There She Goes Hodgepodge

1. Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? My maternal grandfather died in Persia before my babushka immigrated to the U.S.A. I was closer to my little maternal babushka. We visited my paternal grandparents regularly and honored them but never were as close to them as to my little babushka.

Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them.

Me and my little babushka on my wedding day. She was a believer and prayed for me all her days and tried to teach me to embroider. She embroidered with one hand because she lost one hand up to her elbow when she was young.

My paternal grandparents loved us as they could. We enjoyed a Russian Banya (Steam bath/sauna) at their home regularly growing up.

2. What’s an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it?

I have not one item from my childhood that I’m attached to, in fact I have not one item from my childhood.

3. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain.

Out my current windows I see trees but no forest. I see houses no big views.

4. Do you like sour candies?
I enjoy Mike and Ikes.
Which of the ‘sour’ foods listed below would you say is your favorite?
grapefruit, Greek yogurt, tart cherries, lemons, limes, sauerkraut, buttermilk, or kumquats
limes
Have you ever eaten a kumquat?
Yes, I have. Growing up in Southern California our relatives had kumquat trees and we’d enjoy them fresh off the tree. It’s fun getting past the sour skin to the inner sweetness.

What’s your favorite dish containing one of the sour foods on the list?
I like the effect and taste that limes add to pica de gallo and I enjoy lime in my gin and tonics.

5. July 1st marked the mid point of 2017. In fifteen words or less, tell us how it’s going so far.

Becoming grandparents and watching our granddaughter grow makes 2017 a stand out year.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Summer is great but it’s not my favorite season.

Linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond. Joyce asks the questions and we answer them.

Blest Be…

…the Tie That Binds.

On Friday we all gathered at Josh and Laura’s and enjoyed some bonding time with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas and grandpas. Uncle Andrew finally got to meet Addy in person. Our grandniece was at Katie and Andrew’s wedding (a wee babe) but little grandnephew was not born yet. We all were meeting little “Mister” for the first time.

Addy enjoyed watching “Mister”. He was entertaining the adults with his knowledge of States and Capitals. We yelled out a state and he gave us the capital. He’s three and he knows capitals better than us adults.

Sister-in-law, Christina is married to Dear’s only brother and they have 3 daughters. Jenna was their first daughter born and she has two children that we got to know during their 5+ day visit from New York. Jenna is Dear and my first niece and we spent lots of quality time with her in her early years since we all lived in Southern California. It was nice to see her as a mommy.

“Sky” is five and she got a kick out of little Addy. Addy likes to stare at her, too.

Uncle Josh, Addy, and “Mister” with the cool reflections I didn’t know I was capturing in this photo.

Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.

We share each other’s woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.

This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way;
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.

From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free,
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.

Words: John Fawcett, 1782.

This hymn was sung in the 1940 mo­vie Our Town, which was nom­in­at­ed for sev­er­al Acad­e­my Awards.

And here’s Baba reunited with her sweet grandgirlie, Addy.

I’m busy catching up with many of your posts that I’ve missed over the last several days so I’m not joining memes today since I won’t get a chance to visit other participants. Can you believe we are halfway through 2017 already! Praying for some of our blogging friends, bj at Sweet Nothings who just lost her Mr. Sweet, Cuisine Kathleen who lost her dear husband suddenly the end of May, and others who are suffering from long term illnesses. May you be revived by God’s “glorious hope”.

Cousins

These are the cousins on Dear’s side of our family, missing Jenna’s husband and her two sisters. We had 5 full days of fun and it’s time for our niece Jenna and her 2 little ones of the walking and running variety to head back to New York. Our little Addy was very interested in these smaller humans that moved fast and were interested in her, too. I’ll be posting a bunch soon. This Baba/Great Auntie is a little tired but full of joy with the good fellowship we had.

Like A River Glorious

Like A River Glorious

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way.

Refrain

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Refrain

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Refrain

Words: Frances R. Havergal, 1876.

Picking Berries…

…and other things with my grand nephew and grand niece who are visiting with their mom, our very first niece and their grandmother, Dear’s SIL. I will be scarce on the webs these days. See you next week.

Not So Trifle Hodgepodge

1. When was the last time you chatted with a neighbor? About what? (sharing that last bit is optional)

This past week one of my neighbors rang the doorbell and asked if I would be willing to be used for a practice safety lesson for her autistic son. Her older son had a choking incident and she had to use the Heimlich maneuver on him and she wanted the younger autistic son to learn how to run and get help if she or anyone in the family needed help. I said of course and a while later the young neighbor rang my doorbell. He stood there when I opened the door, not looking me in the eye, with a shy sideways glance but said “my brother needs help”. I told him, “yes, I’d be happy to help and thank you for coming over and ringing my doorbell”.  He was happy to walk away, mission accomplished.

2. River, lake, ocean, or waterfall…which one are you most like and why?

My activity is like an ocean, it comes in waves.

My loyalty is like a river, it runs constantly.

3. July 13 is National Delaware Day. Ever been to Delaware? Delaware is called ‘the first state’ because it was the first to declare independence from the British. What’s your state’s nickname and does that moniker make sense to you? If you were in charge, what nickname would you give your home state?

I don’t think I’ve ever been to Delaware. There’s a possibility I was a passenger in a Volkswagon that drove through Delaware to get to Washington D.C. but since I wasn’t driving at the time I don’t recall the route taken.

My home state is Washington. Washington State’s nickname is The Evergreen State~ I don’t need to change it.

Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, after California. … Washington is a leading lumber producer. Its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar.

4. What dish did you contribute to the last pot luck meal you attended? Do you have a go-to recipe for pot luck suppers?

Trifle was my last contribution to a potluck meal. It was at a belated Father’s Day get together at our son’s home in Eastern Washington. I don’t have a go-to.

5. What is your number one tip for a brand new parent?

This, too, shall pass. Or a great Russian saying that gets a little lost in translation is “By the time they get married they will have forgotten this happened, or this will heal by the time they get married.”

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This week’s favorite expression from Addy May…

She’s a bit concerned that Baba is way across the mountains from her. Thankfully she’s going to brave a road trip and come visit us this coming weekend so she can meet a great auntie and cousins and the an uncle she has not met yet!

Thank you Jo for coming up with the questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Click over to join in the fun.

Our Little Warrior, David

This very special little guy had his 2nd birthday party on Saturday and we were happy to celebrate the miracle he is. He was born very premature and only weighed 1# 9oz. He spent well over 100 days in NICU with surgeries and emergencies along the way. The day he was able to come home was a huge milestone.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate. It was fun to see a few of our son’s high school friends with their fresh little ones, too.

We love this family and are thankful God brought us together in friendship 29 years ago.

If you’d like to pray for little David Daniel specifically, please pray that he gains weight. Thank You.

Mosaic Monday

A couple Saturdays ago I walked with the Wonder Walkers group from church at Evans Creek Preserve in Sammamish.

It was a good walk with several trails and some higher elevations to hike up, too.

Thankfully this was the only wildlife we saw. There are bear warnings here. We did hear lots of birds.

I’m linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

We had a couple events this weekend, a very special birthday party and a baby shower. I’ll share photos from the birthday party soon.