Don’t Attempt This…

…at home.

I saw this simple recipe on pinterest and tried it and in my humble opinion it’s not worth the cost of the cake mix and filling.  I realize it just might be my taste but I wanted to save you the bother and tell you to just stick to your tried and true recipes. The recipe was to mix a can of any flavor pie filling with a box of angel food mix and bake in a 9 x 13 or slighty larger pan for 28-30 minutes at 350 degrees. I added chopped nuts because I enjoy nuts in cakes, etc.

It looks good, doesn’t it? I just thought it was my bloggy duty to warn you about this recipe. If you end up trying it and enjoy it…that’s great.

My mom was doing well today. They had her up to walk 3 times. She couldn’t walk as far as they wanted her to because of pain so they decided to give her pain medication before her second walk…duh! They are also showing her how to breathe so that she will avoid pneumonia. I’ll find out on Thursday the latest after I call mid morning.

Thursday I’m out early to mow the lawn so I can be inside to watch the U.S. Women play Japan in the Gold medal soccer match.

When You’re Hot…

We were sizzling in Washington this past Sunday and our Seattle Sounders were hot hot hot on the field and beat L.A. Galaxy 4-0. I was happy to see that Beckham was back from London.

There were 60,000 people at the game and when we scored the noise was deafening! In other news…

The apples are falling off the tree and I’m slow in getting inspired to do anything with them.

My hydrangeas have really advanced to a deeper color. They are so nice to cut and have in fresh arrangements in the house.

We have cooled down around here today and it’s nice to be more comfortable while working around the house.

While I’m typing I’m watching the U.S.A. vs. Canada Women’s soccer semi-final at the Olympics. What a game! It’s a toss up on who is going to win. I’ll let you find out who does…

Tuesday my 89 year old mom will be having hip replacement surgery because she has been experiencing severe pain constantly for several months now. Could you pray for Nadia for good results from the replacement and a good recovery from the surgery. We are hoping for pain free days in her future. Pray for my dad, Moisi, too. He will be home alone for a while and he’s not used to that.

Nostalgia…

July of 1988 ~ Yuba City, California having an overnight at Aunt Carol and Uncle Ray’s on our big move to Washington State.

1967 and 1968 Montebello High School Song Leaders. Remembering losing 5 pounds every football game we cheered for. We’d go out for hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes afterwards to put the pounds back on. Sometimes we’d go to Bill’s Paradise and I’d always order the soft tostada. I’ve never had one since high school and I can still crave that taste…

London from St. Paul’s Cathedral February of 2003.

Thinking of our kids, remembering high school (not missing it mind you, except for that soft tostada), and still enjoying the Olympics in London on T.V. and starting to make some plans to return hopefully in 2013, Lord willing. Tomorrow I’ll be watching the U.S.A. ~ Canada women’s soccer semi-final.

If God puts him on your mind please pray for our son Josh as he is directing junior highers at Lakeside Bible Camp. We’re praying for an accident free week with kids finding peace with God.

It is the hottest day this year in the Seattle area and I’m headed to Century-Link Stadium to watch the Seattle Sounders play L.A. Galaxy. I wonder if Beckham is back from London to play with his L.A. team tonight? I hope I don’t melt. I’m waiting for someone to say, “I thought you were going to take a bloggy break?” That still might happen…

Come, O Lord, Like Morning Sunlight

Come, O Lord, Like Morning Sunlight

Come, O Lord, like morning sunlight,
Making all life new and free;
For the daily task and challenge
May we rise renewed in Thee.

Come, O Lord, like ocean flood-tides,
Flowing inland from the sea;
As the waters fill the shallows,
May our souls be filled with Thee.

Come, O Lord, like mountain breezes,
Freshening life in vale and lea;
In the heat and stress of duty
May our souls find strength in Thee.

Come, O Lord, like evening twilight,
Bringing peace on land and sea;
At the radiant close of labor
May our souls find rest in Thee.

Words: Milton S. Littlefield, 1927.

Before I Retreat…

…here are a few more views from our road trip and overnight news!

I could have screamed “stop” every few minutes as we drove on these country roads in Eastern Washington. I love to see these old barns.

I thought of my friend Judy from Mennonite Girls Can Cook and her beautiful blog “My Front Porch” when we passed this sign.

We had dinner with our son at this Mexican Restaurant in Chewelah and we will return here on future trips to this area.

And now for our breaking overnight news…

Appearances can be deceiving! This is our Kenmore Elite 3 door refrigerator manufactured by LG.

Doesn’t she look like a perfect appliance? Pretty on the outside but we are totally in the dark on the inside!

We had quite a frightening discovery last night before we went to bed. I opened the refrigerator and smelled a very strong odor that smelled like electric wires burning. I called Dear downstairs and we investigated further and realized the lights in the refrigerator were not going off when the doors were closed and had produced an amazing amount of heat that started melting the plastic light compartment. With difficulty Dear disconnected the fixture and removed it totally from the refrigerator. We were so glad that we realized what was going on before we went to bed for the night. It could have easily resulted in a fire. The food items that were close to the light fixture were quite hot to the touch.

I think you can easily see the burn marks on the sockets.

If you look on the inside of this plastic light unit you can see all the melting of the plastic. We are in the process of filing reports with consumer product safety commission and talking with Sears on what our next steps should be. We hear that if Sears doesn’t agree to fix this problem as a product defect it will cost us $500 to fix it. We are not sure we want to invest the $500 for this 6 year old unit. I’ve been out looking at new units. In the meantime we are in the dark and we use a flashlight if we need to. But…my refrigerator woes hold nothing to the other news that we received today.

UPDATE: Bloggy friends are the best! Sam from Eastern Washington emailed me with information and a recall phone # for my refrigerator issue and I called and a new part has been ordered and a technician scheduled to come out and replace the part in our refrigerator. We’ll be asking him some burning questions when he gets here! Thanks Sam from Eastern Washington!!

For those of you that are still reading, life has been tough this week for my loved ones and in turn for me . I realized tonight as I made yet another “comfort meal” how hard things in the body of Christ affect all of us. There is joy in the midst of the sorrow but we suffer none the less with those who are grieving. A young man died unexpectedly and my brother’s church community is coming together to hold each other in their grief. My brother will probably perform the service for this dear friend of his sons.  We know he is with Jesus but the earthly shock still needs to be absorbed. A little baby girl in the womb is struggling to stay alive and we pray for a miracle that she will survive. Another dear one is losing all her hair after her 2nd chemo treatment and staying brave and trusting in her Lord. So many things to pray about. I said today that our prayer lists are heavy but God is good and I am so grateful that Jesus is our advocate at the right hand of God and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…

Summer Vacation #1

After our 3 day escape to Eastern Washington Dear decided to do this on his remaining days off…

He removed the old siding. Added new plywood where needed along with new tar paper. He hopes to get to the new siding installation this weekend.

You always find unexpected things when you work on an older house. The job is never straight forward. I’m glad he’s still smiling.

In the meantime I’m finding other things to enjoy like these flowers at Country Village in Bothell.

I’m not sure how much I’ll be sharing here during the rest of August. I’m contemplating a break for now. If something interesting happens I might post.

Dear has another week off at the end of August. I’m hoping he gets this siding project done before then. It just depends on the weather during upcoming weekends.

Do you still have vacation to look forward to?

Wish You Were Here…

Kerry Park in Seattle makes for a wonderful photo postcard proving you were here…

This is the great view and on some days there isn’t a cloud in the sky.

Enjoying another Pike Place Market treat at Kerry Park, Ryan finally gets to eat his treat from Piroshky, Piroshky!

I’m not sure how long the needle will be sporting it’s new galaxy carrot orange top.

We were here, wish you were with us…

Trying to get artistic…

Kerry Park is located on Queen Anne Hill off of Queen Anne Ave N. on W. Highland Drive. If you want a family postcard this is the spot for you!

It’s August people! I’m still watching the Olympics and trying to avoid those after event interviews where the questions drive me nuts. I always hope that after all the long hours and years of training every athlete will be able to do well. They all can’t win but they could have some personal bests…

The Mighty Columbia River ~

Starting as a little stream in the Canadian Rockies the Columbia river flows south entering the United States in N.E. Washington close to where our son Dan now lives and works. Its the largest river in the U.S.A. that flows into the Pacific.  It travels 1200 miles curving and finally emptying into the Pacific ocean.

On our way home form eastern Washington we stopped at a scenic exit off I-90 to get a good look at a small part of the Columbia.

After our brief stop at the very hot scenic lookout we continued West across Vantage Bridge over the Columbia river headed for the Cascade Mountain range. The Cascades divide the state of Washington. The east and the west of Washington state are very different in topography and in weather extremes. They are also quite different in political views. Let’s just say it’s the western part of our state and the larger population there that makes us a Blue state instead of a Red state.

Are you watching the Olympics? Tuesday is a soccer watching day for me and I’m happy to have found a channel dedicated to soccer from the Olympics. The U.S. women play again today. Today is the last day of July…