful and encouraging.

Being An Adult Hodgepodge

Joyce From This Side of the Pond has a fresh set of questions for us to ponder for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Growing up, at what age did you think you’d become an adult? At what age did you actually become an adult? 

If I thought about it I didn’t call it being an adult. The older siblings in my family had some responsibilities that were adult like earlier in life. Our parents immigrated to the U.S. just after World War II, legally. Our mom never drove and our pop had to work hard to support a family with 8 children.  Sometimes my older sisters and I walked into town to pay bills in person with cash from our parents. We got ourselves to swimming lessons, the library, and to school. When I got my license there were times that I took my younger brothers to their baseball practices and games. When many of my friends were at senior prom, I was at my younger brother’s baseball game.  In my senior year of high school I had enough credits to graduate with morning classes. I found an afternoon job at a local company and got rides to and from work. I saved up for college with that job. I earned scholarships for most of my college costs. My older sister drove me to the University of Redlands for my freshman year and helped me settle in. We didn’t have and didn’t expect input from our parents on which college to go to. If they could they would help with college costs but mostly we paid our own way. We purchased our own cars and they were mostly used cars. After college I was able to finance my Volkswagen at a school credit union and when I paid that off, like an adult, I earned some good credit.

2.  What’s a favorite item you’ve bought this year?

At our church my area of service is the kitchen and the hospitality branch. We had some money left in the budget so I was able to purchase a coffee system that got plumbed and makes providing coffee at functions so much easier. Instead of those big old coffee pots that you have to fill with water, add the coffee in the baskets and plug in two hours before an event, we can now fill a basket with coffee grounds push the button on the new system and have 2.2liters of coffee in 5 minutes. Yes, and amen!

3. May 28th is National Hamburger Day…are you a fan? If so, how do you like yours? When was the last time you had a hamburger? Besides the backyard grill, what’s your favorite place to go for a burger? 

We do enjoy a good burger. We hadn’t had burgers for a long while but Saturday of Memorial weekend we had a good burger on the way home from shopping in Spokane. We enjoy the burgers at Masters Brew House in Deer Park. Their onion jam that you can have on a burger is delicious. Sorry to say we haven’t found a good burger in Colville. We have fond memories of In N Out burgers.

4.  How have your priorities changed over time? 

The closer I get to heaven the more concerned I am about friends and family and people in general who haven’t had their debt to God paid by Jesus Christ. We all have a debt of sin on our accounts. You can trust Christ who suffered and died and rose from the dead to provide that debt payment.  You need to ask forgiveness (repent) for your sin and put your faith in him and His sacrifice. What Jesus accomplished will pay your debt in full or you will have to pay that sin debt to God yourself in hell. Only Christ’s sacrifice provides the way. You can not earn it by being a ‘good’ person or a ‘religious’ person. It’s a no brainer to me. I’m getting too old to sugar coat this message. Heaven is real and Hell is real. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Him.

5. What’s one thing on your June calendar you’re really looking forward to? 

The very last weekend in June our family of 10 will be enjoying time together in Walla Walla at a VRBO.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our son gifted his dear bride a long weekend away over Memorial Weekend. He took time off of work and cared for our Grands while mommy was gone. We enjoyed feeding them a meal on Friday night of the weekend.

First corn on the cob this year!

God’s Amazing Handiwork

On May 10th I stayed up late to see if I could see the Northern Lights which were predicted to be visible in our area and many other areas around the world. I looked up and could tell there was something different happening but no color was visible to the naked eye. When I saw other people posting on Facebook the pinks and greens in color I was confused as to why I couldn’t see the same thing. When I looked at the image of the sky I just had snapped on my phone I could see the colors in the sky. How odd that was. I just kept snapping away and here is what my phone captured.

 

At the end of my time on our deck taking photos, these lights below which were more on the horizon and not looking straight up, were visible to my naked eye.

It was amazing to witness and a bucket list item that I could check off my list.

In the stars His handiwork I see…

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to Day pours forth speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.”

Psalm 19:1,2

We are running out of May days. Over the weekend some of our kids and nieces and nephews were together in Arizona for their annual ‘Cousins Memorial Day Weekend’. On Monday our flag pole was taken out of it’s Winter storage and back in it’s worthy spot in our front acres. Long may the Red, White and Blue wave!

We have lots of pretty color popping up along with so many weeds that we have not kept at bay. I’ll share some of those colors, soon. What’s popping up at your place?

Memorial Day 2024

Blades of grass and pure white stones
Shelter those who’ve come and gone.
Just below the emerald sod
Are those who reached the arms of God.
~
Buried here with dignity
Endless rows for all to see,
Freedom’s seeds in sorrow sown,
‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.
~
Blades of grass and pure white stones
Cover those who left their homes
To rest in fields here, side by side,
Lest we forget their sacrifice.
~
Buried here with dignity
Endless rows for all to see,
Freedom’s seeds in sorrow sown,
‘Neath blades of grass and pure white stones.
~
Written by Lowell Alexander, Orrin Hatch, and Philip Naish.

End of May and Beginning of June

Things were so full and busy for the end of May and beginning of June that I wasn’t able to keep up with posting about all the good times happening. I’m re-capping here.

My sister and hubby arrived on Memorial Day and left for Montana on Wednesday morning. We enjoyed meals together with them and our Colville kids. Brother-in-law Steve was curious about a riding lawn mower and ended up mowing the front and back lawns while my sister and I worked on this puzzle.

These two went boating with their mom and dad and Addy caught her first fish on June 1st.

I’m guessing this was the icky baiting the hook part.

It’s always fun to be on the water.

Addy’s Mommy created this collage to document that first fish experience.

Our tree was felled on Saturday the 3rd of June. In the late afternoon our friends Bob and Jan arrived for an overnight. We met up at one of the Mexican restaurants in town and then came back to our home and enjoyed conversation until our eyes wouldn’t stay open anymore. After coffee on Sunday morning Bob and Jan left for Idaho and we took off to church. We forgot to take a selfie!!

On Monday and Tuesday the 5th and 6th the clean-up and cutting of the rounds began.

Our son came over on Tuesday morning with our Grands and while Baba kept the Grands entertained Dan cut the rounds with his chainsaw and then he and Gramps loaded the first of many trailer loads (it took 4 loads) to go back to Dan and Jamie’s. They have a wood burning fireplace and once this wood is seasoned they will have enough wood for a few years. The tree was 92 feet and the cuts are 16 inches. I think they had at least 65 rounds!

These two ran me ragged while we stayed far from the saw and noise. I didn’t get soaked like they did.

A fun day playing with the water guns and the sprinklers. Good thing their mom packed a spare set of clothes for them. She’s smart that way!

On this Thursday we had more tree branch clean up and moved the larger branches to the burn pile. I mowed the front and back and when we were done we got cleaned up and enjoyed another Mexican meal out.

The mosquitoes are so abundant this year. We had to spray ourselves with repellent. Ugh! This is the worst we’ve experienced since we’ve moved here.

I’ll share photos of friendlier flying things tomorrow or Monday! 🙂

As I type this we are having a thunder and lightning storm with some high wind gusts. Glad we got the lawns done early this morning. I think I’ll schedule this now just in case the power goes out!