It’s time for a little catch-up with my two favorite Grands.
This little guy was under the weather and finally was feeling good enough to smile.
Homeschooling ‘hands on’ experience in learning, E is for Explorer. So thankful that our DIL is committed to this Labor of Love.
Hooray, it’s Friday. Have a good weekend everyone.
Thursday February 9th
On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!
Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity, Amen.
Ephesians 4:11-16
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
From Vera:
Isaiah 12:4-6 ESV
“And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
From Karen:
Deuteronomy 4:39
Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
It’s Wednesday and time for the Hodgepodge where Joyce From This Side of the Pond asks the questions for us to answer.
1. Something you’ve done recently that might be considered a labor of love?
There are lots of obvious things we do everyday that are more routine and learned like Dear making me coffee every morning or me washing his clothes.
One recent thing that isn’t routine is helping at a funeral. There are a lot of behind the scenes tasks that need to be done. If you’ve never been part of these tasks you wouldn’t know about what they involve. For the service you need a memorial table set up. You need to be around to receive any flowers that are delivered before the service. You need to pick up and make sure the sanctuary is clean after the service. When a meal is involved for the family there are preparing, setting up tables, setting out the food, and then waiting till all the eating and visiting is over to clean up. Washing up, drying up, taking tablecloths home to wash, breaking down tables and putting them away, folding chairs and putting them away. Just an average assessment of the hours it takes for volunteers to help in this way is 6-8 hours. I think that qualifies as a labor of love for the grieving family who need extra care and comfort at this time.
2. What’s one thing you love about being the age you are now?
Being at the age where grandchildren are a part of our lives.
3. What do you value more: careful planning or the freedom to be spontaneous? Elaborate.
My husband reminded me of all of our car purchases and how spontaneous they were. Yikes. No planning. Here’s how the ‘planning’ went; we need a car that will get us safely over the mountain passes, we like Toyotas, let’s look at Rav’s, the dealer has a couple good used ones on the lot. We pick one of the two. We drive away with it. All in one day with no serious planning and investigating, etc. etc.
For a trip with the two of us I’d say careful planning leads to more spontaneous freedom. If we know where we are going and where we are staying our brains are free to enjoy things along the way that haven’t been planned. Does that make sense? I can enjoy spontaneous freedom in small doses on major trips.
4. A home cooked meal or a fancy restaurant? pink or red? watch the sunrise or watch the sunset? wine and cheese or champagne and chocolate?
There’s a time and a place for all of these choices. We’ve enjoyed home cooked meals and meals at a fancy restaurant when the timing is right. Sometimes pink and sometimes red and sometimes the two together. Starting the day with the sunrise is amazing and rounding a corner to see the sunset is glorious. Let’s start off with a little wine and cheese and end the meal with a chocolate and champagne.
5. What’s your definition of romance? Are you a ‘romantic’?
Romance is more touchy feely and emotional to me and I’m not that. I do love deeply and my actions speak from that realm and not the romantic realm.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Even though I don’t count my self as a romantic, I do enjoy setting romantic tables.
On Wednesday morning September 21st, 2022 we checked out of our apartment in Oxford.
We had a taxi booked to drive us to Woodstock which was under ten miles from our location. We decided on a taxi instead of the buses that run regularly from Oxford to Woodstock because we didn’t want to shlep our luggage to a bus stop and onto the bus.
Goodbye Oxford, hello Woodstock.
Since our checkout was at 10am we arrived in Woodstock before our check in time of 4pm.
We booked 2 nights at the Feathers Hotel. We left our luggage at the hotel and took a stroll around the small town.
Woodstock Town Hall, a beautiful Grade II listed building which was built in 1766 and is now a major landmark in the town.
We were looking for a good spot to have a lite lunch during our stroll around the town.
The War Memorial next to the church. “To The Memory of The Fallen 1914-1918 1939-1945”. War Memorials are easy to find in most villages, towns, and cities. There are over 68,000 war memorials in the UK.
We would return to the church after lunch since it was occupied for a service when we walked by.
We found a cozy spot at the Back Lane for a refreshment but they weren’t serving lunch until noon. We would be seeing a lot of Winston Churchill in Woodstock.
THIS STONE WAS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF WOODSTOCK TO CELEBRATE THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM.
There were many tributes to the late Queen around town. (Remember we were in England during the mourning period for the Queen)
The Kings Arms looked welcoming for our lunch spot.
We enjoyed their lunch special beef sandwich and chips.
After our nice lunch we walked back to St. Mary Magdalene Church to see if it was possible to get a look inside. It was open and we were welcomed in. We were still early for our hotel check-in time.
It’s a challenge to get the old brain back to Oxfordshire to remember some details of our last few days there. As challenging as it is the posts will be good to look back on.
Back to the present: We have a relatively quiet week and our temps have been above freezing so there is a lot of melting happening. Plants are emerging that have been covered in snow since November.
Quotes of the weekend:
“Sin is always a big deal.” ~ Dennis Wilkening
“If you want to be a wise person, you need a Bible.” ~ Alistair Begg
Have a good week everyone! If you need a Bible, I could send you one. 🙂
I saw these chicken rolls using Pillsbury Crescent Refrigerator Dough Sheets and had to give them a try. I didn’t realize that the Crescent dough was sold in sheets that aren’t perforated. It makes this recipe a lot simpler as I purchased the basic crescent rolls and had to pinch all the perforations! Buy the sheets if you want to make this tasty dish.
Ingredients:
Method:
Keep an eye on them so they don’t brown as toasty as mine did. Smile.
God Make My Life A Little Light
God make my life a little light
Within the world to glow;
A little flame that burneth bright,
Wherever I may go.
God make my life a little flower
That giveth joy to all,
Content to bloom in native bower,
Although the place be small.
God make my life a little song
That comforteth the sad,
That helpeth others to be strong,
And makes the singer glad.
God make my life a little staff
Whereon the weak may rest,
That so what health and strength I have
May serve my neighbors best.
God make my life a little hymn
Of tenderness and praise,
Of faith, that never waxeth dim,
In all His wondrous ways.
Amen.
Words: Matilda B.B. Edwards
The beach in winter is a favorite of mine. These were some photos from our time at Huntington Beach during our family vacation in January that I haven’t shared yet.
I find the underside of a pier interesting and love watching the waves roll through.
Our niece Debbee and Lenny were married in 2013 in Huntington Beach and they took their engagement photos here so it was fun to try to recreate that moment.
This day was also Lenny’s birthday.
Today we are nowhere near the coast and we still have that white stuff on the ground and it’s not beach foam.
Our Colville kids are coming over for dinner tonight. Speaking of dinner, tonight will be the third dinner in a row that I’ve made. It’s a Notable February for that reason and others, too. Wednesday we had an Asian Stir Fry with actual vegetables. Here’s the dinner we had Thursday night. Leg of Lamb with vegetables in my Jamie Oliver Retro Roaster. We like lamb and I know many people don’t.
Tonight we’re having Oven Baked Tilapia with rice and vegetables or salad.
Speaking of food, 18 eggs were $4.24 at our local Wal-Mart on Wednesday. They were not the brown eggs, or free range eggs, or Beverly Hills Eggs, just the white caged bird eggs.
What have you been eating these days? Happy First Friday in February.
Thursday February 2nd
On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!
Resuming Truth for Today for 2023 starting today.
Job 28:28
And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’
Psalm 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
I’ve been reading The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and I’m going to share the following quote from the book.
“Hopeful: How will you describe right fear?
Christian: True or right fear is discovered by three things: 1. By its rise: it is caused by saving convictions for sin. 2. It driveth the soul to lay fast hold of Christ for salvation. 3. It begetteth and continueth in the soul a great reverance of God, his Word, and ways; keeping it tender, and making it afraid to turn from them, to the right or to the left, to any thing that may dishonor God, break its peace, grieve the Spirit, or cause the enemy to speak reproachfully.”
From Cathy:
Isaiah 41:10
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
From Vera:
“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”
Micah 7:7 ESV
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
Jeremiah 32:27 ESV
From Cheryl:
“This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24
February, I’m still cherishing the memories of January, so slow down. 🙂
The Hodgepodge is back for the start of February. Thank you Joyce, From This Side of the Pond!
1. Tell us anything you want about your January.
From January 13th until January 19th we had our DisneyCaliFam Vacation and it was packed with great interactions with our extended people! Twelve of us spent one day at Disneyland and a great birthday celebration dinner out at Orange Hill Restaurant and quiet times in our VRBO. Ten of us spent some hours with my siblings and our kids’ cousins in homes, at the beach and bowling alley. The two of us spent an afternoon and evening with my bestie from the 70’s. A rich time of relationship sharing and growing.
All of these peeps are ‘Moisi and Nadia’s People’.
2. Lake Superior State University posts a list each year of words they think should be banished from the Queen’s English for misuse, overuse, and/or general uselessness. The 2023 list includes GOAT, inflection point, quiet quitting, gaslighting, moving forward, amazing, Does that make sense?, irregardless, absolutely, and it is what it is.
Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly?
amazing
Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?
It is what it is…because it is more than it is. LOL!
Is there a word/phrase not on the list you’d like to add?
Racist, because lately it is used to gaslight people.
3. February 2nd is Groundhog Day. What’s something that feels repeated in your life right now?
Waking up to snow on the ground that has not melted.
4. What’s a food you love that’s named after a place?
Mexican food is my comfort food, but I think maybe you want us to be more specific. I do enjoy a good Boston Cream Pie and how about German Chocolate Cake. Now I’m on a roll since I just remembered Belgian Waffles, French Toast, oh, and our family favorite, Swedish Pancakes!
5. What’s the best season of the year to visit your city or your part of the country? Tell us why.
Fall is a wonderful time to visit our area. Not too hot, not too cold, and full of beautiful color.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
We planned our time for our DisneyCaliFam Vacation this past November in lieu of Christmas gifts. Our time in California also spanned 3 birthdays, Jamie’s, Dan’s and Josh’s. Gifts were purchased for the birthday ‘kids’ at Disneyland. Meals were paid for to celebrate the three of them while we were in California. They each got Birthday badges to wear at Disneyland. Addy and JJ got their Disneyland 1st Time Visitor Badges. Special times with memories to store.
Looking forward to catching up with Hodgepodgers!
The finale of our DisneyCaliFam vacation was on Thursday January 19th, which is the birthday of our firstborn, Josh. His birthday was spent in service to the rest of us. He made an early morning run to the Orange County Airport to deliver our Daughter-in-law’s mom and granny for their morning flight back to Spokane, Washington.
The remaining ten of us packed up and cleaned up our VRBO and headed to my sister Vera’s home in Huntington Beach to see what leftovers we had that she might be able to use. She definitely wanted the 18 count package of eggs. Our flight out of Orange county was at 8:40 pm so we had some time to kill. Vera joined us for a trip to Fiesta Grill for our reminiscent Mexican meal. All the years Nick and Vera lived down the road from this great Mexican Joint, we enjoyed walking to get take out to bring back to their place. Nick is with his Savior now in heaven and Vera is in a new home but we cherish the memories.
Back at Vera’s, JJ and Addy were laid down for a nap and the ‘kids’ enjoyed playing UNO.
Vera had a meal in the slow cooker for us for dinner. Our sister Lana would be joining us for dinner.
Up from their naps there was a rainbow to enjoy. JJ was in Lana’s room napping and quietly got up and went about discovering some things like her radio to which he declared “I did not touch any buttons”. When I walked in the room he had a water bottle with the top off and declared to me, “Baba, this water tastes funny.” He also thought the 20# weights were too heavy for him, but the 5# weights were fine. OYE.
When Lana arrived she had animated stories of some events at her new home in Dallas and everyone gave her their full attention.
From bursting water pipes to destructive squirrels, she had everyone’s attention.
Three of our four sisters, Me, Lana and Vera.
Too soon it was time to head to the airport to turn in our trusty 15 passenger van and check in for our flight back to Washington.
Did you know there was a pilot shortage these days?
These two enjoyed meeting the pilot and sitting in the co-pilots chair!
The flight home was non eventful which is the best kind of flight and we made it into Paine Field in Everett at 11:45ish and home in bed at Josh and Laura’s by 1am. We would still have a 5 hour drive to Colville later that day, Friday the 20th. We slept as long as our bodies allowed, got up, packed the car, had some breakfast and got on the road at 9:30am. We were home after a stop in Spokane for gas and a meal in Chewelah. We made it home before dark.
A very meaningful trip for all of us. Thanks for following along.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 