Gathering the Moments ~ September

It’s time to take a look back at September…

September was a wonderful month of gatherings, homecomings, reunions, birthdays, and completed projects.

P1050610Early in September we met up with a dear long time family friend Timi and her daughter for coffee while she was visiting in Seattle.

10291122_10152701970813919_9195842261775056651_nWe so enjoyed hearing the news that our new little nephew from the Ukraine was home in the U.S.A. with his forever family.

P1050614We celebrated Dear’s birthday with our kids on the Western side of the Cascades.

2014-09-14 Open house1I flew to Southern California to spend time with my pop and extended family on the anniversary of my mom’s death.

Persiaearly UI got to see Timi again with her sister Milla when they came to an open house at my sisters home.  The bottom of this collage is of my mom and Timi and Milla’s mom together in Persia.

2014-09-14 Open house3We celebrated this little ones birthday at the open house, too. Fun cupcake times!

2014-09-15 Molokan Cemetery1While in California I picked up my pop and sister to head to the small Russian cemetery where my grandparents and other relatives are buried. I wanted to see my grandparents headstone.

food SeptBefore I flew home two of my sisters and my niece met up for a dinner together with me. Delicious.

2014-09-28 bathroom4The long anticipated main floor bathroom renovation was finally completed. Sigh…

P1050662Other projects are well on their way at this old house. The siding and upper window are new as of September. Rows of cedar will finish off the top.

P1050665I read two Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny, How the Light gets In and The Long Way Home. I splurged and bought this one instead of waiting for it to be available from the library. I now have read all the books in this series. I feel like some of the characters are my friends…

Some other things that happened this September were soccer games, small group start up, and a new eating and exercise program. I’ll share more about the last two when I see some good results!

I’m thanking the Lord for another full and fruitful month. Thank you Cheryl for hosting Gathering the Moments.

Linking with Cheryl at Thinking About Home for Gathering the Moments.

March Moments

I’m joining Cheryl at Thinking About Home in Gathering the Moments.

At the end of each month she offers a link up for anyone to add their post on gathering the moments of the month. How amazing it is to look back and see all the events that happened in 31 days. March is my birthday month which added a lot to the moments…

Collages6March brought flowers once again in the yard.

Anthony's1

The opening of  the MLS Soccer season and a 90th birthday celebration on the 8th of March. On March 11th Katie and I celebrated her and Andrew’s 3rd wedding anniversary. Andrew is serving our country in Afghanistan. Hopefully this will be the last anniversary for many years that they spend half a world apart.

2014-03-018March brought some traveling adventures, too. Katie and I visited Snoqualmie Falls and then Dear, Katie and I traveled to Eastern Washington on my birthday (March 14th) to spend the weekend with our middle son.

2014-03-17 Dan's March6It’s fun to visit Dan’s country world. We had a nice meal out to celebrate my birthday. This would be one of three different celebrations I was treated to.

2014-03-26 paska class6March brought the Mennonite Girls Can Cook class on preparing Paska and an Easter meal at Lepp Farm Market in Abbotsford, B.C. Katie and I traveled across the border to be part of this event. It was nice to start thinking about Easter.

Wild Ginger1Lots of good food was consumed in March!

Wild Ginger2Last night we were able to enjoy my third birthday celebration with Josh and Laura. We caught up on our lives over a great meal at Wild Ginger in Bellevue, Washington. I’ll share more about our time later and the meaningful gifts they gave me.

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It’s time for the sun to set on March.

What highlights did March bring your way?