Tag Archives: Family

Friday’s Fave Five ~ Seattle

So it’s time for Friday’s Fave Five and all of mine come to your from the State of Washington this week. Dear and I will be heading back to Southern California on Sunday. Boohoo.

1. Spending some one on one and one on four time with our children in Washington! Our oldest son took me to a soccer game last Saturday which was so much fun. Katie and I did some shopping on Monday and she found her strappy gold shoes she needed for an upcoming wedding she’s in. Working around the house with our son Dan. Having Easter Brunch together and Taco Night. Good times.

2. Easter Tradtions! I love Easter and it’s always fun to do the traditional things each year. This year my sister Lana G! and I even made the traditional Russian Easter Bread and Cheese topping. Ok, I keep mentioning that but it was a big accomplishment for us and now we know we can do it and we’re so excited we can have fresh Kulich every year if we want it! Coloring Easter Eggs…it’s so much fun to watch Katie get creative with the colors on the eggs. Going to Easter Service. There’s something special about Easter Sunday at church. We go to church most every Sunday but Easter Sunday always stands out to me. Repeating the traditional Easter greeting to everyone we see on Easter…Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

3. Spending time in Downtown Seattle with Dear. We had a hair appointment together and then headed downtown to have lunch at the Pink Door. It happened to be one of the sunny days in Western Washington so it was nice to walk around and enjoy Downtown! The Market and all the fresh flowers, the tall buildings, our yummy lunch and buying dessert for the taco dinner we were having later that night with our kids.

4. Fresh mowed grass! I really enjoy mowing the lawn at our home here. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as seeing a freshly mowed neat looking yard! Dear does the weed-wacking and I do the mowing. The first Spring mow is always a bit time consuming and I had to empty the bag more often…

5. Flowers! It was great to see flowers blooming in the yard when we arrived. My Lenten Rose was full of blooms which made me smile. I love the shape and colors of this plant. Seeing all the fresh cut flowers at Pike Place Market was great, too. So many beautiful varieties of tulips and daffodils. I bought a bunch of yellow with orange daffodils to bring home for Taco Night!

Thanks to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story was hosting this weekly event. It’s good to look back and think about the good times and blessings we enjoy each week.

Antique Easter Postcards ~

Greetings from the beautiful wet Puget Sound Area of Washington!!

I wanted to share these Antique Easter postcards that Dear’s Great, great, Aunt Emma received in the early 1900’s.

And then here’s a classic Easter shot from the 50’s of my sisters and me!

Vera, Kathy and Ellen b. We always got dressed up for Easter with a new Easter dress that my mom would usually sew for us. White patent leather shoes and white socks and a cute little purse finished off the outfit.

I took a stroll around the yard yesterday and I was so happy to see my Lenten Rose in full bloom for Easter.

Lana G! and I worked hard yesterday baking Kulich, (Russian Easter Bread), for the first time all by ourselves. In the past we’ve always watched my mom make it or were part of a group effort in making it. We had many questions in our heads yesterday wondering about the instructions and if we were doing things correctly. We were exhausted by the end of the baking process! Lana re-wrote the recipe and instructions so that someone who has never seen the process would understand what to do better…

My mother wants us to bring her back a piece so she can see how we did. Oh the pressure!!

Today we will decorate the tops of the Kulich with some frosting and sprinkles, color eggs and shop for our portion of the Easter dinner tomorrow.

The most exciting thing that is happening today, though, is that my son Josh is taking me to the Seattle Sounders Game tonight!! That’s MLS soccer for those of you who don’t follow soccer. My son Dan is giving up his season ticket and his scarf for me tonight! Whoohoo! Of course you’ll see and hear more about it later…

Tomorrow we’ll be celebrating with millions of people all around the world that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and was resurrected from the dead with the power to save anyone who believes in Him. Now that is something to celebrate everyday! Blessings on you and yours!

My Mom~

I wanted to give you all an update on my mom. She’s doing a lot better and is healing nicely. She even answered the phone when I called last night and sounded upbeat. So again thank you so much for your concern and your prayers. It means a lot. Oh and today is her actual birthday! I’m driving out to see her today to wish her a Happy Birthday in person and see for myself how her face is doing!

Happy 85th Birthday Mom!

My other update is that Dear and I will be flying to Seattle tomorrow for 10 days to celebrate Easter with our Northwest loved ones. I hope to continue posting but if I’m a bit slow you’ll understand why.

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Father & Daughter

My Outdoor photos this week were all taken on an early morning walk at Emma Wood State Beach when our daughter Katie was spending a week with us.

Katie is a lot like her father. She and he tend to think the same way. It’s always fun to see them interact with each other.

Doesn’t the vegetation at the beach look so alive in the Spring!

This evening or tomorrow for more Outdoor Wednesday posts please visit our hostess Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.

Friday’s Fave Five!

This past week has been full of some memorable events. Seems most of these events centered around food. Makes me wonder if I should just give up on losing weight, but this is a post about favorite things so onward and upward.

Topping the list of favorites was the fact that our daughter was here with us for several days. We walked on the beach, did some vintage shopping, attended her good friends wedding, and ate a lot of good food.

Worship on Sunday was really powerful with a challenging sermon about the Holy Spirit. There was a wonderful sense of unity in the Body that was really cool.

Katie and I made a trip to Glendale Forest Lawn and it was stimulating to see so many beautiful works of art. The grounds are so well kept and the little churches are filled with beautiful stained glass.

This is the Wee Kirk O’ the Heather at Glendale Forest Lawn

One of the favorite food items this past week was this hot fudge sundae Katie and I shared at the Tam O’ Shanter after our trip to Glendale Forest Lawn. It is served with the original fabulous C.C.Brown’s hot fudge that seriously tastes like very good candy! I can’t remember the last time I had a Hot Fudge Sundae! I’m salivating just thinking about it!

On Wednesday I met my Women’s Bible Study ladies at Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Fran’s birthday. We had such a great time laughing and enjoying each others company and celebrating Fran! Ok I’ll go ahead and show you what I ate…

So anyone want to place a bet on whether or not I gained weight last week??

Please visit the lovely Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in the fun or to see other Fave Fives!

 

Time for Recuperating…

The Seagulls can relax now, Katie’s flight back to Seattle was early this morning and we were on the road at 5:30 AM. I made the round trip and was home at 7:30 AM. If I was a napping kind of person that’s exactly what I’d be doing right now. It was so nice to have Katie around here for the week and now my body will have to be eased back into something more normal for me. I hope to be able to work up a post on the wedding and more about Forest Lawn Glendale.

Hope your week is going well. Blessings…

 

Welcome Spring!

Ellen b. has been busy running here and there with her daughter Katie while she is visiting us in Southern California from Seattle. On Saturday we will be on the road for several hours to attend a wedding of Katie’s good friend in San Bernardino County. We are meeting my brother and SIL in Redlands for lunch before the 3:00 wedding. I attended the University of Redlands for my freshman year and I hope we can get in a quick drive by to see what the campus looks like today. I attended there in 1968-69. Wow 40 years ago!! I’m not participating in any of my regular weekly memes until Katie leaves because I do not have time to return comments and that really makes me feel bad.

Hope that Spring is showing much promise to you all! Blessings…

 

Seattle Sounders 3 ~ N.Y. Red Bulls 0 ~ Welcome Spring!!

What fun for Seattle last night and my sons, nephew David and friend Beau! They attended the Inaugural game for the Seattle Sounders and they got to see them win with a sell-out crowd who were very loud. Seattle fans are known for cheering loudly.

I really enjoy seeing my sons together having a good time!

The signs of Spring that I enjoy!

Easter, Renewal, Strawberries, Flowers, Bird Nests, and Soccer!

Happy Spring Everyone. May this be the year of fresh revival in your Spirit, Soul, Heart and Mind!

 

Topanga Canyon & The Seattle Sounders!

Today Katie and I met the bride to be with her parents in Topanga Canyon at Hidden Treasures Vintage Store. This is the shop where Gabbie bought her wedding dress. If you really enjoy vintage this is a great destination.

This shop is in an old house on Topanga Canyon Blvd. about halfway into the Canyon from the Valley.

Our Katie does vintage well and it was fun to see the things she tried on. She left with a new (old) coat, a sweater and a hat.

Gabbie bought some tablecloths for the reception. We had lunch together before we parted ways looking forward to seeing each other again at the wedding, especially seeing Gabbie in her Vintage Dress she chose for the wedding.

On the way home we had to pull over to take pictures of this Pink Pig flying.  “When Pigs Fly” was the chance the New York Red Bulls needed tonight against the Seattle Sounders in their debut opening season game! The Sounders beat them handily 3-0. Our sons have season tickets and enjoyed the game live. We were so happy for them that they could enjoy this big win!

I knew after seeing Fredy Montero #17 in Ventura a month ago that he would be someone to watch. Well done Sounders!!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage unless I pay them a lot of money. I’m slowly cleaning up many posts from this time period and deleting their ugly grey and black boxes with a ransom request. Such a time consuming bother.

Family Celebration

After I picked up Katie from LAX we headed East to Whittier for a family gathering to celebrate Katie being here and Letty and my birthday.

My sister Kathy and my mom. My niece Michelle and Katie. My sister Vera and SIL Letty.

My niece Michelle and Melissa with my Grand Nephew Jackson. Michelle, Jessica, and my sister Lana. Kathy and Lana. Oops…I managed to miss getting my niece Debbee in any of these and she’s probably quite happy about that :0)

For dinner everyone brought along a favorite Chinese take-out item to share and my mom made this birthday cake for Letty and me along with those flaky delicate yummies on the right which are called Kudrishky. Kudrishky are a light flaky Russian dessert that is made from a dough rolled very thin, curled and fried. After they cool you dust them with powdered sugar.

The birthday girls! These extended birthday celebrations are a fun deal!