Tag Archives: Huntington Beach California

Just Beachy Hodgepodge

Three generations at the beach in Southern California in the early 70’s.

It’s time for another summertime Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce!

1. When does time pass slowly for you?

When waiting on news from a loved one. When flying from Seattle to the U.K.

When does time pass quickly for you? 

When spending time with loved ones and watching how fast our grandchildren grow from stage to stage.

2. Do you have a favorite beach? What’s your favorite ‘beach’ activity? Tell us what we’d find in your beach bag.

Laguna Beach in the early 70’s.

Over the years favorite beaches included, Newport, Huntington, Laguna, Emma Wood (Ventura), San Clemente, and Refugio (campground on the beach above Santa Barbara).

In my 74 years of life, over half of those years were lived close enough to a beach to spend a day there or just a few miles from a beach. Our sons were born while we lived in Huntington Beach and our daughter was born in Ventura which is also a ‘beach’ town. In my younger years I loved to be in the waves or do a little body surfing. In high school, I enjoyed playing ‘Hearts’ on a beach towel with friends slathering on the cocoa butter to get a tan (I know…dumb). With small children, I didn’t like the beach because of all the sand I had to clean off everyone, the sand in the food and the panic I’d feel about them being swept away in the waves. In my older days we lived temporarily in Camarillo a short distance to the beach. I loved to have a walk on the beach before dawn and watch the waves and the sea birds. Currently, I’m not a fan of being on the beach on a hot day. If I’m going to spend any amount of time on the beach it will be in the Winter, at sunrise or sunset.

My bag is most likely in the car and I would be hands free except for my camera or my cell phone. I would be taking photos of the birds and the surfers and the waves. I’d have sunblock on and a hat. I would be walking along the shore and not sitting. 🙂

Cousins camping at Refugio State Beach in California, 1984.

3. Your favorite book or movie with a beach setting? 

Flipper and Voyage of the Dawn Treader

4. What’s a food you love, but find it’s a pain to eat? Is it worth it? 

Love is a strong word. I enjoy mussels and they aren’t the easiest to eat. Caramels are delicious but they might pull out a crown. Peanut brittle is another thing that can be dangerous for teeth but is delicious.

5.  Do you like roller coasters? What’s the best (or worst) roller coaster you’ve been on? 

Big Thunder Mountain January of 2023.

I enjoy the Disney rides that are roller coasterish like, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, or Space Mountain. I’m not a fan of carnival rides.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Addy and JJ below the Huntington Beach Pier in the town where their Dad and Uncle were born.

Olympic Sized Hodgepodge

Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, The Gateway of Dreams statue. Greg had a conference in Atlanta and Katie and Andrew flew down from Jacksonville, North Carolina to join us for a couple days. This was in October of 2012.

Another summertime Wednesday Hodgepodge is up and running. Thank you, Joyce!

1. The Olympics kick off this coming weekend. Will you be watching? If you could watch just one event in person, which one would you choose? 

I will watch some of the Olympics depending on the timing of favorite events.

Gymnastics is always a favorite.

Greg was a torch bearer for his company in the 1984 Olympics that took place in Los Angeles. As a family we were able to watch rowing events at Lake Casitas close to our home. We lived in Ventura, California during the 84 Summer Olympics.

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2. Have you ever been to Paris? Is this a city you’d like to visit? What’s your favorite ‘French thing’? 

I am not pulled with the desire to travel to Paris. French food is probably my favorite ‘French thing’.

3. Macaron, creme brulee, chocolate soufle, mille feuille, or an eclair…your favorite French patisserie from the ones listed? 

Our son has mastered the art of making macarons. We’ve enjoyed many flavors of his melt in your mouth treat. Above are some of the macarons he made for Addy’s Birthday Tea Party and below are the ones he made for our family gathering to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Our actual 50th is on December 6th of this year but we chose to enjoy summer weather for our big celebration.

4. July 24th is National Cousins Day…do you have many cousins? Are you close to them? Will you see any of your cousins on July 24th? 

I have cousins that I love and enjoy visiting with when we can. Lately it’s mostly at funerals that I might see them.

Our kids get together with many of their cousins at least twice a year. Their cousins from California came up for a visit so all our kids gathered in Leavenworth, Washington on July 16th for a quick visit.

Josh, Laura and Katie had several days of enjoying their cousins in the Seattle area last week. Josh and Laura made a quick trip to California over the weekend to spend time with more of their cousins and some aunts and uncles!

Cousins with an aunt and uncle thrown in! Huntington Beach, California this past weekend.

5.  Last time you went somewhere that felt like ‘everyone and his cousin‘ was there? 

Lately this will only happen when we travel. The last large crowd event we were in the midst of was in Liverpool at the Anfield stadium for a football/soccer match in September of 2023. Everyone and his cousin was there!

Even though it’s been several years since we visited London, that city is a sea of humanity that you cannot separate yourself from easily.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

One more cousin shot from Huntington Beach. My brother and his family were visiting from Dallas which was a very good reason for many family members to come together. Josh and Laura flew down from Washington to join in the fun.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

In other news, things have cooled a wee bit and later this week they are promising the 80’s instead of 90’s!

See you soon Hodgepodgers!

Huntington Beach Civic Center

I’m glad I had my camera with me while I waited for my sister to get her one year beach parking pass at the Huntington Beach Civic Center. As a senior who lives in Huntington Beach she can purchase a year long parking pass for $75.00. What a bargain and a good way to benefit city residents who have to put up with all the incoming traffic that tourists and day trippers pose. This pass is good at the City Beach not the State Beach.

 

Tuesday was a good day at Bible Study Fellowship and then I had a few hours of baby sitting my dear grands. We are getting ready for some birthday celebrations here in Colville. Addy is nearing her 3rd birthday and I’m nearing my 69th birthday. One more year in my 60’s! Now we need to watch a couple episodes of Daniel the Tiger since that is the theme this year for Addy’s 3rd birthday party.

We are heading to Spokane on Thursday for a few days in the Spokane Valley. We are now getting news of a forecast of up to 3 inches of snow so we’ll be walking less outdoors and shopping more indoors. Hope to have some adventures to share.

The Pier at Huntington Beach

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, All Other Ground is Sinking Sand…

I missed the bigger waves crashing on the pylons under the pier.

We are having a snowfall event as I create this post. Quite a contrast to these beach shots. Soft puffy flakes that are melting as they hit the ground.

Have a great new week. We have a little travel planned for the end of the week.

Surfing

A beautiful day for a walk at the Beach…

On Monday March 2nd my sister Vera and I were able to enjoy a walk to the end of the pier in Huntington Beach. It was a decent day for surfing and several surfers were taking advantage. Winter days at the beach are my favorite and this winter day afforded us great views of Catalina Island, too.

 

I’ve never tried to surf. Have you ever tried? When our son was at Westmont College in Santa Barbara he enjoyed some surfing. He also enjoyed some surfing in Hawaii on a vacation there. Body surfing was something both sons have enjoyed. Water skiing was the closest I ever came to surfing and that was years ago before I had children. A little snow skiing is also in my past and it will remain there.

I’ll be sharing more from Huntington Beach soon.

Word Filled Wednesday

I’m home again and far away from the ocean. It was a good time to be in Southern California and to see four out of eight of my siblings and a few nieces and nephews. I’ll share more from Huntington Beach soon. Today is a recovery day at our country bungalow.

Here are a couple of quotes from J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) who I read about in Five Minutes in Church History and Grace Gems.

First on his conversion (1837):

Nothing I can remember to this day appeared to me so clear and distinct as my own sinfulness, Christ’s preciousness, the value of the Bible, the absolute necessity of coming out of the world, the need of being born again, and the enormous folly of the whole doctrine of baptismal regeneration. All these things seemed to flash upon me like a sunbeam, in the winter of 1837, and have stuck in my mind from that time down to this. People may account for such a change as they like, my own belief is that it is what the Bible calls conversion. Or, what the Bible calls regeneration. Before that time, I was dead in sins, and on the high road to hell. From that time, I had become alive, and have had a hope of heaven, and nothing to my mind can account for it but the free sovereign grace of God.

And this quote which is from the 1800’s but rings true to our time:

There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have and think they have enough–a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice; which costs nothing and is worth nothing. The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus–are indeed different. They are more than different–they are flatly contradictory one to another. Never be satisfied with the world’s standard of Christianity!

Today is my 13 Year Anniversary with WordPress and with blogging. 

Have a good day everyone!

A Bright Hodgepodge

1. February can be a little bit tricky given the weather and the winter and the whatnot. I read a list (here) of things you can do to make your February brighter which included-start planning your next trip, take more baths, make your own chocolate covered strawberries, and exercise in preparation for swimsuit season. Anything on the list you might try? Which suggestion on the list appeals to you most? Tell us something not on the list that helps make your February brighter.

The suggestion that appeals to me most is to plan a trip!

I just flew to Southern California and enjoyed lots of extended family time along with sweet Addy time and sunshine, so February is having a good bright start.

While Addy’s mommy ran in the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach with our niece Debbee, and her daddy rode a bike along the route with our nephew-in-law, Baba watched and mostly sat with Addy asleep and cuddled on her with Great Aunt Vera preparing brunch for the marathoners in the background. Addy slept for 3-1/2 hours and woke up just in time for mommy and daddy to arrive for brunch.

2. Tell us about something you’ve seen or done recently that you’d say was ‘super’?

Umm, spending Super Sunday with my extended family in Southern California. Am I sounding like a broken record?

3. Best thing you ate in a ‘bowl’ last week?

Just one? We enjoyed some Ground Chicken Chili in a bowl last week. Recipe coming soon to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog. Yesterday we had some fabulous guacamole in a bowl at Ola’s in Huntington Beach.

4. Something you’re ‘cheering’ for right now?

Cheering for my daughter-in-law and niece who completed a half marathon with flying colors in Huntington Beach on Sunday.

5. The Winter Olympics begin Friday, February 9th in Pyeong Chang, South Korea. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being all in and 1 being no interest whatsoever) how interested are you in the games? Which event do you most want to see (you’ll find a list here).

I’ll give it a 9! I enjoy watching many events and will never forget the Ice Hockey final in 1980 in Lake Placid. I’m pretty sure we were late or missed church that day. We could not tear ourselves from that “miracle on ice” moment for the USA.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Addy met my dear old pop on Monday. He was able to have enough breath to pray a blessing over her and over Dan and Jamie as they raise her. So grateful for this moment. Otherwise, he is ready to go be with his Savior, Jesus.

More about my time in Southern California coming soon.

Linking up with Joyce From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. She asks the questions and we answer them.

Huntington Beach

On Thursday the 25th of May my sister Vera and I had a walk in Huntington Beach and on the pier.

It was fun to see the pelicans. They look so prehistoric, don’t they?

We took the obligatory selfie.

On Friday Kathy joined Vera and me in Huntington Beach for a sister morning. We had breakfast and did some shopping together.Our youngest sister, Lana, is traveling in Scotland right now.

Before Kathy left we took another sister selfie.

On Saturday we are going to have another family gathering with more of our family at my sister Vera’s. It will be nice to see two of my brothers and my sister-in-laws. Vera and I will be baking again on Saturday morning because our dear old pop told us it would be good if we baked another roolyet (nut roll) for our family gathering.

I’ll be posting the recipe of this family favorite on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook on the 31st of May.

Hope you are having a good long weekend and can pause to remember those who have fallen in service to our country.

Lord, Whom Winds and Waves Obey ~ Hymn

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Lord, Whom Winds and Waves Obey

Lord, whom winds and waves obey,
Guide us through the watery way;
In the hollow of Thy hand
Hide, and bring us safe to land.

Jesus, let our faithful mind
Rest, on Thee alone reclined;
Every anxious thought repress,
Keep our souls in perfect peace.

Keep the souls whom now we leave,
Bid them to each other cleave;
Bid them walk on life’s rough sea;
Bid them come by faith to Thee.

Save, till all these tempests end,
All who on Thy love depend;
Waft our happy spirits o’er;
Land us on the heavenly shore.

Words: Charles Wesley, 1782.