Tag Archives: Family

Tablescape Tuesday ~ Celebrations!

Before I dive into some old and new Christmas Tablescapes I have a couple fun tables from the long Thanksgiving Weekend. I’m at my home in the Seattle area instead of at the Condo in Southern California right now and we’ve had some fun celebrations with my kids and extended family. My brother and SIL from California have been here with us in Washington for Thanksgiving Weekend.

My SIL Letty is Mexican and she was cooking us a homemade Mexican meal so my sister Lana G! and my daughters decided to create an impromptu Mexican themed scape. We had a lot of good laughs creating this one. We went with the red, green, and white colors from the Mexican Flag. The cervesas were mandatory for a good Mexican scape according to my SIL Letty! The red and black center fabric on the table is actually one of my daughters skirts.

Here’s proof that people sometimes even sit and eat at my scaped tables :0)

My DIL Laura is celebrating a big birthday this next week and before our company and Dear and I left town we decided to do a birthday celebration on Sunday night. We went with a simple tablescape. I hadn’t made a turkey yet because we were invited to friends on Thanksgiving so I made the turkey and all the trimmings for Laura’s birthday dinner.

For those of you who were wondering if I’d ever get around to cooking while I was home here’s the proof. We enjoyed another meal around our table and for Laura’s birthday cake I made the Pumpkin Praline Trifle that I posted before on the blog.

It’s been wonderful to be with my adult children during my time in Washington. I’m here until Saturday the 6th of December and then I head back to California.

For more Tablescapes visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

 

A Shopping We Will Go…

But before the ladies head out on their annual Day After Thanksgiving Trip to the Goodwill I wanted to post some photos from our Thanksgiving Day Festivities…

The Day started off with a beautiful Sunrise.

We joined the Spiro family and friends for the Thanksgiving meal.

The court jesters created another group game for everyone to enjoy.

We slept off the effects of the turkey and now we’re off and running to see what deals we can find and then we are headed to Madame Fifi’s for tea at 1:00. The fun just never stops. See you soon…

Thankful in Washington…

What fun we had waiting together at the Long Beach Airport for our flight to Seattle. My brother Tim and his wife Letty, my sister Lana, and Dear. We were all set and ready to go in total vacation attitude. Seattle here we come.

Got home to a very clean house with fresh linens on Dear and my bed and in the Guest room for our Thanksgiving company, Tim and Letty. Thank you Katie! The maple tree has lost all it’s leaves and our son Dan had them all raked up and the yard looked nice. The pot belly stove is warming up the house and we are settling in for a wonderful holiday with family and friends. The view from my bedroom window couldn’t be better!

I hope you all have a wonderful extended weekend here in the U.S.A. and enjoy your turkey and all the trimmings with joy and thanksgiving. Blessings…

Married Molokan Women

This is a photo taken in Mexico sometime in the late 40’s I think. A Molokan Community was established in Baja California years ago. This shows the typical Molokan outfit that married Molokan women wear to Church functions then and now. The head coverings are called a Kasinka. If you visited a Molokan church today you’d see this exact look that the women are sporting here. I think it’s a wonderful photo and wanted to add it to my Molokan Posts. My other posts besides my Russian Recipes can be found here and here. If anyone out there knows who these ladies are just leave a comment and let me know. Most of my immediate family left the Molokan church in the 60’s. I left well before I’d have to wear this outfit and I never intended to marry a Molokan so I never was in the position to have to wear it…

 

Trim the Tree Thursday

Brett is hosting a fun meme on Thursdays called Trim the Tree. You can see details here. The first Trim the Tree was last Thursday.

I’m starting simple and showing you a collage of some of my Christmas decor that also tells some of my story.

I was married to Dear in December of 1974 and the Christmas 1974 Ornament was a Wedding Shower gift from friends of ours Bob and Lela. Then there’s Jesus in the manger, Dear and I are both committed followers of Jesus Christ and our Christmas celebrations are centered around his coming “at just the right time”.  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  The Wise men, could have been more than three :0) I love the story of the Wisemen who sought out the star to see prophecy fulfilled. I’m still on the look out for a Nativity Set. We have a little wooden set that I bought when the kids were little so they could play with it. The last little box to explain are ornaments that picture our 3 children, Josh in the mit, Dan in the soccer ball, and Katie in the Angel. We have been blessed to have these three unique individuals in our lives and since 2001 we have been blessed again with our DIL Laura who married Josh.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of our Christmas Trimmings in the weeks to come. You can see some lovely trees and trimmings by heading over to Brett’s at The Southern Hostess.

***and NO, my Christmas decorations are not up yet, these photos are from my archives 2007!  :0)

 

Pink Saturday ~ My Babushka Vera

This is my Maternal Grandmother at my sister Vera’s wedding in 1969. She looks so sweet in pink! I really loved my grandmother. She only had one hand. One of her arms was amputated from her elbow down when she was young. She immigrated to the U.S.A. alone without my grandfather who was murdered in Iran in the late 40’s. She did more with her one hand than a lot of people do with two. Her embroidery was amazing. My Babushka Vera died in March of 1980. She was a Godly woman who prayed for all her grandchildren and for all her grandchildren’s future spouses. I am so looking forward to seeing her in heaven.

The tablecloth above was the cloth she embroidered for our sister Vera as a wedding gift.

This is a tablecloth and napkins my babushka embroidered for us as a wedding gift. In keeping with the Pink Saturday theme here’s another tablecloth I have that she embroidered.

 

For more Pinkness visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

 

Fridays Fave 5

It’s time for Fridays Fave 5 where we think about the last week and what some of our favorite things were. You can join in anytime by visiting Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Last Saturday we hosted an Open House at our condo for family and friends. A time to eat, drink and be merry. It was a fun encouraging time being with these wonderful people…

2. On Sunday we had the most wonderful church service. It was encouraging and Jesus was lifted high and given the praise and honor He alone deserves.

3. Willow had a day off because of Veteran’s Day/(Remembrance Day in Canada) so we had a morning walk and chose a new route. It was fun to see new things. There were poinsettias growing on the side of the road and we saw lions and tigers and bears oh my! Oops! I mean horses and pigs and sheep oh my! We also saw deer again on another walk this week…

4. I always enjoy going to our regular spots to eat here in town. It was fun going to El Tecolote with Dear and just sitting and relaxing and debriefing with him.

5. I’ve enjoyed thinking and planning Thanksgiving weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve been at my home in Washington and I’m looking forward to spending some time there with my kids. This just might be in my fave fives next week too! :0)

 

Tablescape Tuesday ~ Open House Buffet

Update: You can find the Pumpkin Praline Trifle recipe here. The Bavarian Apple Torte is here. I’ll be posting the Mount Rainier Chili recipe here.

We had a open house this past Saturday at our little condo in Southern California. There were 16 of us that enjoyed each others company and some food and drink.

I went with an autumn theme for the buffet table which triples as our dining table and my computer table every other day. It’s always funny when I plan events like this because I get a bit confused about what I have here at the condo and what is at my home in Washington. I always have to improvise because the majority of my stuff is in Washington. Mish Mosh works for me in these situations.

These are some of the food and drink we served. Our main course was Mount Rainier Chili that is made with white beans and chicken. We had a salad and lots of yummy bread from the Diamond Jewish Bakery on Fairfax in L.A. My BIL Nick and sister Vera always stop there on the way to our condo and load us up with Rye, Pumpernickle, and Challah. We had a cheese tray with fruit and salami, bruschetta, guacamole. Our desserts were a Pumpkin Praline Trifle and a Bavarian Apple Tart. I’ll be posting the recipes later this week. They are both great desserts. Most of the serving pieces are from thrift stores and target clearance. Instead of a punch bowl I’ve been using this great glass jug that I got at target for $12.95. It has a lid, too.

We were blessed with some great company at the open house. Friends from our past and new friends and family. I didn’t get a photo of everyone. My brother Tim and his wife Letty, my niece Michelle and her husband Ryan, My bloggy walking buddy Willow and her husband the Professor, and our old friends Ken and Heidi. My sister Vera and her husband Nick, my mom and dad, sister Kathy, and grand nephew Jackson didn’t get in any of the photos.

For more Tablescapes you can visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch on Tuesday.