Tag Archives: Huntington Beach

Miss Hope Turns 7!

It’s not every year that we get to celebrate a birthday with our Texas niece. This year Hope’s family decided to celebrate in California and add a trip to Disneyland for the cherry on top! I was so grateful I could travel down to California for the fun.

Hope’s new little brother Andrew got some gifts, too, since a lot of our family and friends were meeting him for the first time.

My niece Hope and my grand niece Avery.

My nephew Anthony with my grand nephew Thomas. He was the youngest guest on this day.

Hope’s birthday cake was 7 cupcakes with a candle in each.

I think she was pleased with the cupcakes her older cousins Debbee and Melissa made and decorated for her.

May God bless you and keep you dear Hope. May he make His face to shine upon you and give you peace!

Love you dearly…

Signs of Huntington Beach

Hope y’all aren’t getting tired of Huntington Beach. Some of these shots are conventional signs and the others are things that are “signs” that let you know you are definitely at the beach.

The Huntington Beach Pier was full of signs advertising their upcoming Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon.

It’s good to know the beach rules!

Glad he didn’t stop…

Pelicans are a good sign that you are close to the seashore.

Oil rigs and surfers are another sign that you are at Huntington Beach.

I’m linking to Signs, Signs with Lesley. Click over to see more signs from around the world.

Beach Fences…

I was in Southern California last week. My sister lives a few blocks from Huntington Beach. On our way back to her house from our walk on the promenade I captured these shots of some waves through the fence while we waited for the light to change so we could cross PCH. (Pacific Coast Highway)

I’m not a fan of sitting on the beach but I do enjoy walking along the shore.

Winter is my favorite time to enjoy California Beaches.

I’m linking up to Good Fences #45 with TexWisGirl at Run*A*Round Ranch.

It’s great to travel but I think I picked up a bug on the airplane and I’m a little under the weather. I hope it stays at the “little” stage and doesn’t go into anything full blown. How are you feeling?

Walking at the Beach

Last Friday I had a wonderful walk on the beach. My sister Vera lives a few blocks from Huntington Beach in Southern California and we always enjoy walking down and taking in the sea air. On this day we walked down with my brother Leonard, SIL Mandy, niece Hope, new nephew Andrew, and my sister Vera.

We were wondering how Andrew would react to the ocean waves.

Hope went in with no fear and Andrew watched from the sand.

We left my brother to enjoy watching the kids while the three of us walked along the tide line for an hour.

We walked up the beach and then down again to the pier.

Andrew kept quite busy building in the sand.

Do you live anywhere near an ocean shore? We live close to the shores of Lake Washington and a short drive to the Puget Sound but we have to travel a few hours to get to the Pacific Ocean.

California

California here I come, right back where I started from.

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Where bowers of flowers bloom in the sun.

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Each morning at dawning birdies sing and everything.

Sun kissed Miss says don’t be late.

That’s why I can hardly wait, Open up your golden gate, California here I come.

I was born in California so this is a song I easily claim. I’m happy for my growing up days and my early married days in California but I’m very content to be living in the Seattle area now. I do look forward to my trips back to visit. The top photo is from the plane on our descent into John Wayne Airport. We turned inland at Catalina Island and this is the first time I’ve seen it so clearly from a plane. The beach photos are all from Huntington Beach where one of my sister’s lives.

It’s time for ABC Wednesday and we are on the letter C so I’m sharing some photos from my trip to Southern California last week and a photo of the bougainvillea from my archives. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and the ABC Wednesday team.

What A Day…

Last Thursday I left our home at 4 AM to get to SeaTac Airport in time for my early 6:15 AM flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The initial purpose of my trip was to meet my new nephew who was adopted from the Ukraine. My brother’s family was traveling from Dallas to Southern California to celebrate their daughter Hope’s 7th birthday at Disneyland and to have their new son Andrew meet his grandfather and aunts, uncles, cousins and our family friends. It’s easier to fly to Southern California then to fly to Dallas so I took this opportunity. It was wonderful to spend some time with some of our family and friends who live in Southern California, too.

My first stop from the airport was in the city of Orange to meet up with my good friend Heidi and my Sister-in-law Christina for breakfast and a little catch up on what is going on in our lives. The top left photo is of Heidi’s view from her back yard. Everything was so clear and it was great to see the green hills. We ate at the Pancake House.

I said goodbye to Christina and Heidi and headed to my Pop’s apartment to wait on Leonard, Mandy, Hope and Andrew who were arriving from Dallas a couple hours after my flight. Even though Andrew had talked with our pop using facetime he was shy at first but soon warmed up to all of us.

Miss Hope with her cousin Melissa.

My brother with Andrew and our Pop.

We had a nice lunch together at the apartment that my sister Kathy prepared and then we decided to go to Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor and believe it or not after ice cream some of us went out to dinner to celebrate my brother Tim’s birthday.

We all were in the mood for something savory after the ice cream from Farrell’s. From dinner I drove my brother to my sister’s in Huntington Beach where his family was staying and I headed to my niece’s in Huntington Beach where I was staying. We are fortunate to have hospitable family for our trips to Southern California. A plan to go to the beach on Friday was already in the works.

I am quite tired from all the sea air and fun family times we enjoyed. Looking forward to getting caught up now that I’m home again.

Here we go into the last week of January. What’s going on in your world?

Back to the Beach…

When we were in Huntington Beach for Debbee and Lenny’s wedding we had the chance to walk to the beach and enjoy the sand and surf for a couple hours after a delicious brunch at Nick and Vera’s (Father and Mother of the bride).

My sister Vera lives within walking distance to the beach so we put our flip flops on and started walking…

We had quite the volatile weather on Monday, winds, calm, sunshine, fluffy clouds, dark clouds, downpours, lightning, thunder. How are things in your corner?

The Reception…

Debbee and Lenny’s wedding and reception were both in Huntington Beach on opposite sides of Beach Blvd. We met up with my sister Lana at the reception venue before the fact to help Lana facilitate and do whatever we could to get things ready for the event after the event.

We worked with Lana as long as we could before the time we needed to be at the church for the family photos.  Thankfully we had enough time to get it all together.

We had appetizers and drinks while we waited for the newlyweds to arrive. They were taking photos at the beach after the ceremony.

The wedding party and bride and groom arrived with everything set up and ready to go.

The first dance happened as soon as the couple arrived and before dinner was served. The groom worked hard to find a caterer who would prepare gluten free options since his bride has a strong reaction to gluten. The caterer was great with delicious choices for all.

The flower girls being true to their title.

My father gave advice and a blessing on the couple and on the food.

It was so good to have my kids together and to have them catch up with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

The next family wedding will be in August when Marie (in the middle) marries our nephew Caleb in Santa Barbara, California. Marie is bookmarked by our nieces by marriage and her soon to be SIL’s who she also went to school with at Westmont College in the Santa Barbara area of California.

The father daughter dance left us all in need of a tissue!

We had a great time and headed back to our hotel knowing Saturday would be another full day of organizing and pulling off another milestone family event. More to come…

In the meantime here’s where I’ll be for the next few days!

Mennonite Girls Can Cook Book Launch for our new book Celebrations

The weather promises to be just as fine as this day last July!

Debbee and Lenny

The day turned out so lovely with the sun shining brightly.

Perfect for the bride who grew up in Huntington Beach and loves the beach and her flip flops!

These are 3 of my nieces. Debbee is the bride and Michelle and Melissa (sisters) were 2 of the 5 bridesmaids.

My niece Hope and grandniece Avery were the flower girls.

Brother and Sister, my nephew David with Debbee.

My sister Vera’s family.

My mom and dad with the bride and groom.

My nieces, nephews, grandniece and grandnephew.

The grandparents with their grandchildren and great grandchildren. 12 grands are missing in this photo.

The wedding party.

Mother of the groom, mother of the bride, and the groom’s sister helping Debbee to the bride’s room to wait for the ceremony.

Father of the bride getting ready for the walk down the aisle.

The rest of the photos I’m posting here are random shots of my family that I took before the ceremony began.

Here Comes the Bride!

The bride and groom are big sports fans. The ceremony was relaxed with lots of funny references to baseball and Debbee’s favorite team, the Angels and Lenny’s favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. At least both their teams wear red.

Next post will be all about the reception at Newland Barn in Huntington Beach.

My lower back is trying to freeze up on me so I did not mow the lawn yesterday. I did get some laundry done and have started on the “list” for my trip to British Columbia. The big news here in the Northwest is the glorious weather we have been promised for the next few days and into the weekend! I’m smiling…