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.

M is for Mennonite Girls Can Cook

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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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This part of the country really enjoy pie and Kathy bought a couple pies for our time together.

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The Blue Gate Garden Inn /Shipshewana was a lovely spot with the perfect outdoor space for us to enjoy our Faspa.

“Faspa” is one of those Low German words for which there is no direct English translation.  Faspa is a light lunch about 4 p.m. on workdays.  Faspa also is the gathering of family and friends, usually at 4 p.m. Sunday, for a light meal and fellowship, with an emphasis on fellowship.  The meal always included zwieback, coffee and might also include cheese, cold cuts, and jelly.

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On Monday the festivities began at the Blue Gate Theater and Restaurant with a cooking show before a dinner and play and topping the day off with an ice cream social. It’s strange seeing your name in lights!

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Lovella, Anneliese and Kathy were on stage for the cooking show and they had a wonderful opportunity to convey who the “real Mennonite Girls” are and what we believe and why we give all of our author royalties to charities that benefit orphans and widows and provide food to those who are in desperate need. They really shined on stage and had the audience entertained. They made three recipe’s from our books for the show and the Blue Gate served those three dishes after the show to the audience.

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Later we met lovely people who were able to share their stories with us at a dinner before the show. We really enjoyed talking to these retired teachers from Ohio. Oh my and we ate in the Amish/Mennonite way with more than one protein, starch, veggie, and of course Pie to end the meal. Don’t forget that there still was an ice cream social after the play.

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Salad, Meatloaf, fried chicken, green beans, stuffing, noodles, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

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Here we are with the cast from the comedy. They were great actors, playing ten separate characters. We were happy that we had the chance at our cooking show to represent who we are in contrast to the play.

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We had the special treat to have my niece’s in-laws come down from Michigan to see the cooking show and to spend the morning with us taking us around to their favorite shops in Shipshewana. It’s always great to enjoy a town with “locals” who know the area. Thank you Mary Lou and Arden for your hospitality to us! In another post I’ll show what we saw with our special hosts.

From Shipshewana we traveled to Sugarcreek Ohio to the Carlisle Inn, another beautiful and well appointed Inn. We were treated to lovely suites for the next leg of our time together.  We had another opportunity to have a dinner where we could share the real story about the Mennonite Girls before the play and meet people at book signings after the play. It was so good to be together with our husbands and enjoy this very unique countryside together.

I have lots of posts that will show the countryside and the people who live in the communities we visited. I’m missing the clip clop clip clop of the beautiful horses pulling the buggies…

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Linking up to ABC Wednesday with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger and all the administrators of this weekly meme.