More Lockdowns…

We learned while we were at church this morning of the new lockdowns that our governor is instigating. We are concerned for the restaurants in our area and how they will survive this latest mandate. After church we headed to El Ranchito in Chewelah to support them with this next looming mandate. The above photo is on our drive home from Chewelah to Colville.

We will keep trying to buy local and keep our businesses afloat during this difficult time.

I would really enjoy a hot tub right about now as I’m sure many small business owners would enjoy, too.

In the meantime we will be thankful for all the luxuries afforded to us living in the country.

Here I sit pain free with all the comforts of home which makes me cry out to God for those we know right now who are suffering in hospitals, after surgeries, one with COVID and others enduring chemotherapy treatments and their side effects that are so painful. And another who will have a procedure on Monday. God almighty and the God of all comfort and to the God who heals I pray for Ruth, Tom, Barbara, Kristin and Melissa. Heal and hold and encourage each one.

Our Father who art in heaven…what a privilege to bring our requests to you…

No Man, nor Angel, Can Compare ~ Hymn

 

No Man, nor Angel, Can Compare

No man, nor angel, can compare
With our almighty Lord:
To speak like Him what seraph dare,
Or imitate His word?

Who can command the dead to rise,
With a prevailing power?
Who can pour light on sightless eyes?
The sick to health restore?

Whose word can fiends infernal tame;
Or furious winds control?
Unstop deaf ears; or cure the lame;
Or make the wounded whole?

One word from Jesus this performs,
And proves His power divine;
His breath can still the roughest storms,
Leviathan confine!

None else could expiate my guilt,
Nor save one soul from hell;
Not all the blood of mortals spilt
Since our first parents fell.

Jesus for me fulfilled the law,
And justice satisfied;
My guilt and misery He saw,
And for my ransom died.

Love such as His can ne’er be found,
His grace is rich indeed;
Such words as His there’s none can sound,
Nor do as Jesus did.

Words: Susanna Harrison, 1780

Through the Eyes of A Child…

Yes, it is still Fall but here in Colville we are enjoying snow through the eyes of our little ones.

Can you see Addy looking through her snow wall?

Here she is.

We did some shopping at our local Wal-Mart and at a special artisan pop up in town. We found some special items and will return for more items supporting our locals.

Our snow turned to rain and we ended the afternoon with a wonderful stretch of sunshine.

We drove to Chewelah to enjoy a Mexican meal.

As usual our favorite waiter treated us too well with lots of extras that we didn’t order.

We are getting some sunshine on Saturday so Dear will be able to move ahead with some progress on his shop.

Do you have any special plans for the weekend?

Still White

We still have snow on the ground in our yard. Some has melted off. The roads are clear. We are expecting more snow, though, late on Thursday night into Friday morning. The snow is supposed to turn to rain on Friday as the day progresses.

I’ve heard that some of you are having warmer than usual temperatures right now.

Hope your Friday the Thirteenth is full of good things!

Truth from A to Z ~J is for…

For this Thursday in November we are on the letter J in our Truth from A to Z Bible Verse Challenge.

There are many verses with Jesus as the theme and others with important J words, too. I’m looking forward to the verse or verses that you settle on. Please share in the comments and I’ll add them here.

J is for judges and judgement:

John 5:22-24 (ESV) 

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

From Vera: J is for Justified

“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Maristella: J is for Jesus and Joyful

“If anyone acknowledges that *Jesus* is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”
1 John 4:15

“Be *joyful* in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans 12:12

Click over to Raindrops and Rainbows to see the verses Bethany chose for I and J!

‘The Few, The Proud’ Veterans Day Hodgepodge

Happy Veterans Day!

Thank you to all our Veterans who are serving or have served in any of the branches of the military.

1. It’s the 11th day of the 11th month and bloggers often make lists on days like today. Let’s go with a list of eleven things you’re feeling grateful for today.

  1. My God and Savior Jesus Christ.
  2. My Bible or several of them.
  3. My dear Hubby, 3-1/2 weeks shy of our 46th wedding anniversary.
  4. Our three children, Josh, Dan and Katie.
  5. Their three beloved spouses, Laura, Jamie and Andrew.
  6. Our two grandchildren, Addyson and Jaymison.
  7. Parents who loved the Lord and trusted Him during their lifetime.
  8. A Bible believing and Bible preaching church and tried and true Bible teachers who I can access online.
  9. Like minded friends who spur us on in our faith.
  10. A comfortable home with all the creature comforts.
  11. Good food around a happy and grateful table full of people.

2. What’s something you decided to do or act on at the ’11th hour’?

During our move across the state of Washington there were a lot of 11th hour decisions to get rid of stuff instead of packing them up and moving them.

3.  Apparently the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe contains 11 herbs and spices. What’s a dish you make that calls for exactly eleven ingredients? Feel free to share the list and/or recipe.

Here’s a Classic Macaroni Salad recipe with an added twist.

  • 4 cups uncooked small elbow macaroni
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2-1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 1 bell pepper seeded and chopped (I prefer a red, yellow or orange pepper)
  • 1/2 cup jicama chopped (the twist)
  1. Prepare small elbow macaroni as per package instructions, drain and rinse under cold water
  2. In large bowl combine mayo/mustard/vinegar/salt/sugar and pepper.
  3. Stir in onion/celery/bellpepper and jicama.
  4. Add macaroni and combine well.
  5. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
  6. If you’d like this to be a meal in itself you could add in a couple cans of Kirkland brand canned chicken breast meat or your favorite.

Cut recipe in half for 2 people

4. Something you remember about your 11-year old self?

 

When I was eleven I was a 7th grader in Junior High School. ( I skipped a grade) Sometime during that school year I convinced my mother to let me shave my legs. I come from a hairy stock of ancestors. When I arrived at school with my freshly shaven legs the news spread like wildfire all across the school halls. Yikes, how embarrassing. Back in those days (the 60’s) we were only allowed to wear dresses or skirts to school so the end to my hairy legs was news!

5. The 11th of November is Veterans Day in the US of A. This is a day to honor those who have served their country in war or peace-dead or alive-although according to the government’s website it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.

Memorial Day is when we honor military personnel who died in service to their country.

Our brother-in-law Nick was buried on Veterans Day in 2015 at the Riverside National Cemetery.

Share a thought relating to Veterans Day or tell us something about a Veteran you know-love-admire.

Our son-in-law Andrew actively served with the Marines and had two tours of duty in Afghanistan. The photo above is of some of his Battalion in Afghanistan. The photo below was taken at the Marine Birthday Ball a few years back.

The next photo was taken at winter training on the border of California and Nevada.

We are proud parents (in-law) of our Marine. We are thankful for his service and that he came home to us and especially to our daughter. Even though he was honorably discharged from active service, once a Marine always a Marine.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This happened early Tuesday morning.

Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions each week.

Before the Snow

So happy to report that we have one more side of the shop siding installed. Two more sides to go before Winter sets in. We are expecting some snow tonight and time will tell just how much falls. For now my vehicle is enjoying the covering of the shop. We are so thankful for this progress on the shop!

Did you know that Wal-Mart is staggering their Black Friday savings every week. When I was there on Monday I found a lot of fun savings in the aisles. Fun toys for $5 and $10 dollars. Nice Hotel quality towels for $5. I’m happy to say I restrained myself from buying too much!

Shop Weekend

On Saturday while his daddy helped Gramps start on the shop siding Baba got to play with Jaymison. Addy and her mommy took advantage of being free of a very busy little toddler to help Granny with her yardwork since Granny was recovering from surgery. Dan and Jamie are such a blessing to both sides of the family. I’ve said before that they are not afraid of hard work.

Our little Jaymison is a cuddler for sure which is so sweet!

We spent a good amount of time putting the dollies’ shoes on and taking them off after using the swiffer (a favorite) along with vacuuming. He loves noisy tools.

Outside on Saturday was a learning curve on cutting and setting up the metal siding on the shop.  Dan came back on Sunday to finish the task on this side of the shop. We are expecting some snow this week so the pressure is on to get as much of the siding up as they can.

While the guys worked on the shop I finished clearing out the front planters to get ready for winter. This time I wore a back brace which is something I should remember to do when working on planters, weeding, etc.

It was a relief for Dear and Dan to get this side of the shop done and to understand the process better.

On this day I was able to meet our neighbor’s sister-in-law and exchange phone numbers as our neighbor has been in the hospital for weeks and ended up having to have part of his leg amputated because of a logging accident years ago. He got a prosthetic and will be in rehab for a couple more weeks. It was good to talk and get acquainted and to be a resource for any emergencies that might arise. This same neighbor lost his wife a year ago to cancer.

And then on the same day I was able to meet the neighbor two doors up from us who received a package of ours accidently from FedEx. It’s not as easy to meet country neighbors who are acres apart and I’m very grateful to know a face and a name now.

God is good to us and we see the evidence daily.

Press On, Press On, Ye Workers ~ Hymn

Press On, Press On, Ye Workers

Press on, press on, ye workers,
Be loyal, brave and true:
Great things the Lord is doing,
And greater things will do;
His army, still increasing
With each revolving year,
Shall send a sound of rapture forth
That all the world shall hear.

Refrain

Rejoice, rejoice, ye workers all, rejoice!
O clap your hands and sing,
O clap your hands and sing!
God’s holy Church shall triumph yet,
Triumph yet, triumph yet,
And He shall reign our King,
Shall reign our King.

The walls of leagued oppression
To dust shall fall away;
The sword of truth eternal,
No pow’r on earth can stay;
Tho’ all the hosts of darkness
Were marshaled on the field,
The Church of God would stand unmoved,
With Christ her strength and shield.

Refrain

Behold her marching onward,
In majesty sublime,
Along the rolling prairies
That bound our western clime;
And soon from every hamlet
On all our vast frontier
Glad songs shall rise to Jesus,
While the skeptics turn to hear.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1894.

My Little Babushka

I received a couple old photos new to me of our little Babushka Vera and I wanted to put all the photos I have of her in the archives of this computer together in one post. She’s sitting on the bottom row of this photo taken in Iran in the late forties. My grandfather that I never met and who was killed in Iran shortly after this photo was taken is on the right. The gal above my grandfather is our aunt Nina. She was married to our uncle Paul, our mom’s only brother. He’s next to Aunt Nina on the end of the top row. The rest of the people in this photo are Aunt Nina’s people and her mother and father are sitting next to our maternal grandparents. The little girls in this photo are the only ones still alive. They all live in Southern California. The two girls flanking the bottom row are both suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  The little girl in her mother’s arms is alive and well in Southern California. My cousin Alex who is standing next to our Babushka died in an automobile accident in Wheaton, Illinois in 1979. The two grandmothers sitting next to each other, Manya and Vera were close friends and at the end of their lives they lived next door to each other in an apartment building a couple doors down from our Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Several of our Russian widows lived in that apartment building. Our mom and pop had already immigrated to the USA when this photo was taken.

These are our little babushka’s three children. Our mom, her sister who died and her brother Paul.

This photo is from 1951 with friends and family after they all immigrated to the USA. Our little babushka is above our mom who is holding me. Our Pop next to our mom. Uncle Paul is holding our cousin Valia and next to him our aunt Nina is holding our cousin Walter. Next to our little babushka is our Aunt Nina’s sister in law Zena. Next to our mom is Mrs. Hamzieff from San Francisco and I’m not sure who the lady next to her is. The little boy, I believe belongs to Mrs. Hamzieff. Babushka immigrated from Iran as a widow to the USA with our Uncle Paul’s family.

These are our Babushka Vera’s 7 grandchildren as of 1956 ish. Cousin Alex, Babushka, sister Kathy, brother Fred, cousin Valia, Me, cousin Walter and my sister Vera. One more cousin and four more siblings were added to these two families. We had a sister that died in Iran so Babushka had 13 grandchildren in total.

This is a new to me photo of our babushka at a beach in California.

This is Babushka Vera and Babushka Manya in Arrowhead in California.

The two of them again in this photo. Our little Babushka lost her left hand and arm up to her elbow when she was young. Her arm was injured and got infected and had to be cut off at the elbow to save the rest of her arm and her life. She always positioned herself so that her missing hand was not in view in a photo.

Not a well preserved photo but this was our growing family with our Babushka at our Uncle Paul and Aunt Nina’s home in Huntington Park in California.

Me and Babushka at my 9th grade graduation and my high school graduation. I remember shopping with her for a dress at Sear’s once and she wore a size 16-1/2. She always searched for a dress with 3/4 length sleeves.

Our parents and Babushka at our home in La Mirada in the 70’s.

Cousin Walter, cousin Tanya, Babushka, our Pop and Uncle Paul.

Babushka, mom and me at Laguna Beach in California.

Kathy, Babushka and our mom.

Christmas at Babushka’s with our sister Lana in the late 60’s.

Our Babushka at Nick and Vera’s wedding in 1969.

Our little Babushka enjoyed embroidery and made a special gift for each of her grandchildren for their weddings. The tablecloth above was given to our sister Vera for her marriage to Nick.

Babushka at our sister Kathy’s wedding with our sister Vera in August of 1974.

Babushka, me and our mom at Dear and my wedding in December of 1974.

The center front row with our pop, mom, Babushka Vera, Babushka Martha and Dzeduska Timofei.

Dear’s family and my family at our wedding.

For our wedding Babushka Vera embroidered this tablecloth along with 8 napkins. A treasured gift. It’s amazing to us that her embroidery was so beautiful even with the handicap of having only one  hand.

Christmas morning at Babushka Vera’s. See all those baked goodies that our Babushka baked with one hand! Grandkids with their spouses and our cousin Alex’s in laws. This was mid-1970’s.

Babushka would tell us to not stay out after dark. She said nothing good happens in the dark!

I think Debbee was Babushka’s first great grandchild. This was in 1976.

This last one is at our second home in Huntington Beach in early 1977.

I hope to add more photos to this post as I find them.

Our Babushka Vera died in March of 1980. She was a Godly woman who prayed for all her grandchildren and for all her grandchildren’s future spouses. She prayed for our Pop’s salvation and for the salvation of her own husband. Our Dzedushka Fedot became a Baptist Minister before he was killed in Iran. I am so looking forward to seeing Babushka in heaven and seeing Dzedushka for the first time in heaven.