Matryoshka Bridal Shower

On Saturday we had a Northwest Bridal Shower for Katie with a Matryoshka Theme.

The Bride Katie

Katie and Laura, sisters by marriage.

The color theme was purple, deep red, and gold.

I was so busy I forgot to take photos of all the other food. We had Savory Blintzes, a Quinoa taboulleh salad, orange-mango chicken salad, pumpkin praline trifle, and pumpkin spice cookies.

It was a fun reunion of friends who have touched Katie’s life over the years. Katie’s maid of honor, Jamie, led us in prayers for Andrew and Katie and she ended with a prayer of blessing on her friend. Such a wonderful dear time we had. Katie was showered with blessings and nice gifts. At the end of our evening the power went out so we rushed around lighting more candles. My sister Lana escorted all our guests to their cars with a flashlight!

I have to admit that I am wiped out today. We couldn’t clean up last night because we had no power so I went over to Lana’s this morning to gather my stuff and to help clean up. By the time I got there Lana had everything washed and ready to go so all I had to do was load up my car. Everything is put away in it’s place here at my house now and I’m just gonna sit around the rest of the day!

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

O Father, We Would Thank Thee ~ Hymn

“Go forth today, by the help of God’s Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life—-come poverty, come wealth, in death—come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord’s.  For this is written on your heart, ‘We love Him because He first loved us.”

~ Charles Spurgeon

O Father, We Would Thank Thee

O Father, we would thank Thee
For all Thy love has given,
Our present joy of sonship,
Our future joy in Heaven;
The life which sin had blighted
So wondrously restored
By our mysterious union
With Jesus Christ our Lord.

 Rich gifts of life and gladness—
A new and heav’nly birth,
Baptismal waters flowing
To cleanse the sons of earth;
The strength in which to follow
The steps that Jesus trod;
And love beyond all knowledge
Which calls us sons of God.

A new and heav’nly birth,
Baptismal waters flowing
To cleanse the sons of earth;
The strength in which to follow
The steps that Jesus trod;
And love beyond all knowledge
Which calls us sons of God.

O mercy all abundant
Bestowed on us today!
O hope of future glory
Which fadeth not away!
By God’s great love begotten
To living hope and sure,
May we at Christ’s appearing
Be pure as He is pure.

For all Thy gifts, O Father,
Our hymns of praise arise—
The love which calls us children,
The hope which purifies;
The grace by which we offer
A service glad and free;
The earnest of perfection,
Of fuller life with Thee.

Words: Ada R. Green­a­way, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1904.

The Story Continues…

Good Saturday Morning to you all. I’m up and busy today getting ready for a celebration.

Today we are having a Northwest Bridal shower for Katie at my sister Lana’s house. The we are my Daughter in Love Laura, Katie’s maid of honor Jamie,  my sister Lana and me. We will be getting together today to decorate and get ready for our guests. Our guests are friends who have helped to write Katie’s Story. Besides our Northwest biological family we have Katie’s lifelong church friends, school friends, work friends, and our extended family through marriage who have all played a part in Katie’s story. Katie’s dad and I are very grateful for the love and friendships that have shaped Katie’s life. Of course I’ll be sharing lots of photos in the next week or two of our celebration. Here’s some of what we are looking forward to today…

Savory Blintzes

Pumpkin Praline Trifle

 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

We are also serving 2 salads that Gluten Free and Vegetarians will enjoy.

If I’ve been absent in visiting and commenting you now know why. Busy baking and cooking and shopping for a new outfit to wear!

Veteran’s Day ~ 11-11-11

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

The Veteran on the left served in 3 wars, World War II, Korean War, and Viet Nam. The Veteran on the right served in Viet Nam and is now part of the Patriot Guard Riders.

 

Thank you to all our Veteran’s! Thank you for your service to your fellow man! We appreciate your sacrifice.

 

Happy 236th Birthday USMC!

November 10, 2011 is the 236th Birthday of the U.S. Marine Corp. Since Andrew is on deployment Katie and he will miss this years Marine Ball celebration.

Katie and I are delivering cupcakes to the local Marine recruiting office today to wish them a happy birthday.

Semper Fi! Oorah! Happy Birthday to the Marines!

B is for Borsch!

It’s time for Alphabe-Thursday with our dedicated teacher Miss Jenny. We are at the very beginning …a very good place to start. Today is the letter B! I’m going back to my humble food beginnings.

 

When tempted to buy a head of cabbage it must be time for borsch. This is a soup I grew up on and only learned to love from my high school years on. When I was little I can remember having to sit in front of a bowl of borsch until I finished it. Left alone at the table I’d dump the bowl back in the pot and then get in double trouble. My mom would be very upset that I spoiled the whole pot with my bread laden bowl of soup. I would dunk as much bread in the soup as possible hoping the soup would disappear…

The broth for this soup is made with a 7 bone beef roast. While the vegetables are cooking I season the roast and put it in the oven for additional cooking. Pieces of the roast can be added to the soup to make it a heartier soup.

Borsch is also served with a nice dollop of Sour cream and good bread. Here’s a recipe for borsch!

Things Are Looking Up…

Just wanted all my kind bloggy friends to know that I’m feeling a whole lot better. For the record, my tooth has not hurt at all and the temporary crown feels fine. All my discomfort involved the procedure. The fear involved with my throat and swallowing affected my whole body. Amazing how powerful fear can be. Once again thank you for your great encouragement to me.

Looks like I’ll be mowing some more leaves but not until next week! Tomorrow I get to go see my therapist hairdresser. Hope your week is going well.

California State Capitol

Here are some of my views of the Capitol while I took a stroll around the grounds.

The immigration of thousands of “Forty-niners” in search of gold prompted California’s admission as the 31st state into the Union in 1850, thus creating the need for a state capital. California did not have a permanent seat of government until 1860. Cities vied for the opportunity to house the state capital for the power, prestige, and economic benefit that accompanied it. Four capitol buildings existed in other cities before Sacramento became the permanent site.

Even after Sacramento became the permanent seat of California’s government in 1854, there were several unsuccessful efforts to relocate the Capitol to Oakland (1858-59), San Jose (1875-78, 1893, 1903), Berkeley (1907), and Monterey (1933-41).

I asked a policeman on the grounds why the flags were flying at half-staff and he said he believes whenever a serviceman/woman from the state of California is killed in action they fly the flags at half staff.

The California State Capitol was in part modeled after the United States Capitol, which features a bronze statue of “Freedom” as its crowning ornament. Given the already marked resemblance between the two Capitols’ architecture, the absence of a statue on the California State Capitol was intended to distinguish the two buildings. In addition, the presence of a gold ball, reminiscent of a gold nugget, reminds visitors to the Capitol of California’s Gold Rush heritage.

I did not get a chance to go into the Capitol on this day. Being born and raised in California I was happy to finally visit the grounds.

My “crown” experience yesterday left me traumatized. I find it hard to bear to have my mouth numbed to the extent that my throat feels numbed also. Feeling like I’m choking makes me panic. I wanted to pull that “hold your mouth open device” out of my mouth and run. I didn’t. I persevered and didn’t completely lose it till I got home. I’m regaining my peace on the couch in my flannels with a blankie.