Mother’s Day Weekend

Dear and I drove over to the West side of our state to spend time with some of our family and friends who live there. We met up at two separate restaurants on Thursday afternoon and then Saturday morning with dear friends and spent a couple hours eating together and enjoying conversations and catching up. On Mother’s Day we attended our kids’ church for a great time of worship and preaching. I’ll share some quotes from the sermon at the end of this post. Words I want to remember.

At 1:00 on Sunday this group met up for a Mother’s Day Brunch. It was an honor to enjoy this meal with our westside kids and my sister and her husband. Thank you to Laura for making the reservations and getting everyone together.

Me and my baby sister.

Me and our firstborn son.

Josh and Laura on the waterfront in Kirkland, Washington. The sun finally crept out from behind the clouds for a glorious afternoon.

Josh and Laura created this embroidery together for me as part of my Mother’s day gift. They also treated me to an ornament and tea towel commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We enjoy so much about Great Britain and remember fondly traveling together in England back in 2013!

A meal out with our daughter and her hubby was another special treat and this lamb shank was a delicious surprise to see on the menu.

We drove back home on Monday morning and it was a rain free event until we entered Spokane, on our last stretch home. We stopped at our Eastside kids’ home to deliver gifts and greetings and were happy for sweet hugs and time with our grands. Home again we get busy with laundry and the need to mow the lawns!

Back to the Sunday service we attended at Canyon Hills Community Church in Bothell, Washington. Dr. Nicholas Ellen from Houston, Texas was the guest preacher for this Sunday. His sermon was titled The Premise and Process of Trusting God. I’m sharing the link.

Some quotes from the sermon that I wrote down…

“The God of reality is bigger than the God of your imagination.”

“Stand Under so one day you will Under Stand”

You Can Obey God ~ some hindrances…

Lack of knowledge
Lack of skill
Lack of will

Don’t be strong and wrong!

God has called us to the process. We need to follow God’s direction. He gives promises and in those promises we need to follow the process He provides.

May is ticking away at full speed. We are enjoying all the color that Spring brings.

Hiking North Trail

On May 31st we hiked the North Trail at Saint Edward State Park. The park’s 316 acres are located in Kenmore and Kirkland in the state of Washington. It also is set on the north eastern shore of Lake Washington with 3000 feet of freshwater shoreline.

Smiling at the bottom of the trail even though we knew it was going to be tougher going back uphill to the car. If you go to Saint Edward State Park you will need your Discover Pass or pay for day use.

Here’s another post on Saint Edward State Park with it’s history.

I’m watching World Cup Soccer as I type. World Cup is something I look forward to and the pressure is off since the USA did not qualify. Boohoo. The USA, Mexico and Canada were awarded joint hosting of the 2026 World Cup which was exciting news just before World Cup 2018 began this week. Wonderful news for North American soccer fans.

If you are a father reading my blog this weekend a very Happy Father’s Day to you!

April Note Cards

It’s time for Vee’s Note Card party.

Thank you Vee for hosting this monthly party!

Sunset over Lake Washington in Kirkland, Washington.

Rows of spent daffodils in Mount Vernon, Washington during the Tulip Festival.

Apple blossoms on our apple tree taken this past Saturday.

Russian sweet cheese spread served with Russian Easter Bread (Kulich/Paska).

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

Here we are in the middle of April and we’ll finally be celebrating Easter this coming weekend. I’m looking forward to our Good Friday service and Easter service. After services on Sunday some of our family will be coming over to celebrate an Easter meal here. We are having rack of lamb, rice, asparagus, salad and Italian Easter bread (Colomba) with strawberries for dessert. Our annual Kulich/Paska baking day is not happening this year so I was happy to find a source for the Colomba. It tastes and smells very similar to Kulich/Paska.

How are you celebrating Easter this year?

Remiss…

That’s an adjective that would be pinned on me if I didn’t mention the Sunday that was in Seattle!

Everywhere you looked in the the Puget Sound area you would see evidence of the 12th man Seahawk fans.

The city willed the Seahawks to a torturous victory over the San Francisco Forty Niners on Sunday. That means that the Seattle Seahawks are the NFC Champions and will be going to the Super Bowl.

This is the building that Dear works in downtown. It’s the Russell Investment Center.

Looks like we won’t be able to ignore the Super Bowl game this year. There are many years that we do. This year we might even have to host a party.

The game and after game shows and all the news about all the excitement in Seattle ended just before Downton Abbey aired last night. The hilarious thing that happened next during the opening to Downton Abbey was that they photo shopped a 12th man flag on the top of Highclere Castle and gave a shout out to Seattle fans being loud, louder, loudest! How fun is that…

The city of Seattle and all the out lying areas really come together in support of their teams like the Seahawks, the Sounders, the former Sonics.

We will go with the flow and enjoy all the hoopla that having our home team in the Super Bowl brings. Do you watch the Super Bowl? I was happy that the episode of Downton last night wasn’t as dramatic as the previous one. I’m starting to write down some of the lines from the show, too, like “We don’t all have to live off battered fish and meat pies!”

Gloomy with Promises…

We’ve been on the gloomy side here in the Pacific Northwest. On Sunday after church we decided it would be good to enjoy brunch out. We headed to the Kirkland Lake Washington waterfront Beachhouse Bar and Grill. You can see the gloominess out the windows. But not to worry because what appeared on our plates was not gloomy at all.

I had the Pecan French Toast and Dear had Eggs Benedict.

It was nice to have a meal put in front of me and have a bit of relaxation after a hectic week.

That was Sunday. On Tuesday we had a wee bit of sunshine and on my way home from Costco I got to see this amazing view. A rainbow filled with promises!

Today is Wednesday and it’s a free day for me for which I am grateful.Thursday is a special day and you’ll see why with my post. On Friday I hope to show you the star I bought wrapped in lights that Dear hung on our garage/shop. I’m waiting for a dry night so I can take a photo outside without getting my camera lens wet! On Saturday we are going to get our tree.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world…

Septembers Past and Present

September 2007, Woodinville, Washington

September 2008 in California

September 2009 Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C.

September 2010, Beaufort, South Carolina

September 2011, Kirkland, Washington

September 2012, Seattle, Washington

September 18, 2012. My mom and dad at their apartment. My mom got home from the hospital on Tuesday and my sister Lana took this photo.

Plans are afoot for my time in Southern California this weekend. The first day of Fall will include a taco party with my family at my niece’s house. More big plans are afoot for October. I’ll be able to share more soon. Hope all is well with you my friends…

FFF ~ Goodbye September!

Gratitude is a very good thing. Every Friday we join Susanne at Living to Tell the Story in sharing 5 good things from our past week. Wow can you believe we are already saying goodbye to September?!

A good friend died this past Sunday. Why would I share that in my 5 good things? I’m so thankful to God that I got to know Kathy and that I learned so much from her struggles and her attitude. She knew she was going home and would be with her Savior. Her husband wrote a beautiful tribute to her on Kathy’s blog that you can read here.

As you can see from the photo above we have had some beautiful sunny days this week after some cloudy rainy days. It was nice to get out and enjoy the weather with my camera.

God worked out timing for me to be able to be part of a lot of important events in October including Kathy’s memorial service in Sacramento.

Completed projects around the house.

We decided instead of just me and Katie going to North Carolina to get her settled in base housing before Andrew returns from Afghanistan that Dear would travel with us, too. It will be great to have a man along with us while we get some basics set up for Andrew’s return.

October is as full as a pumpkin for me. How’s your October shaping up? Hope to come around soon and see what you are up to.

Ruby Tuesday ~ Kirkland & Seattle

A leftover Valentine Photo I forgot to post taken in Kirkland, Washington.

These last two shots were taken at the Seattle Center.

To see more rubies head on over to Mary’s at Work of the Poet!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Ruby in Kirkland…

Part of my family got together for a birthday dinner for my sister Lana last Friday night at the waterfront in Kirkland, Wa. My camera was clicking away and here are some Ruby shots to share. Please visit Mary at Work of the Poet to see more Ruby from around the world.

These ruby from the ceiling of the restaurant where we ate.

My son and husband with a splash of red from the same sailboat in the background.

We are finally enjoying lots of summer days here in Western Washington. Half of our company flew home on Saturday and the rest leave on Tuesday evening. We’re celebrating my niece Melissa’s birthday tonight a week early since she is with us in Washington. Hope you are all enjoying the lazy days of summer wherever you are!

Round Robin Challenge ~ 5 Miles!

Hi, Robins! Time for our new challenge! This one was suggested by Carly back in June 2008. The Round Robin Challenge for Saturday, March 27, is Up to Five Miles Away.

(5.0 miles = 8.04672 km.)

First I drove South. This was at 5.1 miles because I had to find a safe parking spot! This is a park in the city of Kirkland, Washington that is on the shore of Lake Washington. It was a cloudy morning…

Driving North for 5 miles I found “The Chicken” This is at Country Village in Bothell, Washington.

It really is wonderful to think about all these great destinations just 5 miles from my home. This was such a fun challenge because now I have a better handle on how many miles things are away from me.

Going East about 5 miles away brought me to 3 distinct watering holes. Ste Michelle Winery in a French Chateau setting. I would have had to have driven beyond the 5 mile mark to get photos of the chateau. Columbia Winery was visible from the street at the 5 mile mark and is directly across the street from Ste Michelle with a more Victorian architecture and then kiddy corner from both of these great wineries is your good ole roadside tavern!

This is the Columbia Winery in Woodinville.

Now if I would have gone to the 6 mile mark on this road it would have brought me to Redhook Brewery and then to the Herb Farm a renowned restaurant in Woodinville.

It will be fun to visit all you Robin’s and see what there is to see about 5 miles from your homes…

Click here to see more of the Round Robin Challenge…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Kirkland