A Deep Hodgepodge

This photo from January of 2016 (10 years ago) was from a few days spent in San Francisco while Greg was at an Oncology Conference. The words below the first photo are about that day in 2016.

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Today was a full day of sight seeing with an old friend from my college days who grew up in San Francisco. She happens to be Russian/Chinese and knows the city well. We had several stops and enjoyed lunch and shopping in China Town where everyone is getting ready for the Chinese New Year. I don’t think I need to tell anyone what bridge they are looking at in my photo…

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My friend, Alice, at our delicious lunch in Chinatown. She did the ordering. My friend passed away in 2018.

Back to…

…Another winter Hodgepodge with a flashback to ten years ago thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. Ice skating, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, playing in the snow, or a snowy walk…which winter activity do you choose? Have you done any of these activities so far this winter? 

Nothing this winter. We have not had any measurable snow this season.

At this stage of life, the only winter activity I would choose are the walking kind.

When we have a good dump of snow I have gone out our door to snowshoe. This is from 2019.

This one is from 2022.

2. Everyone is posting pictures from ten years ago on their social media sites so let’s jump on the bandwagon too. Share one photo and one thought to go with said photo from the year 2016. And maybe everyone isn’t doing this, but many are and we’re going to be part of the fun. 

This was one of the best memories of 2016! This is the photo that was shared with us and I shared it on the Hodgepodge with the words below the photo.

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We have the best of news that we have permission to share now with the world. Dear and I are grandparents for the first time and will  be able to see our new little granddaughter for the first time in person sometime in March or April of 2017 depending on when she pops out. Even though our little granddaughter is not born yet we consider her our granddaughter already as God is wonderfully forming her right now.
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At the end of 2016, this review of the year from July to December was published on my blog. What a year!
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3. What’s a trend you hope disappears in this new year? 

Stalking, attacking and verbally assaulting Law Enforcement.

4. ‘They’ say there’s a day for everything and January 21st proves it. National Granola Bar Day. Do you like granola bars? How about just regular granola? Do you like bars of other kinds? 

I’ll have one if I’m desperate but they aren’t something that is purchased and available in my pantry. I do enjoy granola as a cereal with milk.

5.  A frozen lake, a trickling stream, a raging river, or a deep well…which one describes something about your life right now? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. 

A deep well. There is so much to learn that I do not know. So much to see that I haven’t seen. So much about God that I do not know. I believe the ache to know more, see more and do more comes from a deep longing from our inner being that wants to see God as He is. It is a hard thing to explain. Someday that will be a reality. Until then I’ll keep digging in God’s truth and in the world God created for us to enjoy and give glory to God in the discoveries along the way that show me more of Him. My deep desire will become reality when I graduate to heaven.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of 2016, this is another amazing memory and experience we had in September/October of that year.

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The “Girls” and most of our husbands have just returned from a seven day trip to Indiana and Ohio to see a production using our name in Amish/Mennonite Country. The Blue Gate Productions hosted us and treated us as VIP’s. All ten of the girls were together at the Blue Gate Garden Inn where we enjoyed “Faspa” on Sunday night before we had our cooking show and saw the production for the first time. As you can see from the first photo above we have fun together.

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We took this opportunity to get some photos of all ten of us since Betty and Charlotte live in Manitoba and miss many of our get togethers in British Columbia and Seattle.

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I shared many posts about our time in Amish Country. This is the initial one here.

Happy Wednesday, Hodgepodgers and all who stop by here.

2016 in Review July-December

2016-07-07 4th and beyond1Fourth of July with family, friends and neighbors.

2016-07-19 Canada new book launch3Book launch for Bread for the Journey at Marg’s home in Chilliwack, B.C.

2016-07-19 Canada new book launch4

2016-08-02 kids weekend1July 30th we received an announcement from Dan and Jamie that they were expecting our first grandchild!

museum book launch6August Book launch celebration at the Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C.

2016-08-25 pump house and homeTravels to Dan and Jamie’s to help with projects in August.

Pictures62Memorial service for our dear friend Dave Dickinson late in August with all of our family.

mohai66August/September visits to Eastern Washington and visits here from cousins.

danjam-home-020October Western Conference clinched and another trip to Eastern Washington where I was able to hear Baby Bayles’ heartbeat, attend a sign making class and see that beautiful rainbow above.

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15036604_1356018304417236_4867337359558403527_nWe found out we are having a little granddaughter!

 

2016-11-27-2nd-t-day2November day trips and wonderful Thanksgiving gatherings with friends and family.

2016-12-05-mgcc-xmas16

mgcc-162Early December trip to Canada for our annual MGCC Christmas dinner.

pictures66Our 42nd wedding anniversary meal in La Conner at the Oyster and Thistle a day late but just as good .

recently-updated-001December 11th our Sounders beat Toronto to win their first ever MLS Cup!

15390853_10211460213602920_8728460629010838251_nDowntown Seattle for the MLS Championship parade and celebration with Josh and Laura.  (December 14th)

pictures65Dan and Jamie moved into their new home in weather that ranged from 8 degrees to 22 degrees. Josh flew over to help them move the weekend before Christmas!

mohai67Christmas day with all of our kids and then a trip to La Conner with Katie and Andrew to celebrate Katie’s birthday.

We ended the year with a nice chilly walk and then a Raclette dinner at this old house with dear old friends. Sad to say I forgot to take a photo! Here’s the table set in Husky gold and purple even though our dear Huskies lost to the Crimson Tide after a great run in 2016!

pictures67Today on New Year’s day we managed to put away Christmas decorations and drag the tree out to the yard waste bin. Woohoo! Tomorrow I will enjoy sitting and watching the Rose Bowl Parade and maybe the Rose Bowl game.

Hope that 2017 is having a good start at your house!

Numbers 6: 24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

2016 January-June in Mosaics…

2016-01-24-sat-morn-s8January: Dear started a consulting job from home. We celebrated January birthdays. A business trip to San Francisco with reunions with old friends from my college days.

2016-02-11-february-plants-and-food6February: Our Lenten Rose bloomed early. We had a Superbowl party with a Chinese New Year theme with souvenirs I bought at San Francisco’s Chinatown. We also enjoyed a Valentines day lunch with a view in Bellevue.

2016-03-18-van-23March: We had a sister’s weekend. We celebrated my Medicare birthday in Bellingham with the Mennonite Girls and our hubbies. Dear and I had an overnight in Vancouver, B.C. to continue celebrating my birthday. Katie and Andrew celebrated their 5th anniversary!

2016-03-27-easter-20164Easter landed at the end of March and deserved it’s own mosaic. Our family was all together. Kulich baking, Seerney Paska, Easter egg hunts and Raclette all happened during Easter weekend.

2016-04-28-trolley-tourApril: We took a quick trip to Eastern Washington to work on some projects at Dan and Jamie’s. Late in the month I went along with Dear on a business trip to San Antonio, Texas. While there I drove to Austin to meet up with my brother’s family for a few hours.

2016-05-13-bow-edison5May: Mother’s day with the kids on this side of the mountains. Dear and I took a road trip to Whatcom Falls and on the way home enjoyed stopping at a restaurant on Chuckanut Drive for lunch.

2016-05-31-rosella4May: Two trips across the line to Canada to meet our play writer and later to meet a favorite blogger who gives so much encouragement to us Mennonite Girls, Rosella.

2016-06-05-more-of-ellie2June: I flew down to be with family and enjoy my sister’s open house in her new digs.

mohai65June: A trip to Leavenworth where our family and our new daughter in law’s family enjoyed a weekend together eating and river rafting.

2016-06-19-fathers-day-20167June: Father’s day brunch downtown Seattle with a photo op on Queen Anne Hill overlooking downtown Seattle.

2016-06-24-yosemite-2June: We finished off June with a road trip to Yellowstone National Park and Cody Wyoming with stays in Montana coming and going. June really was packed full!

Six full months of blessings with people we love and trips to places we had never seen before. I’ll share July to December later. Dear’s consulting job ended in June and we began our time of wondering if we were unemployed or if we were retired.

How are you spending the last days of 2016? We are planning a little get together on New Year’s Eve after the Peach Bowl between our Washington Huskies and Alabama. We are the underdogs and will be cheering our Dawgs on to victory. Time will tell. Win or lose we will ring in the New Year with gratefulness to God for all He has done this year in our lives and the lives of our friends and family.