Tag Archives: Family
Memorial Day Weekend ~ 2009
I’m busy weeding, cleaning, cooking, shopping and spending time with my kids in Seattle so I won’t be participating in any weekly blog carnivals until I get back to my simple life at the condo in Southern California! I’ll come around and visit as much as I can during my “time to rest my body” breaks!
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’s Fave Five ~ May 22
Susanne at Living to Tell the Story started Friday’s Fave Five for us to think back on our past week and remember our favorite things. Visit her by clicking above and join in…
1. On Monday I drove to my mom and dad’s to spend some time with them, my brother,SIL, and their daughter before they flew back to Texas. My cousin was there too and it was good to catch up with her.
2. Dear installed new blinds in our bedroom and I’ve really been pleased with the new feel and light in the room.
3. Dear ordered me a new lens for my big camera so I can zoom farther. Again I’m in learning curve mode. I look forward to practicing over Memorial Weekend.
4. Even though I do not have to work outside the home in this stage of my life everyday is usually filled with things I need to do. On Thursday I had a totally free day and it was fun to go to Ventura and thrift shop and site see without looking at my watch. I ate at this great Irish Pub & Restaurant called Dargan’s and I’ll be going back with Dear sometime soon.
5. Today Dear and I fly to Seattle for 5 days and this is my top favorite thing! I get to see my kids, dust my house, run the lawnmower, go to Goodwill, sleep in a Kingsize bed, walk up and down stairs all day, walk around a yard, see my kids. I’ll be practicing with my camera and new lens in the Seattle area. Hopefully I’ll have something fun to show next Friday…Lord willing.
I hope to get around to as many of you as I can before we hit the freeway to LAX. For those of you in the U.S.A. a very Happy Memorial Weekend to you.
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.
Miss Hope’s First Visit to Disneyland!
Miss Hope’s mom Mandy, Me, Michelle, Melissa, Lana G!, Jackson and Kathy met at Disneyland on Wednesday to enjoy Miss Hope’s first trip to Disneyland.
We started with lunch at the Carnation Corner Cafe.
We decided to start the fun with the “It’s a Small World” ride.
On to the Carousel. This was Miss Hope’s first ride on one. She was so interested in everything and when the ride came to the end she cried when Aunt Lana took her off her horse!
Sisters …so cute!
We headed for Toon Town next and let Miss Hope travel on foot for a while…
We enjoyed so many culinary favorites while at the Big D! Frozen chocolate covered bananas were a big hit with everyone including Miss Hope!
Time to head to Pooh Corner…
Miss Hope was thrilled with Winnie the Pooh. Jackson watched over her to make sure she was O.K.
She wasn’t as familiar with Tigger!
Okay! This is my favorite expression so far. Doesn’t it look like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar?
We ended our time on the Tea Cups!
And left the park with Aunt Lana’s souvenir gift for Miss Hope…
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.
Debbee’s Birthday Dinner ~ Laguna Beach
On Tuesday 19 of us got together in Laguna Beach for our niece Debbee’s Birthday Dinner. Laguna Beach is a beautiful coastal city South of Newport Beach. I will be posting many of my beach photos from this beautiful area but for now I’ll pick this one…
I got to Laguna Beach earlier than everyone else and ended up taking a few hundred photos!!
Las Brisas is an upscale Mexican Restaurant without your typical combination platters or prices that you’d find at most other Mexican Restaurants. The view is gorgeous and the food was delicious.
Debbee, the guest of honor. Svetlana and Cvetlana (better known as Lana G!). The 4 sisters, Lana, Ellen, Kathy and Vera. The young people Michelle, Caleb, Levi, Jackson, Debbee, and Melissa. These are some of my nieces and nephews and my grand nephew.
The many faces of Miss Hope! She enjoyed the chips and some asparagus.
We left the restaurant making plans for some of us to meet up at Disneyland the following day. I’m getting that post ready and will hit publish soon!
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.
And the Fun Begins…
The fun has just begun! This will be a week of festivities that I’m sure will prove to me that I’m not getting any younger! Warning: This post is going to to be packed full with photo collages. Get your scroll fingers ready!
My kids sent me this lovely bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day. I also received a phone call from each of them which always makes my day! After church on Mother’s Day we headed to Whittier for lunch at my sister Kathy’s house. We managed to have 6 of us siblings, our parents, 4 nieces, 3 nephews, 3 SIL’s, 3 BIL’s, and our grandnephew all together.
My parents were thrilled when Miss Hope arrived. She lives in Dallas and we don’t see her as often as we’d like.
Miss Hope’s parents were there, too! Isn’t it funny how the youngest one always seems to steal the show? I mean Hope not my brother Leonard, although…come to think of it, he’s the youngest sibling and he steals the show, too!!
Before we head into Hope overload here are a few shots of some other family members :0). My sister Kathy, my brother Tim and Dear, my brother Leonard and Mandy, my sil Letty, and nieces Melissa and Debbee.
My dad followed Hope around till he ran out of energy.
Hope enjoyed following our Grand nephew Jackson around.
Hope sat still for about 20 seconds while she opened this gift from Baba and Deda. Then she was off …
…. to do some shopping…
It was warm on Sunday and what a treat these homemade tangerine popsicles were! My sister and BIL Len have a tangerine tree in their backyard.
We are trying to see as much of Leonard, Mandy and Hope as we can while they are in Southern California. Tuesday we are celebrating our niece Debbee’s birthday in Laguna Beach and then on Wednesday some of us are headed to Disneyland. If I’m absent from Blog Land 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.
Happy Mother’s Day Mom…
Mother Knows
Nobody knows of the work it takes
To keep the house together,
Nobody knows of the steps it takes-
Nobody knows but mother.
Nobody listens to childish woes,
Which kisses only smother;
Nobody’s pained by the naughty blows-
Nobody, only mother.
Nobody knows of the sleepless care
Bestowed on baby brother;
Nobody knows of the tender prayer-
Nobody knows but mother.
Nobody knows the lessons taught
Of loving one another,
Nobody knows of the patience sought-
Nobody, only mother.
Nobody knows the anxious fears
Lest darlings may not weather
Storms of life in coming years-
Nobody knows but mother.
Nobody knows of the tears that start,
The grief she gladly smothers;
Nobody knows of the breaking heart-
Nobody, only mother.
Nobody clings to the wayward child,
Though scorned by every other,
Leads it so gently from pathways wild-
Nobody can but mother.
Nobody knows of the hourly prayer
For him, our erring brother,
Pride of her heart, so pure and fair-
Nobody, only mother.
ht: Poem from Moral Lessons of Yesteryear
To all the mom’s out there who come by here I wish for you a wonderful Mother’s Day filled with thanksgiving to God for giving you the privilege of being a Mom.
I posted this last year and decided to post it again. I’ll be posting more photos from our actual Mother’s Day get-together later after the festivities this afternoon. Blessings…
Our Niece’s Wedding…
I was able to pirate these photos off my niece Annie from the wedding in Orlando. The wedding was supposed to be in Cancun this last Saturday but because of the Swine flu it was cancelled in Cancun and within 24 hours rescheduled in Orlando for the same Saturday. Truly amazing what they were able to pull off changing the venue in 24 hours time!!
Jenna is our oldest niece. She is the daughter of Dear’s brother Terry who is married to Christina. They have two other daughters. Annie was born the same year our first son Josh was born and Kacie just turned 18!
The bride, our beautiful niece Jenna…
The three sisters…
The parents of the bride, Dear’s brother Terry and Christina…
The new family…
Our son Josh and his beautiful wife Laura. They were the only ones in our family who could attend the wedding.
Cousins minus the bride…
Cousins Annie and Josh both born in 1979! Josh already had his birthday in January and Annie will be celebrating hers on May 16th!
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.
Tablescape Thursday ~ Simply Meat & Potatoes!
It’s time for Tablescapes from Bloggy world. Susan is the brain child for this weekly event and it really is fun to see the creativity out there. My confession this week (I haven’t confessed in a while) is that I’ve had to give myself the restriction of only buying a bargain plate that I find at my thrift stores if it is made in England! My condo cannot accommodate many more plates people!!
When I was home in Washington in March I set this simple table for a dinner I made for my kids. This was the first time I tried fanning the napkins and I like how that looked. We had lamb loin chops, baked potatoes, salad with Persian dressing, and then an apple strudel for dessert that I purchased from a local bakery…
To see more Tablescapes visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch…
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.
Foodie Friday ~ Cinco de Mayo
Our theme for this Friday’s Foodie is Cinco de Mayo! Odale! Gollum at Designs by Gollum is our trusty hostess for this event. I’m sharing a collage of a Mexican table and food we made when my SIL and brother were visiting us in Washington over Thanksgiving.
Letty made the Mexican Rice and she uses whole pinto beans and then mashes them herself and reheats them to make the refried beans. I really enjoy them better than getting the already refried in a can. For our soft tacos we used the slow cooked pork with garnish of cilantro, green onions, cheese, and salsa. The Salsa was homemade by Letty, too.
Today I made Tex-Mex chili for dinner.
I cooked the chunky ground beef with onion and some seasoning. I added the packets from the ready made chili spice mix some chopped tomatoes, a can of pinto beans with jalapeno added, and a can of kidney beans.
When I serve it I have shredded cheese, fresh tomato chunks, cilantro, avocado, and green onion to add as desired. I usually also bake some corn bread to go along with!
Happy early Cinco de Mayo to all you Foodies!
To see more Foodie posts visit Gollum at Designs by Gollum!
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. 