Tag Archives: Family

Fall Treats!

My first night in California my family got together for a build your own taco night.

I decided this was a good time to spring this new dessert idea on them.

Have you seen these caramel bits? I found them at Target and it’s great not to have to unwrap each individual caramel to melt them. The recipe for these treats is at Very Culinary. I used pecan pieces instead of cashews or peanuts. I wasn’t in my own kitchen when I made these. The next time I make them I’ll chop the nuts finer and the result will be prettier. They still were delicious chunky and disappeared quickly.

My parents made their first outing since my mom’s stroke and came to the taco party. It was nice to have them there and it was good for them to get out of the apartment.

The evening ended with this beautiful sunset in Orange, California.

Sunday was a full day and I’ll share later. Hope the beginning of Fall has been good to you.

Day by Day ~ Hymn

 Karolina W. Sandell-berg ws born in Sweden. She wrote 650 hymns and was known as the Fanny Crosby of Sweden.

Day by Day ~

Day by day and with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best –
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure.
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Ev’ry day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure,
Is a charge that on Himself He laid,
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in ev’ry tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a Father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Words: Karolina W. Sandell-berg (1832 – 1903)

Septembers Past and Present

September 2007, Woodinville, Washington

September 2008 in California

September 2009 Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C.

September 2010, Beaufort, South Carolina

September 2011, Kirkland, Washington

September 2012, Seattle, Washington

September 18, 2012. My mom and dad at their apartment. My mom got home from the hospital on Tuesday and my sister Lana took this photo.

Plans are afoot for my time in Southern California this weekend. The first day of Fall will include a taco party with my family at my niece’s house. More big plans are afoot for October. I’ll be able to share more soon. Hope all is well with you my friends…

It’s Time for Fireworks…

…in my little corner of the world!

After 4 weeks of my new season of restraint I’m friends with my scale again.

One more quarter of a pound and I will have lost 10 pounds!! Yes, when you need to lose weight you count fractions of pounds lost.  I still have a way to go but I don’t cringe when I step on the scale anymore. That’s a good thing. Maybe in another 4 weeks I’ll report my progress again.

Before I go I wanted to share this photo of Josh and Laura at the last Sounders game we went to together.

Love these kids of ours! Love all our kids but I don’t have current photos of the others…

Today (Monday) I made borsch and I’ll share my method with new photos tomorrow. We always joke around our house that I am inspired to make soup on the hottest days of the year. Today wasn’t the hottest but it is warm again. We are still dry and will be for a while longer which means I have to keep watering.

Update on my mom: My mom’s MRI confirms the fact that she had a small stroke in the back of her brain. She will probably be able to go home tomorrow. Thanks so much for your concern and prayers for my mom. I so appreciate my blogging friends!!

Married for 69 Years!

Their wedding was in Iran (Persia) in 1943.

Here’s what they’ve got to show for all their years together and what they cherish along with the love they have for God and each other.

 

Add 15 more to this number for the more accurate count of their legacy which continues to grow.

 

 

 

 

So raise your glasses and toast to my mom and pop for all these years that God has been faithful to them!

Second through fifth photos were all taken by Jeremy Leffel our photographer and good friend at Andrew and Katie’s wedding.

Working Together…

…was a great gift Dear got for his birthday this year.

Dear has been working on a portion of this old house replacing the siding. He has found many interesting flaws in previous work that he had to repair.

Every job can go a lot easier with the right tools. This handy dandy tool called Gecko makes it simple to space each row of siding perfectly.

Sunday on Dear’s birthday Josh and Laura came over for the afternoon. Josh helped his dad with the siding. Laura and I worked on the meal we would have together when the work was done. The work went quickly with two workers.

A few more rows to go and this side of the house will be all done.

We are pleased with the horizontal siding compared to the vertical. It will be a while before it’s completely done and painted.

After the work was done for the day we had a meal together and this Pear Tart was Dear’s birthday cake this year. Everyone gave it a thumbs up. I’ll be posting the recipe on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog in October. The kids all got together and gave Dear a generous gift card to Cabella’s. He’ll be spending it soon.

The birthday dinner setting.

Thank you Josh and Laura for the gift of “help” that you shared with us.

I’m happy to report that all my pears have been taken care of. I washed and cut the final bunch today. I made 3 pear desserts, some pear sauce, a pear topping for pancakes, a batch of sugared pears went into my Smirntopf. Dear took a couple dozen to work to share. Josh and Laura took a dozen home to use. I still need to come up with one more recipe to use up the prepared sliced pears. And yes, I’m still restraining myself! Fall Women’s Bible Study starts today and I’m looking forward to it.

Today is 9/11 and I’m still remembering that day. I’ll leave you with this photo from the Sounders game on Saturday…

Praying for our nation and for our Armed Forces with a shout out to our Marine son-in-law, our Border Patrol Agents, and all our first responders. May God protect you all from evil.

Her Nest…

My mom was set free from the Care Center on Saturday and settled back into her little nest with Pop. They are both so happy that she is back home. Pop lowered their bed so she can get in and out more easily. He’s doing the cooking these days and family members are bringing in food, too. When I called them on Saturday night you could here the lightness in their voices of being together in their little apartment again. God is good.

Dear found this carefully constructed nest while doing some weeding.

Here we are in the last week of August. Do you have any plans for Labor Day Weekend?

Eleven!

“To get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with.”
– Mark Twain

“There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.”
– Martin Luther

We love our firstborn Josh and we love the girl he married, Laura. God in his goodness brought them together and we can’t be more pleased.

Happy 11th Anniversary Josh and Laura!

Photo taken by Jeremy Leffel Photography

Just a Year Ago…

…We were in Southern California having a bridal shower for Katie. It seems like ages ago.

I talked to my mom today and she is still experiencing lots of pain so will you please continue to pray for her and my dad. They were both crying which is hard to take over the phone and being 1200 miles away. I know she’ll get better but these are hard days to bear before the better days come.

My sister took this photo this evening and she reports that my mom is feeling a lot better since I talked to her this morning. I’m so happy to see this. Thank you Lana. My mom is learning to manage her pain.

A bizarre storm swept through Nuevo, Ca. and the surrounding area with tornado like effects on Sunday. My brother’s family lives there and they have been cleaning up. On one street a dozen power poles came down like dominoes. They had to work hard to keep mud from coming into their home. Yikes, now they are getting severe weather warnings again. So far there are no injuries that we’ve heard of. Needless to say there are power issues and with temps over a 100 that is not a good scenario…

Our refrigerator is getting repaired today sometime…remember our light issue that caused the light housing to melt. It’s after 4:30 and we’re still waiting. Did you ever read Waiting for Godot in your school years? Hopefully we aren’t waiting for Godot.

We are still having summer here in the Northwest and that has been nice. I’m going to have to water!!

Dan’s Digs…

Dan is living with friends on 30 acres. His space in the home is large and comfortable for him.

The property is not in a typical neighborhood for sure. This is the greeting you get as you head up the road to the house.

Mind the dust!

They have all the correct signage to hopefully protect their property.

We took a short tour of the property. It would take quite a long time to investigate all 30 acres.

The rock cropping was so interesting. I don’t know if I’m calling it the right thing but it was interesting to walk along and come upon these areas of rock.

The views were great!

They’ve got their chickens all cooped up and safe so they have fresh eggs.

They have a garden area fenced off to keep the deer and other animals out. These are some of the raspberries growing. They have lettuces, potatoes, and strawberries, too.

Beautiful views every where you look.

Besides the garden they built a greenhouse for the lady of the house.

Until Dan finds his own place this is a great place for him to call home.