Tag Archives: Family

Catching Up…

…after 4 days of no T.V. or Internet. We had a wonderful productive time with our son Dan and I will share more after I catch my breath. Here’s one view of his property in Eastern Washington.

I’ll be visiting your posts and see what I missed while I was away. I am praying for friends and family on the East Coast who are suffering from effects of hurricane Sandy. Katie and Andrew are safe in North Carolina. My niece’s family in New York are without power or running water. Thinking about our bloggy friends in New York especially Pat at Mille Fiori and Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen. How are you doing Vee? Hope everyone else is doing fine. Blessings…

For the Record

I wanted to have the cover of our new cookbook posted on my personal blog.

Right now Dear and I are celebrating family and sharing with our son one of the recipes I’m contributing to the family section.

Celebrations are a wonderful part of our lives. Are you celebrating something this last week of October and beginning of November?

No Internet…

…or TV! I will be way out of the loop until the middle of next week.

Spending time away at our son’s new home. We are walking the acreage, checking out the old barn, spending time in his amazing shop. I’m sure by the time you are reading this my camera is slung over my shoulder and I’m clicking away. My son is shaking his head at me but grinning all the same. I brought my boots along. We’ll see if he likes the house warming gifts we bought. I’ll share some of the highlights next week.

So long, Farewell…


The kids said their goodbyes to Dear as he headed off to his business meeting.

So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight

Andrew, Katie and I headed to the Marriott rewards members room for happy hour. It was a very nice space with lots of comfy chairs and beautiful views. They also served up a nice buffet of hors d’oeuvres.

I hate to go and leave this pretty sight

So long, farewell
Auf Wiedersehen, adieu

Adieu, adieu
To you and you and you

So long, farewell
Au revoir, Auf Wiedersehen

We enjoyed our time together relaxing before it was time to say goodbye till the next time we meet, hopefully at Christmas and for Katie’s birthday on December 27th!

Are you tired of me saying that we are in the midst of another busy week? I’m cooking up some of our middle son’s favorites to take across the Cascades to his new home on Friday. Dear took a couple days off of work so we could put in some good time checking out Dan’s new digs and helping him with some projects while we are there. Since we’ll be busy with projects I decided to make and freeze some food so we wouldn’t have to think about what to cook. I was excited about seeing Katie and Andrew and now I’m excited about seeing our Dan and his new home. God is good to us…

Our Atlanta Adventures Continued…

Restoring some of my photos…

Last Sunday after we were done at the aquarium we all felt the need for some sustenance. We walked through Centennial Park again on our way to a late lunch.

 

 

 

We found out quickly that most restaurants downtown did not open for lunch on Sundays. We were happy to find Meehan’s open.

We got a nice booth and enjoyed watching and cheering along with the local crowd during the Atlanta Falcons vs. Oakland Raiders game.

 

We were all happy with our food orders. I’m going to be trying to duplicate this appetizer I ordered.

 

Dates, goat cheese, bacon and beets. They were very yummy! When we walked out of the Pub full and satisfied,

 

Katie spotted a little something from close to our home in Washington. A wine barrel from Chateau Ste Michelle.

We passed another pub on our way back to the hotel and of course I’d take a photo of this great British phone booth.

Back at the hotel Dear rushed to get ready for his meeting and Katie, Andrew and I kicked back for another hour or two before they caught their taxi for the airport.

Hope your Sunday is going well. We had a great time at church this morning and are now waiting for Josh and Laura to come for Dear’s famous Swedish pancakes before we head to our Sounders last regular season game. It’s Fan Appreciation Night and we are hoping for a win against Dallas to end the season with a plus! How’s your Sunday going?

Business Bonus!

It’s a privilege to tag along with Dear on some of his business trips. His trip to Atlanta had a priceless bonus connected to it because Katie and Andrew were able to fly the short distance from Jacksonville, North Carolina to Atlanta to spend 24 hours with us!

Our flights arrived 20 minutes apart in Atlanta on Saturday. Andrew and Katie arrived first so they met us at our gate. Since 9-11 it’s a rare opportunity to be met at the gate!

We got a taxi to our hotel and after we checked in we took a short walk to dinner at Max Lager’s.

Here’s what we were served…

Ribs for Dear

Caesar Cilantro Salad and lamb sliders for me.

Katie and Andrew split a steak with the trimmings. And for dessert we all shared this…

Photo ops on the way to Centennial Park.

We passed the World of Coca-Cola on our way and found out pretty quick that the Olympic park was shut down to the public because of a Light the Night event. Travel buses and people galore with a police presence I haven’t seen anywhere before.

We headed back to the hotel and chatted in the lobby till bedtime on Saturday. We were meeting on Sunday at 7:45 to fit in all we wanted to do before Katie and Andrew had to head back to the airport and Dear had to catch the shuttle to his business event.

Sunday was a fun packed day with lots of walking…

I’m off  in my head again about what day of the week it is. Hope all is well with everyone in blogdom!

A Glimpse of Atlanta…

…with more to come!

 

Oh what fun to see Katie and Andrew. We made the most of our 24 hours together and I’ll share a lot more with you. It’s Sunday night and Katie and Andrew are at the airport. Dear is at his company meeting. I’m alone in our nice room watching Amazing Race. Tomorrow Dear and I have a few more hours to site see before we head to the airport.

The Marriott Marquis was a great place to stay. Looking up made your head spin…

This will be another week where I start behind…but it was worth it. God is good…all the time!

Joy!

Thank you to all of you who prayed that the Marine’s would let Andrew come to Atlanta with Katie. The powers that be approved his trip and we are pleased and filled with joy!

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby this week and they had a lot of goodies on sale for 40% off and other items for 50% off. I bought that Joy sign that was in their Christmas section but it’s staying up at my house all year long. They also had all their glassware at 50% off so I bought some glass containers for my Smirntopf. I’ve been waiting for this kind of sale to purchase them.

Sure hope my Smirntopf turns out well. It will look pretty in these containers for gift giving.

After Thanksgiving we’ll start thinking about giving the Smirntopf a taste test and getting it ready to package for gifts.

Today I’m thankful for…

~ God making it possible for Andrew to come to Atlanta.

~ Our trip to Atlanta where we get to see Andrew and Katie.

~ Our second cookbook and all the encouraging words we heard from all our friends in blogdom.

~ Getting a couple more of my recipes for the cookbook completed.

~ Our small group and the 2 new couples that have joined us.

~ Dear’s promotion at work.

~ A day off today to just putz around and get ready for Atlanta.

~ Our Women’s Bible Study and the beginning of our study of the book of John.

~ That our son Dan is now the proud owner of his own home and land and has slept there for a week!

~ That our son Josh was recognized in his industry for his humanitarian endeavors.

Last but not least…I’ve lost 12 pounds!!!

What are you thankful for…

Atlanta, Georgia

 

On Saturday Dear is headed to Atlanta, Georgia for a business meeting and I’m tagging along. We are staying downtown in the Peach Tree area. The exciting thing about this trip is that Katie and Andrew are meeting us there for overnight since they are just an hour away from Atlanta by air. We are still waiting to see if the Marines will allow Andrew to stray that far from the Base. Katie will come regardless. We hope that both of them can come. We haven’t seen them since the wedding in March.

The burning question is how much we can jam into our 2 days and how much we’ll be able to experience that is “Atlanta”. Any suggestions from any of you would be appreciated! Did I tell you I’m excited to see our East Coast kids???

Boy Oh Boy!

The reason I originally made travel arrangements for Southern California was to attend a lifelong friend’s baby shower. Her mother and I were best Russian buddies in our college years and onward. Our families attended the same Russian Baptist church in Los Angeles. We sang in the Russian Youth Choir and in the 70’s we were in a Christian Rock Band that toured England in the summers. Heidi sang at Dear and my wedding. Lots of history.

The theme that my friend Heidi and the new mom-to-be, Nikki, decided on was a nautical one. Perfect for celebrating the soon to arrive little boy.

Heidi and Ken have a beautiful home in the Orange Hill area of Southern Calfiornia.

This is the mother-to-be, Nicole. When she was born she lived across the street from us.

My friend Heidi and Nicole.

The food was delicious and listed on a fun Nikki Cravings Menu.

These are all my sisters with me.  My SIL and two of my nieces were also at the shower.

My girlfriend Jeanie who married my cousin Jim was there, too. Our friendships intersect with a lot of people from church, the rock group and extended families.

We arrived for the shower in bright sunshine, sat down to our meal in the shade of the early evening, and left when the sun was setting…

It’s nice to be back home with Dear. I was upgraded to first class again and had a nice conversation with an ER doctor who sat next to me on the plane.

My Wednesday will be busy as I’m getting ready to travel to Canada on Thursday. I’ll be scarce till Friday. Hope all is well where you are…