Hello May!

Early this morning on this first day of May I wandered around our yard and clicked away…

So full, so lush, so many shades of green to enjoy.

Our state flower is the Rhododendron and some of our bushes are blooming.

The soft pink Rose Bud Azaleas bloom later than the bright ones in the next photo.

I’ll give my lilac blooms till Sunday to completely open up and then I’ll bring them inside to enjoy their fragrance.

Thankful today and joining Susanne’s Fave Five to say…

Thank you Lord for Spring flowers and the month of May.

Thank you Lord for a yard that I can enjoy your creation in.

Thank you Lord for a home I can relax in.

Thank you Lord for friends and family and the peace we share.

Thank you Lord that you are the same yesterday, today and forever and we don’t have to fear the ups and downs of our culture.

What are you looking forward to in the Merry Month of May?!

Reflecting…

Reflecting on my many blessings this past week and thanking God.

This was taken out one of the windows at the Bellevue Art Museum in Bellevue, Washington.

1. A super filled Saturday where I re-connected with dear friends from my church growing up, my high school, and with my family and dear old Pop. It was good to see so many people I love in only 12 hours!

2. Beautiful Spring blooms are everywhere here in the Pacific Northwest and it makes me smile to look out my own kitchen window and see these Dogwood blooms.

3. A successful shopping trip where our daughter found her dress for a wedding she is in and I found a comfortable pair of shoes for our son’s wedding. Little blessings that will make for a more comfortable day of celebrating!

4. A Low Key weekend ahead. The last three weekends have been filled to the brim and it’s nice to know this weekend we’ll be able to catch our breath.

At the Art Museum…

5. Besides shopping on Tuesday Katie and I hopped across the street from the mall to the Bellevue Art Museum and enjoyed Madeleine Albright’s collection of pins together. No photos allowed of the pins but we found some other things to photograph!

Katie took this one looking up. Always remember to look up!

Do you have some blessings to reflect on this week? Here’s something more to consider…

I’m linking up with the lovely Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five and with Weekend Reflections.

Have a wonderful last weekend of April everyone!

God Loves Me…

It’s good for me to look at all the ways God loves me and blesses me week in and week out. This past week my cup overflowed. Here are five things that filled my cup this week…

Living in the Seattle area with all it has to offer including a wonderful ferry system to take us away to new places to explore.

Comfortable spaces to stay that I don’t take for granted.

Good food and drink plopped in front of me is always a treat!

God’s creation in a beautiful setting to explore and marvel at. I will share a post from the Bloedel Reserve soon.

My cup was full from a wonderful weekend getaway with Dear and then on Monday I met up with 6 of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook at the Tulip fields with a nice lunch afterwards. Now my cup was overflowing. I will share more photos from the tulip fields later.

I said I had my Friday’s Fave Five that I’m linking up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story with but I’d like to add one more blessing from afar.

My father, Moisi or Moses has re-discovered his love for jig-saw puzzles and it’s nice for him to be able to enjoy this activity. For those of you that have been following my updates on my pop, he is now living with my oldest sister and her husband. They are taking very good care of him and his loneliness has lessened. He is eating a whole lot better, too, thanks to my wonderful sister.

As you look back over this past week what do you count as blessings?

Week and Weekend Reflections

I’m doing a double themed post today,

Five Favorites of the week with Susanne and

Weekend Reflections with James.

This is from MOHAI, the museum of history and industry in Seattle, Washington. Dear’s Company Christmas party was held here. It was the last party the company had before they were sold to the highest bidder. The company will retain it’s name but it has a new owner and we hope that reflects in Dear still having a job in a months time. This exhibit is in the True Northwest: The Seattle Journey section.

Here are five favorites from this past week. My favorites are a reflection of another kind.

1. Weather cooperating so we could complete phase one of a yard project that you can see before and afters of here. It was helpful to have a Monday holiday for this project. Thank you to President Lincoln and Washington for that!

2. A nice meal out with Dear to celebrate Valentines Day.

3. A nice extended time over a meal with our first born and our lovely daughter in law.

4. The arrival of my season ticket for the 2015 Seattle Sounders Soccer season!

5. Having the visit to the tax accountant behind us which is a very relaxing feeling.

I’ll leave you with a few quotes from President Lincoln:

“When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

“When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, its best to let him run.”

What were your favorites or reflections from this past week?

Springing Up Already!

Some of my favorite things in my yard this week! I count all of these as blessings from above.

Things that are springing up around here are among my favorites for

Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

The Lenten Rose is my favorite plant that ushers in the Lenten Season.

These primroses appear every year and I didn’t plant them. I’m always happy to see them.

What fun to see these miniature daffodils springing up, too.

We managed to prune both our apple tree and pear tree this week and that was a huge accomplishment at this old house.

My bonus fave is my verse of the week from my abc Scripture Memory Cards…

The fact that we have been called and redeemed by God is pure love…

Have a wonderful Valentines Day and President’s Day Weekend.

Do you get Monday off? What were some of your favorites this week?

Every Good Gift…

It’s Friday again and I’m joining Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five. So many good gifts come to us to enjoy and here are five from this past week that were perfect.

We had our second annual Super Sunday at church and it was so fabulous. Two of our pastors went head to head with short sermons on the great Comebacks in the Bible. In the end Jesus’ Comeback from Death had us all cheering. The perfect ending to the sermon. My church, pastors, and staff are a gift.

For our afternoon festivities after church Dear had ribs in the smoker that came out just right. A great meal is a gift I enjoy and enjoying it with our daughter Katie and son in law Andrew made it perfect.

Our two sons were able to spend the weekend together and I love the photos they send my way. They had a nice snowy hike out the door of our son Dan’s home in Eastern Washington. It’s a good gift to Dear and me that our sons love each other.

These girls (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) are a gift from the Lord to me and every week we share our joys, struggles, triumphs, and failures with each other holding each other up in prayer and giving each other encouragement. This gift of friendship is straight from the “Father of lights”.

Josh and Laura gifted me these cool ABC verse cards and I display one card each week so I can see it and work on learning the verse. I’m on the letter e. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17) Since I’m a visual learner this gift was perfect to help me learn and retain the 26 verses included.

What gifts did you receive this week that brought some joy and light into your world?

A Thankful Rebel

It’s been ages since I joined in with Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five but this morning I’m going to post some favorites from my time with family last Thursday thru Saturday in Southern California. And because I’m overwhelmingly blessed with a wonderful family there will be more than Five photos! I’m a rebel that way…

The reason for my trip down was to meet my new little nephew Andrew (he’s 5). My brother’s family lives in Texas and they were flying to California for Miss Hope’s 7th birthday and a trip to Disneyland and my extended family filled in all the edges of their trip with parties and fun. Andrew became a part of their forever family last August and is already a U.S. Citizen. He was adopted from the Ukraine. He now sings God bless America! So cute. I’ll share more photos from Miss Hope’s birthday party later.

Fresh off the plane last week I met up with Dear’s SIL, Christina, and my best friend from college days Heidi. Heidi, Christina, Dear, Dear’s brother and I were all in a Christian Rock Band in the seventies. Heidi and I attended the same Russian Baptist Church in Los Angeles and had lots of adventures together! We caught up as much as we could in our couple hours together.

What a blessing to spend some time with my soon to be 92 year old pop. He’s a sad guy without my mom by his side.

He was surrounded by some of his grandchildren at Hope’s birthday party.

Josh and Laura took the long way home to Seattle from their trip to Kaui through Southern California so they could meet Andrew, too, and visit with my pop and their cousins.

All my pop’s kids except for one were together in one spot so we took some photos.

Our youngest siblings, the twins, are flanking my father on the couch.

I love this photo of my older sisters and I love them, too.

Andrew is fitting right in and it’s so much fun to listen to his half Ukrainian and half English sentences!

When we all got together this time my Father prayed a blessing over his new grandson Andrew and over his great grandson Thomas. My brother thanked all his friends and family for praying them through the adoption process and helping financially to bring Andrew to the U.S.A. We all sang Great is Thy Faithfulness and another of our Russian favorites together acknowledging the fact that God is the faithful one in our lives. Of course we had lots of good food and good conversation and laughter.

So I’m thankful for my Faithful God, my faithful pop, my family, my friends, and all our fun times together! We’re not perfect, mind you, but we have practiced forgiving each other and keeping our relationships going. We try not to neglect each other. What are you thankful for?

I Love This Time of Year…

The beginning of the traditional school year is a favorite time for me. I’ve been absent from Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five for a while but I wanted to chime in with some things this week that make my favorite’s list.

My exercise regiment has been totally non-existent for quite a while. It’s been hit and miss at best. Today I hope I’ve found some things to remedy this problem in my life. So here are my five…

1. I’ve had a hard time finding a regular walking buddy since I’ve come back to Washington. If you are part of Susanne’s weekly fave five you know who Willow is. Well…she used to be my walking buddy when we lived in the same city in Southern California but since I moved back to Washington in the Spring of 2010 I’ve been without a regular walking buddy. Boo hoo. Today I joined up with a group from the Senior Center who walk every Tuesday and Thursday rain or shine on a great walking trail close to my home.

What a beautiful day it was to walk and a nice bunch of ladies. We saw this wonderful view of Mt. Rainier at our turning point on the trail.

2. After being encouraged with being out of doors and walking, I showered and headed to the Senior center to sign up for an exercise class that meets Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. I’m excited about my daily exercise commitment.

3. I’m happy to be done, done, done, with the Bathroom Renovation company. I’m looking forward to Dear finishing up the bathroom and sharing it with you all in the near future.

4. This new expanded family will be my favorite for a long time. I am really looking forward to meeting my new little nephew from the Ukraine.

5. Celebrating Dear’s birthday with most of our kids was another favorite for sure. It is so good to be together and enjoy each other.

I found a photo I took on September 11, 2001 and wanted to share it here, too. We can never take for granted the freedoms we are afforded here in our country and we can never forget that there are those who would love to destroy those freedoms. So thankful to God for his protection over us and that no matter what, we have a hope in our future that cannot be taken away!

What makes your thankful list this week?

Bloggy Friends ~FFF

My favorite blessings from blogging have been my face to face meet ups with the individuals I’ve learned about from their personal blogs. The first blogger I met and who became my walking buddy while Dear and I lived in Camarillo is Willow from Willow’s Cottage. While our friendship continued we met up with Sara from Come Away With Me at The Getty Villa. Willow and Sara already knew each other. Besides the Getty Villa we met up again for some time at the Getty Museum before I moved back to Seattle.

On one of my trips across Los Angeles to visit my folks in 2009 Cori G! from Brambleberry Cottage (formerly Gingerbread and Co.) and I set up a meeting over coffee in Orange County, California. It was a delight to meet Cori. We were able to meet up again on one of my trips back to Southern California and have a meal and stroll through a antique market in the city of Orange.

On Dear and my road trip moving back to Seattle in 2010 we met up with Sandy from Reluctant Entertainer and her husband at the Winchester Inn in Southern Oregon. It was a delight.

In July of 2010 Dear and I met the Scrabble Queen from Scrabblequeen Knits for breakfast while we were in the Sacramento area for a funeral. She gifted me with some wonderful loose tea from England!

On our sister trip to Victoria, B.C. to celebrate my 60th birthday my sisters and I were treated to wonderful time with the lovely Pondside from Life Between the Ponds.

Oh dear me…I forgot another major bloggy meet-up. Jill from Jill’s World of Research, Reaction and Millinery came to visit in my home and we attended the Lavender festival together in July of 2011. Maybe it was the home part that made me think it was a family visit instead of a bloggy visit.

We had a great day seeing beautiful lavender fields, eagles, and eaglets and a baby seagull. Sorry for the oversight dear Jill!

At a book signing in Winnepeg/Manitoba I was able to meet Millie from Wreathmaker. What a fun surprise to see her and her hubby at McNally Robinson bookstore.

Just this year on Katie and my roadtrip from Seattle to North Carolina we arranged a meeting over lunch in Kansas City, Missouri with Pam from Abiding With Love. We had a wonderful meal paid for by Pam’s husband and great conversation with Pam and her daughter.

What a blessing it has been to get to know these ladies and enjoy their thoughts and adventures and beautiful tables, tea settings, recipes, decorating, devotionals, book recommendations, etc. etc.

Judy correctly pointed out that there is another group of women that I met through blogging that have changed my life forever. This next photo is from the first time I met five of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook! This meeting was in the Spring of 2010. All ten of us would meet when we got together in British Columbia to sign the contract for our first book in the summer of 2010. These girls are a big part of my life now and they are more like family so that’s probably why I forgot that initially it was because of blogging that we came together!

These are my favorites for Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five at Living to Tell the Story. It would be fun to meet Susanne some day!

Looking Up…

I’m joining Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five. Five things that I can look back on that help me remember to be thankful.

1. Dear has been down and out all week with a head cold and cough. I’m thankful that things are looking up for him. I’m also thankful that we are relatively healthy around this old house and we don’t go through many weeks like this.

2. Signs of Spring are popping up all over and that really makes me smile.

3. My pop is doing well. We thought he might have shingles and he got the word that he doesn’t. I’m so thankful he doesn’t have to deal with that on top of his continued loneliness without my mom. I’m also thankful that my sister Kathy and her family have moved within 5 minutes to my dad’s apartment and they are willing to be there when he needs anything.

My pop always travels with his checkbook in his shirt pocket. This habit of his makes me smile.

4. We had a wonderful time with our adult kids this past weekend. Lots of great together time eating and laughing and playing games. Dan and his girlfriend made it here and back across Snoqualmie Pass and I’m always thankful when I hear that they made it home safe and sound. The pass and the roads in Eastern Washington were treacherous for them and they saw lots of spin outs and rollovers on their way home. The day after they traveled the pass was shut down for most of the day.

5. I’m continuing in my quest to scan many of our photos. As I scan the photos the memories of times and people that added so much to our lives make me thankful to God for family, friends and life changing events.

This is a random photo from late ’76 or early ’77. My niece Debbee was born in May of 1976 and that’s how I can guess the timing of this photo. Love that my little babushka is in the photo. This was Dear and my second home in Huntington Beach, California. Dear, my best friend Heidi, my brother Steve, my pop, my mom, my sister Vera. Next row my brother in law Nick, niece Debbee, my sister Kathy, my sister Lana, my little babushka, and my brother Leonard.

I hope to be around to see what you are thankful for this week. You could share in the comments, too.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Friday’s Fave Five