On Sunday we drove to Corona Del Mar to have brunch for Dear’s upcoming birthday. The food was so good and so rich it took us a day and a half to recuperate from our creamy adventure. Thankfully I’m heading out this morning for a good uphill/downhill walk with Willow to further my recuperation…
Please visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer to see the great outdoors around Bloggy World.
On my way home from my morning walk with Willow I spotted this Egret in the most peculiar spot.
This is a patch of dirt just below the 101 Freeway in Camarillo that eventually runs into some farmland north of here.
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
It’s time to visit Smiling Sally and see a lot of blue in the wonderful world of blogs!
While Dear and I were looking for Yard Sales he saw this great house with a very interesting hand built wall. He stopped so I could take some photos. He is really a great blog enabler.
Have a wonderful week everyone.
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
It’s time to visit the Window Views Blog hosted by Mary The Professor to show us your Window Views.
Pick up your ticket at the Disneyland Ticket Window then enter the wonderful world of Disney. I never noticed the Mickey Mouse cut-outs before.
All these window shots are taken along Main Street at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
Hope your week is going well…
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
Since my brother’s family was here from Dallas for a week we had an “Open House” on Saturday for friends and family to drop in to visit.
My BIL Nick and sister Vera hosted the event. They always treat us to an amazing amount of food. We all contributed salads and dessert while Nick and Vera served turkey, chuck roast, lamb, regular potatoes, Smoked Gouda Potatoes, Gouda and Cheddar potatoes, plain rice, rice with nuts and raisins. I brought a Tiramisu cake for Nick since his birthday was coming up on the 25th!
ellen b. and my daughter Katie b. She was here for a week with her boyfriend Ben.
Katie with her cousin Hope and her cousin once removed Jackson! Jackson and Katie enjoyed playing Jedi Knights together…
Katie and her cousin Hope. Katie was the youngest granddaughter until Hope was born.
Katie and her boyfriend Ben. They enjoyed all the dizzy parks during their time in Southern California.
My BIL Steve (Lana G!’s husband) and my better half…Dear.
Lana G!
Lana G’s twin, Hope’s daddy, both dressed in seersucker!
Our sweet Miss Hope!
The Bagdanov sisters…Lana G!, ellen b, Vera, and Kathy.
Niece Michelle and our daughter Katie.
My nieces Michelle and Melissa, sisters…
The girl cousins! Debbee, Katie, Michelle, Hope, and Melissa.
Our dear friends. I love the matching expressions on Svetlana and my brother Steve’s face. Our celebration had a time of great singing at the table of good old hymns in Russian and English and some modern worship songs. Good ole 4 part harmonies. Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Peace Like a River, It is Well with my Soul, How Great Thou Art, O the Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus, The Good Shepherd is Seeking (A favorite Russian song of ours).
After all this excitement on Saturday we were up bright and early on Sunday for an airport run (4:30 am) to deliver Katie and Ben for their 6:30 am flight and then a drive across L.A. for my niece Michelle’s baby shower. Thankfully Dear did the airport run while I packed the car for the shower. Dear stayed home during the shower and when I got home at 8:00 PM he had the condo all cleaned up including washing all the bedding from our overnight guests. What a guy!!
I’ll be posting photos from the Pink and Brown Tea Party we had for Michelle and Ryan’s baby girl who is due to arrive somewhere around September 21st.
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
FRIDAY!! This week got away from me. Thank you Susanne for encouraging us with this weekly exercise of “looking back” and being thankful for our favorites from the past week. Click on over to Living to Tell the Story to join in…
1. So we made it safe and a little bit crazy back to Southern California on Sunday. My favorite part of our 18 hour trip in the car was listening to Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix on cds. There are 23 cds and we only got up to #15. Listening to books on cd really helps me endure the boredom of road travel especially through Central California.
2. Came home to a nice clean condo which quickly had every inch of floor space filled with inflatable beds because my daughter and her boyfriend made the trip with us and are staying here for a week.
3. On Wednesday I met up with 10 family members to enjoy the day at Disneyland. My sister Lana G! treated me royally that day paying for my ticket and all my food.
4. Spending time with my brother Leonard, his wife Mandy and my niece Hope. We get to see them once or twice a year since they live in Texas.
5. Watching Miss Hope (my niece) and Jackson (my grand nephew) interact with each other. Miss Hope really enjoys having Jack in her sights. She is pointing out his nose for him in the collage.
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
On Wednesday me and a million of my friends showed up at Disneyland. I picked my closest 10 friends to hang out with and they just happened to all be related to me…
My brother Leonard and his wife Mandy along with their daughter Miss Hope flew in for the week so we have lots of fun activities planned. First on the list…conquer Disneyland!
First stop was the Carousel.
My nieces and my twin siblings Leonard and Lana. Melissa, Lana G!, Debbee, Michelle, and Leonard…
Next was “It’s a Small World”
My niece Michelle is due in a month with Jack’s little sister so she made use of this wheel chair. Ryan, Jack’s dad, and Melissa my niece are the designated pushers, transportation assistants.
Miss Hope loves Jackson and Jackson got some practice in dealing with little girls…
Here’s Jackson the Jedi Knight!
The longer we walked around the crowds the worse my photo skills got. I’m glad I at least got these heads in the photo!
The later it got the goofier we got and we started fighting taking turns in that wheel chair!
It’s always nice to get to see my brother’s family and spend extended time with them. Today is beach day (I’m home having rest day) and then on Saturday an Open House and on Sunday a baby shower for Michelle. Fun times…
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
What a wonderful celebration of Sophie’s life we had at her funeral on Wednesday. Sophie is my oldest sister Kathy’s MIL. Kathy and her husband Len cared for her for several years right up to her death last Thursday night. Sophie was a spunky hard working lady. She has 3 daughters Lil, Laureen, Ruth and one son, my BIL Len. Len charged us from the beginning of the memorial service that we were going to rejoice with his mom who was finally in heaven. Sophie loved her Savior Jesus Christ. Heaven was her theme and desire for the last 20 years. This last year it became her daily prayer to God, for Him to please take her home.
Len and my sister sang a duet in Russian and English. Len’s sisters Ruth and Laureen, 2 of my sisters Kathy and Lana G, my niece Michelle, and an lifetime friend Diane sang a sextet of Psalm 121 put to music. My father gave a word from Micah. My nieces shared some stories about their Baba. The oldest grandson Phil (Lil’s Son) read her Eulogy. Another Grandson Greg (Laureen’s son) spoke of remembrances of her and read her favorite Psalm 121. My brother Steve spoke and wove a wonderful message about Sophie’s Song using some great old hymns and referencing the songs of women in the Bible.
Len was our choir director at Bethany Baptist Church in L.A. (A Russian Baptist Church) many years ago and we were led in song again by him at the funeral. It was a great reunion of so many of our Russian friends and relatives who have all gone their separate ways. Fun times looking at a face we recognized but forgetting the name attached to it. Wozniuks, Semenchuks, Leonovich, Katkovs, Menns, Bagdanovs, Titovs, Shvetzovs, Kudraves, Kaluzny, Goncharenko, Rudametkin, Kowalski, Wlasiuk, Poulsons, Kuzichev, Moure, Philipchuk and more. We sang at the service, we sang at the graveside and we kept singing at the dinner reception afterwards.
My nieces are trying to sneak a photo of me taking photos but I caught them!
All Sophie’s grandchildren that were at the funeral released a balloon for her…
My niece Michelle with her husband Ryan and their son Jackson. Doesn’t she look so cute pregnant. They are expecting a little baby girl in September. I got my sister Lana G! to pause a moment to get a photo taken with Michelle. The case that this bouquet of flowers are in belonged to Sophie’s husband Tony.
My cousin Jim and his wife my friend Jeaneen and my friend Heidi and her husband Ken. Heidi and I met and became friends at the Russian Baptist church. I met Jeaneen in college and introduced her to my cousin Jim.
Shirley, Bobbi and their mom Nura Menn. Shirley is another one of my buddies from the Baptist church. Her mom Nura is my Aunt Nina’s sister. Phil Semenchuk (Phil’s mom is one of Sophie’s daughters) with his fiance Anna. Milla and Susie. Milla’s father was our aunt Nina’s brother. Milla’s parents were friends with my parents in Iran and remained close when they both immigrated to the U.S.A. Milla’s sister Tamera was at the funeral, too, but I didn’t get a good photo of her. We always called their parents aunt and uncle.
My brothers Steve and Fred with my sister Lana G! This is the very first current photo you’ve seen on my blog of my brother Fred. I was happy to see him at the funeral.
My brother Fred and my cousin Jim with my nieces, nephews and SIL Kelly in the background.
My partner in travel and crime in my early college years…
My cousin Jim, sister Kathy, brother Fred, sister Vera, our Aunt’s niece Milla, ellen b, my sister Lana G!, and my brother Steve.
Kathy, Vera, Fred, Ellen, Lana, and Steve. (Tim and Leonard are the two siblings missing in this photo)
I have found that people are so loving and attentive at funerals. It’s as if our mortality sinks in for a time and we take care to let each other know that we love them and care for them. It truly was a great time of reunion for me. We ended our time by singing “God be with you till we meet again”
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
These windows are from one of the historic buildings at Heritage Square in Los Angeles, California.
The barn was built in 1899 on the grounds of what is now Pasadena’s Huntington Memorial Hospital for Dr. Osborne, a member of the hospital’s staff. Originally used to stable horses and store a carriage, the building was subsequently converted into a dwelling and garage. Its architectural style is Queen Anne Cottage with Gothic influences. It has three gables and a distinctive pitched roof.
Moved to the Heritage Square Museum in 1981, the barn now houses the museum’s restoration and maintenance. In time, it will be returned to it working condition as a carriage barn
To see more windows visit the Window Views Blog.
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
We’re hitting the road today to Seattle. On the way we are stopping overnight in Clovis for Jeff and Heather’s wedding. Jeff is my cousin Jim’s youngest son. Jim’s wife Jeanie was my best friend in college at Cal State L.A. I introduced her to my cousin and they got married the same year Dear and I were married. At the wedding we’ll get to see family and friends. I’m looking forward to seeing Jeanie’s sister Kathy B. who has become a wonderful bloggy friend of mine. My parents and sister Kathy will also be at the wedding. We’ll hit the road bright and early on Sunday morning and drive straight through to Seattle.
If you don’t see me around the blogisphere for a few days you’ll know why…
Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 