Five of Many!

Whoa! It has been weeks and weeks since I participated in Susanne’s Fave Five at Living to Tell the Story and I have nothing but life to blame. Seasons come and seasons go but one thing never changes and remains and for that I am ever so grateful (Hebrews 13:8). Although I haven’t participated I have visited some of your Fives. Today it will be fun to see what all of you have been up to.

My Five Favorite things that I’m thankful for this past week:

1. That our family could get together for a early Thanksgiving celebration this past Saturday and we all got to meet and enjoy our son’s girlfriend.

2. For times together with the family away from our table. We had a nice time out on Sunday for brunch and a wee stroll around Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.

3. For my faithful “Dear” who continues to work hard in the market place and at home and provides well for our household.

4. For reports we get from Afghanistan when our Son in law, Andrew , makes it back from “Missions” safe and sound.

5. For my pop’s well being since my mom died this past September. After living with your love for 70 years it’s not easy living alone. I enjoy getting the facebook photos from my sister and niece when they take him dinner on a weekly basis. Here’s another facebook photo my sister sent me that makes me smile. This is the first recliner he has ever called his own or chair for that matter. It took 90 years for him to get his favorite chair and Dear and I are so thankful we could buy it and have it delivered from 1200 miles away (the chair wasn’t delivered from that far but the arrangements were made from afar). He called me after it was delivered and said “lyena, when I sat down in the chair I just laughed, I was so happy.”

I think it still has the tags on it in this photo.

Bonus Fave: I’m so thankful that God loves me and sent His son to die in my place so that I can have so much hope for the future no matter what this life throws at me and for everything that comes and goes His love remains and He is the same.

Happy Thanksgiving and Gobble Gobble y’all!

A bonus question if you want to answer it (or are old enough to answer) as I noticed today is November 22nd and 50 years since the day JFK was assassinated. Where were you on that day when you heard the news? Did you know that C.S. Lewis died on this very day, too?

My answer: I was in 8th grade science class at Montebello Junior High in California. Our science teacher gave us the news. It was such a somber sad day at school. Each class we went to there were tears and disbelief and then we all went home and were glued to our televisions. It wasn’t until years later that I learned C.S. Lewis died on this day, too.

Thanksgiving Comes Early…

…and continues through November!

Dan and Jamie (upper right) drove from Eastern Washington to spend an early Thanksgiving with us. They arrived late on Friday night and we were thankful for their safe journeys. Saturday morning Dear and I met Jamie in our kitchen and knew that we liked her easy spirit. My sister Lana and her husband Steve joined us for our early Thanksgiving meal. They had just returned from the Dominican Republic where they were able to minister to the poorest of the poor. They shared their experience and we were thankful for their trip and life changing experience. We stood around the table joining our hands and Dear expressed our gratitude to God for all he has given us relationally and materially. Filled to the gills we cleaned up and Dear and I headed to bed while the rest enjoyed games around the table laughing heartily into the night. God is good to us and we are forever thankful to Him.

For those who are curious about such things, our Thanksgiving meal was very traditional. Turkey, stuffing, yams (with brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows), mashed potatoes, gravy, and rolls. Being concerned about our lack of green on our plates my sister Lana contributed a lovely green soup which consisted of pureed sauteed in onion spinach, asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, and jalapeno. It was delicious and we were happy that the green requirement was met. Pumpkin and Razzleberry pie with whipped cream for dessert and some lovely beverages all along the way…

St. Michael’s Mount

Over the years I thought it so magical that there were places in the world where you could walk to during low tide and then when the tide rolled in you’d be stranded on an island. During our September trip to England and because we were in the southern part of Cornwall we made it a point to visit St. Michael’s Mount to fulfill a bucket list desire. It was a very grey misty day but we put on some waterproof gear and headed out. That Thursday would be our last full day in Cornwall.

The weather and lighting made it hard for this amateur photographer to get brilliant photos from afar but the experience was fun nevertheless. I’ll share more from the “Mount” on another day. We made the walk back and forth on the causeway and did not get stranded on the Mount. If you miss the safe walking window there are little passenger ferries to bring you back but we heard that they make for a very sea sick inducing ride…

I’ll be stuck on an island of sorts for the next few days but I’ll be back in full swing again next week. We are having our family Thanksgiving Meal this Saturday. All the kids will be here but Andrew. This is the weekend that our son Dan will be able to come across the mountains. He works on Thanksgiving day. He’s bringing a guest with him that we are looking forward to meeting. My sister and brother in law will join us, too. They will be fresh back from a short mission trip to the Dominican Republic so it will be fun to hear all about it. It seems 9 is the number around our table for November celebrations. It’s not easy finding a fresh turkey this early in the month of November but a local meat market pulled through for me. I did not want to deal with defrosting a solid as a rock turkey! Turkey, Yams, Stuffing, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Rolls and nothing green…that’s how we roll. Pumpkin and Berry pies for dessert.

How many do you have around your table when the family gathers? Are you able to make room on your plate for something green on Thanksgiving?

Steep and Crumbling…

We had a very nice scenic ride from St. Ives back to Porthtowan along the coastal cliffs. We stopped along the way to peek over the cliffs to the sea.

It was very windy and I tried to capture how the wind was whipping the grass and bending it over.

Did I mention it was windy?

Later when we finally reached Porthtowan we had a little something to stave off our dehydration and then we took a nice hike along the cliffs.

I am happy to announce that my little sewing projects are now completed. I even managed to dig out my MIL’s old sewing box and use some of her bias tape (she had about 50 packages from Penny’s for 6 cents each) to do a couple extra projects. Oh I’m looking forward to showing you all the fun things we have going for our time here on Sunday. I hope when I finally show and tell it’s not anti-climactic.

I almost forgot…head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook today to see my Butter Pecan Pumpkin Squares. Yum…

Well Well Wells!

There is still a lot to share from the Cathedral city of Wells before we move on to Cornwall. On Tuesday morning September 17th we found a parking spot in the market area of Wells and headed to the Bishop’s Palace. I was excited to see the moat around the Palace. I’m pretty sure this was the first moat I’d seen in person. Before we head inside the gates to the Palace here is one last shot of the Cathedral, some city views, and the moat.

The Bishop’s Palace is famous all over the world for it’s swans who ring a bell alongside the gatehouse when they want food.

Swans at the Palace were first taught to ring a bell for food by the daughter of Bishop Hervey in the 1870s and the tradition continues to this day. Bread is tied in clumps to the rope attracting the swans to nibble at it and pull it off, when they do this the bell rings. Gradually less and less bread is tied onto the rope as they begin to understand that by pulling the rope and hearing the bell means food will soon follow.

Surrounded by a breathtaking moat you can cross a flagstone drawbridge, under the portcullis and experience a true hidden gem in the heart of the City of Wells.

Next time we will go inside over the drawbridge to see the Palace.

It’s hard to believe we are still in our foggy pattern here in Western Washington. Ugh. The sun broke through beautifully yesterday afternoon and revealed all the dust I’ve been neglecting in the gloom. So many life lessons about the light and what it reveals and what darkness tries to hide. My sister will be visiting my pop tonight and she will take a photo for me of him in the new recliner we bought and had delivered to his apartment. He’s 90 years old and has never had his own chair let alone a recliner. He called right after it was delivered to say he really liked it. He said when he sat down in it he just started laughing from his joy. I love my pop…

Vee’s Note Card Party ~ It’s Fall Y’all!

I’m heading back over the Cascades to Eastern Washington and our son Dan’s land for my one previously posted Note Card for Vee’s Party. This was taken Fall, 2012.

These next two photos are from Jolly old England from September of this year that I haven’t gotten around to posting yet.

This last one is from this past Sunday in West Seattle of our daughter Katie…

It’s been the story of my life this year but it’s fall and I haven’t pulled any fall/Thanksgiving bins out yet. Time will tell if I do. Seasonal decorating has been out the window all this year. That is O.K. It really is best for me to go with the flow and accept the events of our lives and interruptions as they come. Reminds me of that song from the 50’s that Doris Day sang…

“Que Sera, Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be”

Hoping to get around to see all the Note Card offerings this week! Blessings…

Connected…

It was wonderful to see so many dear souls that we have been connected to over the years at my mom’s services.

I didn’t get photos of many of the people who honored us with their presence and their words. It wasn’t easy to relax with my camera in these circumstances.

Hope and I were coordinated in our outfits and had to have a photo together.

After attending this little guys baby shower before he was born it was nice to finally meet him in person with his mommy.

…and with his grandmother, my good friend from Bethany Russian Baptist church.

Katie with Nikki and her Auntie Christina. Christina is Dear’s SIL.

Here’s Dear with his only brother, Terry.

My cousin Vera (from my father’s side), cousin’s cousin Shirley (on my mother’s side), my cousin Jim (on my father’s side), and Shirley’s sister Betty (on my mother’s side).

More dear friends from our Bethany Baptist Days in Los Angeles. Diane, Manya (Shirley, Bobbi and Betty’s oldest sister) Alex and Jaydee with Shirley between them.

Jeanie,(married to my cousin Jim) My cousin Jim, My cousin Vera (Jim’s sister) George (who is Jim, Vera and Katrina’s 1st cousin) and my cousin Katrina (Jim and Vera’s youngest sister).

My first cousin, Vera, from my dad’s side of the family. The rest of this group are all 1st cousins with each other on my mother’s side of the family. My first cousins are on the right end of this group. Valia and Tanya on the right end with my cousin Walter’s wife standing behind them. Bobbi and Shirley are first cousins to Valia and Tania.

Our son Dan with our SIL Letty’s son Derek and wife Amy.

Caleb and Joshua making plans to spy out the Promised Land…Strong and Courageous!

Niece Melissa bonding with our latest grand nephew Thomas.

My Pop with his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Our kids (missing Andrew) with my pop. Andrew has arrived in Afghanistan with his unit so your prayers for him are appreciated.

Pop with his sons.

Sons and daughters…

Daughters

A very special thank you to the ladies from Whittier Area Community Church and Olive Grove Church who contributed salads and desserts for our meal together. You blessed us abundantly and we are grateful! Everything turned out so well. We were so pleased to be able to spend time with people we have been connected to over the years. Old friends and new friends supporting each other. It’s a beautiful picture of community…

I’ll close my post with the quote my Brother in law Nick read at the graveside…

“There is nothing that can replace
the absence of someone dear to us,
and one should not even attempt to do so.

One must simply hold out and endure it.

At first that sounds very hard,
but at the same time it is also a great comfort.

For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled
one remains connected to the other person through it.

It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness.
God in no way fills it but much more
leaves it precisely unfilled
and thus helps us preserve — even in pain —
the authentic relationship.

Further more,
the more beautiful and full the remembrances,
the more difficult the separation.

But gratitude transforms
the torment of memory into silent joy.
One bears what was lovely in the past
not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within,
a hidden treasure
of which one can always be certain.

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer”

Goodbyes and Reunions…

Thank you, thank you, to all of you who have prayed for my family during this time in our lives. I really appreciate your kind words of comfort and encouragement and I have felt your prayers. Blessings on you for sharing in our sorrow and rejoicing in our joy that our mom is with our Lord.

There were many times during my mom’s services and burial that the comment was made amongst old friends that it was too bad that it seems the only time we see each other these days is at a funeral. The older we get the stronger this reality.

I want to warn you ahead of time that we had an old world burial and if you get squeamish around caskets and viewings this post probably isn’t for you.

Thursday night viewing at Rose Hills Chapel. Many old friends came to share in our sorrow and rejoice in our hope. My brother Steve gave a message that made me consider God’s hand on the story of my life on this earth.

Friday morning we had a memorial service at my sister’s church in Whittier, California. It was a time of remembering who my mom was and a time of thanking God for who He is in my mom’s life and ours. Brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and great grand children participated in speaking, singing, reciting Psalms 23 and praying. Our nephew Caleb opened the service with greetings and prayer. Our sister Kathy and our BIL Len sang a duet in Russian of a song my mom requested. Our niece Hope and Great nephew Jackson read the 23rd Psalm. Our son Josh and my nephew, David shared memories of their Baba that they gathered from their cousins. Our niece Michelle sang the first verse of “It is well with my soul” (Baba’s request) and the congregation joined in on the rest of the song. Our BIL Len led us all in singing with great enthusiasm. Our brother Leonard shared my mom’s eulogy with tears and laughter in Russian and English. Our family and friends from Bethany Baptist Russian church joined together for an impromptu singing of “Bless Thou the Lord”. My brother Steve gave the short and insightful message challenging us to see heaven as the place where we will see God and our Savior face to face as our reward. My nephews Levi and Joe led us in “Because He Lives” as the finale to our time.

Eight of my mom’s grandsons were the pallbearers.

We gathered around our Pop, Dzeda to comfort him and support him throughout the services.

We met at the graveside and participated in my mom’s burial.

My mom’s daughter’s, granddaughters, great granddaughter, and nieces placed a long stemmed pink rose on her casket before it was lowered into the grave.

In the old world tradition starting with my father and my siblings we all took a clump of earth and threw it in the grave upon the coffin.

We sang in Russian and English while the son’s, grandson’s, nephews and old friends of my mom’s used shovels to fill the grave with dirt.

We find this tradition of participating in the burial to be comforting and honoring and we leave knowing that we did this act in love.

Our son Dan with Dear.

Josh and Laura

My cousins on my father’s side of the family with their spouses.

The newest member of our extended family.

It was now time to head back to the church for our meal together. Friday was a very clear day in Southern California standards at Rose Hills. We could see all the way to Downtown Los Angeles. Rose Hills Memorial Park is the largest cemetery in the United States and is located in Whittier, California.

In my next post I’ll continue with the good times around the tables over our meal enjoying doing a little catch up with friends from our childhood.

It’s good to be home again. We are still trying to get our bodies on our West Coast clock instead of our British clock. I think a nice full week at home will do the trick. We left a very sunny Southern California and arrived to a rainy blustery Northwest. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

In Memory of…

In Memory of Nadia Bagdanov

April 8, 1924 – September 13, 2013

Services:

Viewing: Thursday September 26 beginning at 5:30 pm in the Garden View Chapel at Rose Hills Gate 1
Thursday Night Service: Thursday September 26 at 7pm in the Garden View Chapel at Rose Hills Gate 1
Funeral Service: Friday, September 27 at 10 am. Whittier Area Community Church
Graveside following service at Rose Hills (approximate time: noon)
Reception following Graveside at Whittier Area Community Church (approximate time: 1:00 pm)

These words were penned by Nadia’s granddaughter Melissa:

If I said that facing the impending death of someone as amazing as my grandma was hard, that would be an understatement. It doesn’t matter how much you try to prepare yourself because the truth is, you’re never really ready to face such a great loss…

As I sit here trying to process it all, her life, her death, the amazing gift of even being able to call her my grandma, the reality of having to live the rest of my life on this earth without her, I find myself overwhelmed at God’s love, His goodness and His perfect timing. Many of you who knew Baba know that she was a very strong, very stubborn woman and she demonstrated that until the very end. The doctors gave her less than week to live, but she and her stubbornness proved them wrong and instead, she lived almost 2 months. Because of that, my family was given a very special gift, a long goodbye…the opportunity to spend precious time with her all the while knowing that every goodbye could be our very last…until it finally was.

I know her memory will live on…we’ll be able to hear her critiquing our varenyiki every Christmas from now on (we promise not to make them look like slugs, Baba…we’ll aim for 5+’s now more than ever ), we’ll still be able to hear her snarky remarks during Dzeda’s speeches before family meals, and her telling us to love each other…something she did so well.

Until we see her again, we mourn our great loss but celebrate her GREAT gain. I have no doubt she heard the words, ‘Well done, good and faithful, servant’ when she entered the presence of her Savior this morning. She truly was an incredible example…an example whose footsteps have been etched so deeply in my life and heart. She will forever be one of my greatest role models and inspirations and I feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing legacy.
But words cannot even begin to express how much I will miss her…
I love you SO much, Baba

Please leave any comments here and I will be sure to pass them on to my Dad. I am sure he would love to hear words of encouragement or remembrance from you. Mom loved Jesus and was confident in her last days. She loved her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She will be missed and her words will encourage us for years to come. The Bagdanov family was blessed by God to have Nadia as our Mom.

I copied this post and information from my brother’s blog. If you live in Southern California feel free to attend my mom’s memorial service. We would be happy to welcome you and see you. I will be away from the computer for the next few days…

Celebrating 60!

We had a wonderful time in Downtown Seattle celebrating Dear on his 60th birthday. Josh, Laura and Katie brought the evening together and when we arrived home there was a card in the mail from Dan that topped the evening off with a good chuckle. Love our kids and their sense of humor and love for their dad!