Weekend Roundup “I”

Starts with “I.”  A Favorite.  Inside.

Starts with “I” ~ Icicles

“I”

A Favorite:

Island. Balboa Island in Newport Beach with family. My sister Vera, me, nephew Dave, niece Kristin, son Josh and DIL Laura.

Inside: Flash from the past.

Inside the Irma Restaurant Grill in Cody, Wyoming.

Parting Inside shot of Addy in motion with oversized slippers on.

It’s always fun to have Addy inside our home.

Linking up with Tom at The Backroads Traveller for Weekend Roundup!

Friday afternoon I got the sweet chance to listen to our grandson’s heartbeat. He is due in April. Addy was in the examination room along with her daddy and of course mommy. Addy has learned to hold up two fingers to show that she is turning two years old in March. She will be two years older then her little brother. A decision on the name for our grandson is proving to be difficult. We are not worried since we didn’t choose Daniel’s name until he was born. We have a forecast of bitter cold nights until Tuesday. Time will tell if I slip on my snowshoes for a little exercise in our back acres this weekend. What’s up in your corner this weekend?

Hello March Five!

Hello March! But before we move into this new month I’ll look back to the last few days of February with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and post Five favorites from the past week.

On Tuesday Dear and I donned some warm gear, packed our snowshoes and poles and headed east on state route 20 toward Tiger/Ione to find some snowshoeing trails.

We stopped at Beaver Lodge and got some good advice on where to go to find these trails.

A few miles beyond Beaver Lodge we found our stop in the Gillete Recreation Area, Frater Lake Sno-Park. This extensive area has 138 miles of groomed snowmobile trails. Welcome to Frater Lake Sno-Park Groomed Trail System and it’s 16 kilometers/10 miles of groomed cross country ski trails. Tuesday happened to be bitterly cold and we did not last long on the trail because our fingers started to freeze. We met the trail groomer in the parking lot before we started out but other then her we were the only people out. She told us that even with her hand heater she was having a hard time keeping her fingers comfortable. We decided we needed to consider some added good protective gloves and face protection to our snowshoeing gear and after 20 minutes of shoeing we headed back to Beaver Lodge to enjoy some warmth and a meal.

The photo above is the view standing at our table. Sitting down all you could see was the snowbank.  When we got back to Colville after lunch we stopped at North 40 and bought some good gloves and balaclava like gear for our head/face. We’ll be more prepared the next time we head out. A beautiful day which included a road trip, some exercise, good eats and shopping.

These old hands of ours are able to wear our original wedding bands again. I haven’t been able to wear my band for 33 years. When our daughter Katie was born, Dear bought me a diamond and we had it set into a wedding band/ring that I’ve been wearing until a few years ago when it became too tight, too. Sigh. We had that ring sized a couple years ago and I am wearing it again. Now we finally decided to get our bands sized so we could start wearing them again. The reason we hesitated so long with the bands is because of the intricate details that we thought would become distorted if they were made larger. The jeweler in Colville felt he could stretch them and keep the integrity of the design. He did a great job and we were very pleased with his work. I also had two other rings sized, an opal and a birthstone ring.

Last Saturday the kids came over for dinner and it was fun to watch Addy in the role of Cinderella scrubbing my cabinets, appliances and floor. I have a whole post dedicated to her techniques published on Wednesday. She’s definitely a favorite.

Speaking of dinner, this slow cooker carnitas recipe is really good and we all enjoyed it on Saturday night and for some leftovers during the week, too. It yields enough for at least 8 people. I’ll need to add that to the recipe. I ended up freezing some for later.

For my fifth favorite I went through the epistles in the New Testament and recorded each of the doxologies/benedictions at the end of these letters. Some were very short. Some were longer. Since I’ve been in Hebrews this week on the 5 day a week reading through the Bible in a year plan, I’ll share Paul’s benediction from Hebrews.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

For the weather record we got more snow Wednesday into Thursday. I’ll be doing some more snowshoeing in our back acres. Hope you all have a peaceful weekend.

 

Thoughtful Thursday

O my heart, take care that thou be in all things on the side of truth, both in small things and great; but specially, on the side of Him by whom grace and truth have come among men! ~ Spurgeon

There may be a potent medicine in the great pharmacy of Scripture, and you may yet continue sick unless you examine and search the Scriptures to discover what “he has said”. ~ Spurgeon

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. Psalm 119:18 (ESV)

The following thoughts are from listening to Alistair Begg from Truth for Life broadcasts:

God’s eternal plan of redemption is all about Him rather then all about us. It concerns us, it transforms us, but it’s all about God.

When reading and studying the Bible the question we should ask ourselves is, what does this tell me about God?

Hope you all have time on this Thursday to read, search, examine and behold wondrous things!

Cinderella

Our little Cinderella saw two of my aprons in the pantry and wanted me to put them on her. Then she found an old pot holder, 44+ years old,  and decided it was a cleaning rag. She wanted me to wet it and after a scrub here and there I had to lift her up to the sink to wet it again. Kept her busy for a while.

Oh how I love my little helper! And it’s great that you can’t see the mess on all my counters since I was focusing on her, below the counter line. 🙂

Tuesdays With Moisi

Шашлык ~Shashlik (Barbecued lamb Skewers)

1 leg of lamb de-boned
3 large onions sliced
Juice from 4 lemons mixed with 1/2 cup olive oil and 4 cloves of garlic crushed.
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and pepper

Cut the lamb in pieces about 1-1/2 inches thick to 2 inches square. Trim off excess fat. Place a layer of onions in a large pot, then a layer of meat, season with Lawry’s and pepper, then sprinkle with lemon juice oil mixture. Repeat layers until all meat is in the pot ending with onions and lemon juice mixture. Cover and let stand in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or better overnight, stirring occasionally to let all the meat marinate thoroughly.

After the meat is done marinating, separate the meat from the onions. Thread the meat onto skewers, and broil outdoors over hot charcoal embers, turning the skewers occasionally to brown the meat on all sides. Now for the modern method you could use those fish cages to put the meat in and BBQ it on your gas grill. This is a lot simpler by far, but some swear by the old school method.

Serve with rice pilaf and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad.

Growing up when we were part of the Russian Molokan Church I remember the annual all church picnics we had at Brookside Park in Pasadena where there were several open grills cooking this wonderfully marinated lamb. So succulent, so yummy. We’d have rice and salads with it. What a highlight of the year those picnics were! For special family gatherings our pop was the one who marinated and barbequed the lamb or other meat.

Mosaic Monday ~ Snowshoeing

We bought snowshoes at Costco last week and I’ve been walking around our property getting used to them. When you have snowy winters it’s hard to get regular walking routines in. At least that’s the excuse I’m going to use. Ice is also a danger and at my age a fall on ice isn’t recommended. We live in the country and there are no malls to walk in. I’m encouraged with my first three tries in the snowshoes.

Here’s hoping I can use this new form of winter exercise work off all those hibernating calories.

So far, Dear has to help me get them on. Getting them off is easier.

We had a full day yesterday and then in the evening someone was in the kitchen with me…

As ominous as this figure seems to be, she’s just my dear granddaughter, Addy.

Baba’s vest and Gramps’ hat.

Later she switched outfits and became Cinderella. Those photos will come later.

So thankful for the time we had together with Dan, Jamie and Addy on Saturday evening. They came for dinner. Also so thankful for my Dear who patiently puts my snowshoes on for me and tightens them just right.

Linking up with Angie for Mosaic Monday.

Jesus, Holy, Undefiled ~ Hymn

Jesus, Holy, Undefiled

Jesus, holy, undefiled,
Listen to a little child;
Thou hast sent the glorious light,
Chasing far the silent night.

Thou hast sent the sun to shine,
O’er this glorious world of Thine;
Warmth to give and pleasant glow,
On each tender flower below.

Now the little birds arise,
Chirping gaily in the skies;
Thee their tiny voices praise,
In the early songs they raise.

Thou, by whom the birds are fed,
Give to me my daily bread;
And Thy Holy Spirit give,
Without whom I cannot live.

Words: Emily M. Shapcote, 1852.

Weekend Roundup “H”

It’s time for The Weekend Roundup hosted by Tom The Backroads Traveller.

1. Starts with “H.”
2. A Favorite.
3. Half.

Starts with “H”.

Home: The view of our home from the rear of our property. We got some snowshoes and I tried them out on Thursday taking some photos looking back at our home. You can see the garage on the left with our home on the right. A door and window of the laundry room, slider in our family room and double windows in our master bedroom suite. Home is where the heart is and all the happy memories we can make and enjoy.

A Favorite.

My helper hanging a heart.

Half.

Half of a Hare’s head sticking up out of the snow.

And a parting shot…

Hummingbird.

We are having some snow flurries here with an inch or more of accumulation on top of our previous snow cover. We are looking forward to a quiet weekend. What’s happening in your corner?

 

Friday’s Fave Five

On Monday we enjoyed a full day watching over little Miss Addy who is now 23 months old!

She is looking less and less like a baby and more and more like a little girl.

Being with Addy was my first favorite of the week. So grateful that we are close enough to grandsit and help out her mommy and daddy.

On Tuesday we met with the Pastors and Deacons of First Baptist Colville to share our testimonies and to pursue membership in the church. It was a rich time.

On Wednesday we decided to drive south to Spokane to do some shopping at Costco, T.J.Maxx, Home Depot, Goodwill, Fred Meyer, Bi-Mart with a stop on the way home at our favorite Mexican restaurant this side of the Cascades for dinner. Besides enjoying a variety of shopping which we do not have in Colville we had some amazing encounters with people we know. Small world encounters that had us smiling and thanking God.

On Thursday Dear helped me put on my new snowshoes that we bought at Costco on Wednesday and I walked the perimeter of our back yard for some much needed Winter exercise. Looking forward to more snow walking with Dear next time.

All week long we’ve enjoyed the birds in the backyard who like one particular bush. We have some plans to weed out some bushes in the back acres but for sure we’ll keep this one since it’s a good source of food for the birds in the winter.

Can you see all the birds above? How many do you see?

We’ve had a couple sunny days and snow has been melting but we have more snow forecasted for Friday into Saturday. Time will tell if it’s an inch or more.

We’re looking to buy a humidifier for our dry winter sleep nights. Any recommendations out there?

What were your favorites this week?

I’m linking up to Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five at Living to Tell the Story.

Thoughtful Thursday

On Tuesday we met with the pastor and deacons of First Baptist Colville to give our testimonies for consideration for church membership. I rewrote my testimony to share with the deacons.

Nestled close to  Kings Canyon National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is the Youth Camp that I was able to attend in 1963, 1965 and 1967. I was 12, 14, and 16 during these wilderness adventures.

I was raised in a family who attended church regularly and often, very religious. The church I was raised in gave me the impression that because I was Russian and a member of their church that I had an exclusive connection with God. What I learned at Bible Camp was that the only exclusive connection I could have to God was through Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross. Being Russian and being a part of my father’s religion did not give me a direct link to God. In 1963 at Hume Lake while listening to a speaker talk about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to save sinners I was moved to step out and become a follower of Jesus. God’s plan of salvation was exclusively through his perfect son Jesus, who is fully God and came to earth to live a perfect life among us and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. I knew I was one of those sinners and I needed a Savior. This decision began a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows, but a journey forward with my God and Savior. When I began my new life following Jesus I was clothed with His righteousness and reconciled to God. I continue on this walk, never perfectly but with God’s grace I carry on. He will be teaching me by His Holy Spirit all the days of my life. My God and Savior is and will be faithful to see me through all of my life on this earth and I look forward with the Hope of seeing Him face to face in heaven. During this same year, 1963, my father began his journey of following Jesus after hearing Billy Graham at the Los Angeles Coliseum share the truth of Jesus Christ and why He came to earth over 2000 years ago. 1963 was an epic year for me and my family. For my father and me we became part of God’s movement of love and grace through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My mother was a follower of Jesus when she married my father. My two older sisters had started following Jesus before my father and me.

I’ll share this verse that Billy Graham proclaims in every interview I’ve ever heard him give. John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

High School scanned4HUME LAKE CHRISTIAN CAMP 1967

Fresh quotes from my reading this week and a quote from Dorothy Sayers that I read on Thistle Cove Farm blog:

“It is not the business of the church to adapt Christ to men, but men to Christ.” ~ Dorothy Sayers

Form Piper, Taste and See:

“We should continually look to the cross and the work of God in Christ because this is where God makes the light of the gospel shine. If we become excessively introspective and analyze our emotions too much, we will sink into hopeless doubts because the self-authenticating light shines not from within us, but from Christ in the gospel. We must look outside ourselves to Christ and his work if we hope to have assurance sustained inside ourselves.”

Second, we should continually pray for God to enlighten the eyes of our hearts.

Third, we should express our trust in Christ by loving each other.”

1 John 3:14 ~ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.”

Hope you have time to pause and consider what God has done for you on this Thoughtful Thursday.