Tuesdays With Moisi

All the photos in this post were taken in the 50’s.  I believe this photo was taken after my parents bought our home in Montebello Gardens/Pico Rivera, 4635 Oak St. These are all family and friends who immigrated from Persia to the United States. Russian Baptists and Russian Molokans together. Moisi (Pop) is in the front row with his head on Nadia’s (Mom) shoulder.

The photo above was also taken on Oak street. Our mom is standing on the left. Our aunt Anna is standing on the right. Kneeling, our mom’s cousin Luba, and our aunt Nina. I recognize the lady in the center standing but her name has slipped my memory. Maybe my brother Leonard or sister Vera can leave a comment with her name. 🙂

This is a very rare photo of our mom and our aunt Ouiliana with trousers on. Our aunt Katie is in the center. Both of these aunts are from our Pop’s side of the family. One married to Uncle John and one married to Uncle Alex.

Aunt Zena, our mom, and aunt Ouliana in the back. Aunt Nina(our only aunt on my mother’s side of the family), ?, Mrs. Hamzieff, and Aunt Luba. We called most anyone our parents age aunt and uncle.

I’m not sure where photo was taken. Possibly it was at our Uncle Pete and Aunt Anna’s house since she’s the one with an apron on. Yikes! Is that a cigarette in our Pop’s hand? He did smoke for a while but always kept it a big secret from us kids. Generally you can tell who is Baptist and who is Molokan by whether or not the men wear ties. Ties were not a common dress code for Molokans.

Our maternal grandmother, babushka Vera with her dear friend and the mother of our Aunt Nina, babushka Manya.

The photo above is taken in front of our driveway at 4635 Oak Street.

Front yard of 4635 Oak Street. Moisi (Pop) is holding me.  I’m guessing this is Easter 1952.

Our sister Vera’s birthday since she’s holding the cake. This must have been in February in the early 50’s.

Easter on our driveway.

The same Easter but at our Uncle and Aunt’s home. Our maternal grandmother lived with Uncle Paul and Aunt Nina for many years before she got her own apartment a few doors down from the Russian Baptist church in Los Angeles.

We took a few camping trips to Big Bear with our cousins on our mother’s side of the family.

The photo above is a favorite of mine with our Pop working on a jigsaw puzzle while we were camping. He spent many hours working on jigsaw puzzles before he died.

Besides camping we’d drive to farms to pick berries and cherries for mom and pop to prepare for canning.

January of 1958 our brother Tim was born. This was in our living room on Oak street.

I’m guessing this is my seventh birthday.

Easter 1958 at our cousin’s home in Maywood, California. Our maternal grandmother lived with our Uncle Paul and Aunt Nina so we visited them regularly.

This photo above is from a road trip we took to Oregon stopping at Crater Lake.

Christmas 1958, Tim was 11 months old and we all needed to protect the tree from his curiosity.

This must be Easter 1959 at our Uncle Paul and Aunt Nina’s home in Maywood, California.

Backyard on Oak street after a deep sea fishing trip Pop took for yellowtail.

I’m guessing the photo above is from 1960 at our Uncle and Aunt’s with our maternal grandmother because our brother Steve was born in December of 1959.

The kitchen at a birthday for me just before we moved to Montebello. I’m guessing this is my 9th birthday. The next photo is of the same kitchen from a realtors more current photo. Looks like the kitchen has not been updated much from the 50’s!

Another photo from our backyard on Oak Street.

This is a historical post for my kids so I’m adding the three school photos I have from Montebello Gardens Primary School here, too.

And here is a current photo of what our house on 4635 Oak street looks like now.

This is the backyard now. Where this storage shed is today there used to be a pigeon coupe that Pop built.

This realtors shot of the hall to all the bedrooms in our house looks so dismal. I can see now why it was easy for us to jimmy up the walls since they were so close together. I ran down this hall one Easter or Christmas morning and slipped and slid into the cabinet of that utility room you can see at the end of the hall and broke one of my toes. I had to wear a slipper on that foot for church that day because of swelling, so embarrassing.

As I find more photos from our family’s time on Oak street I’ll add them to this long post. In a future post I’ll cover the time our family spent at 305 Los Angeles Avenue in Montebello.

Hope you all have a good Tuesday.

For the Birds…

For Mosaic Monday I’m sharing some collages/mosaics of our backyard visitors.

Red-Winged Black Bird

These backyard Thrushes and Flickers have been the most fun to watch.

This next visitor surprised us along with the female eagle that I didn’t get good shots of as they came flying into the trees in our back acreage. We hope they were scouting a spot to build a nest. I’ll have a full post dedicated to the Eagles soon

Joining Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf for Mosaic Monday.

We woke up to frigid temperatures this morning. It got down to -6 before it inched up again. After church it was a balmy 27 degrees. The sun has a lot to do with that. The stars were amazing to see in the night sky and morning before dawn skies. Spectacular. We’ve never lived somewhere outside of the city lights so stars were hard to see but now we get an eyeful! While standing and looking up in the sky that song “In the stars His handiwork I see, on the wind He speaks with majesty, though he ruleth over land and sea, what is that to me” comes to mind. It’s an oldie but a goodie.

O Lord, Look Down from Heaven ~ Hymn

“O Lord, Look Down from Heaven, Behold”
 by Martin Luther, 1483-1546

O Lord, look down from heaven, behold
And let Thy pity waken:
How few are we within Thy Fold,
Thy saints by men forsaken!
True faith seems quenched on every hand,
Men suffer not Thy Word to stand;
Dark times have us o’ertaken.

With fraud which they themselves invent
Thy truth they have confounded;
Their hearts are not with one consent
On Thy pure doctrine grounded.
While they parade with outward show,
They lead the people to and fro,
In error’s maze astounded.

May God root out all heresy
And of false teachers rid us
Who proudly say: “Now, where is he
That shall our speech forbid us?
By right or might we shall prevail;
What we determine cannot fail;
We own no lord and master.”

Therefore saith God, “I must arise,
The poor My help are needing;
To Me ascend My people’s cries,
And I have heard their pleading.
For them My saving Word shall fight
And fearlessly and sharply smite,
The poor with might defending.”

As silver tried by fire is pure
From all adulteration,
So through God’s Word shall men endure
Each trial and temptation.
Its light beams brighter through the cross,
And, purified from human dross,
It shines through every nation.

Thy truth defend, O God, and stay
This evil generation;
And from the error of their way
Keep Thine own congregation.
The wicked everywhere abound
And would Thy little flock confound;
But Thou art our Salvation.

 

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.