Looking Back Seventy Two Years…

Some thoughts and collages looking back on my Seventy Second Birthday.

Lived in proximity to the Pacific Ocean for 72 years anywhere from a couple miles away to now over 400 miles away. I’m a West Coast Girl.

A city girl for 67 years.

A born again believer in Jesus Christ for 60 years.

Sadie Sadie married lady for 48 years.

A most thankful mom for 44 years.

A grateful grandmother for 6 years.

A country gal for 4-1/2 years.

Thanking the LORD for His steadfast love to me and my family. The best eternal gift I have received is my redemption with so many added blessings through the years some in the form of trials. Many sweet earthly gifts, too. Pressing on and looking to my future hope.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever, Amen.” Jude 1:24

We had a lot of rain on Monday and today we might get some sunshine breaking through. That will be nice for our day in Spokane for shopping and eating at a new spot to us.

The Weekend

This last weekend we enjoyed good times together with our kids.

Our kids from the east arrived shortly after 2 pm and we had a snack of Pishkey-Russian Fry bread or (Rollkuchen-Mennonite Version) and watermelon. Next up was getting our son Dan’s Blazer on a car carrier so he could take it back to his own shop in Eastern Washington. Lots of discussion went on amongst the 4 men on the best way to do things. The ladies sat on patio chairs far away from the danger and kept Reyna (Dan and Jamie’s dog) entertained. Katie ventured over to the danger to take a GoPro video of the action.

Reyna enjoyed fetch while the guys worked and then had a little rest under the apple tree.

When the vehicle was safely on the carrier and strapped down we enjoyed dinner together. Brisket off the smoker, barbecue beans, and a fresh slaw of mango, jicama, and cabbage. Apple Cake for dessert. I didn’t get a photo of Laura before she had to leave.

On Sunday Dan, Jamie, Josh and I enjoyed the Sounders game together. This was an anniversary treat for Dan from his bride of one year! It was such a good game even though we didn’t win but left with a tie.

On Monday morning more things were loaded up and Dan and Jamie carefully drove home. We picked pears off our tree for them to take home for canning. They also took the balance of our apples to prepare for canning. Reyna hopped in the back seat excited to take off with Dan and Jamie.

It was so good to see these two face to face. A happy anniversary weekend to them a month after their one year anniversary! We enjoy each of our children with their spouses. They are three very different couples with their unique qualities that blend well with each other. We love their uniqueness. We are so blessed to know that they have a common bond in the Spirit with our God and Creator. Unique but the same, bonded in the Spirit of the Lord. We thank God for his loving hand on them and pray for their marriages which are constantly under attack in our current world.

The Heritage…

I was struggling with how to share all the photos I took at our nephew Caleb’s and new niece Marie’s wedding this past Saturday. This new couple is so blessed with an amazing legacy of marriage longevity so that is where I decided to start. The fathers, the mothers, the grandparents, and the great grandparents. Over 350 years of marriage was represented! 73 years, 70 years, over 50 years, over 30 years, over 20 years…those are amazing numbers in this day and age.

The father of the groom, my brother Steve, with the groom Caleb. Loved watching their interactions while they waited for the Bride to appear in the distance. (Now I’m struggling with where I should be putting commas! Added pressure with so many English majors in this family!)

My sister-in-law Kelly, the mother of the groom and married to my brother for 32 years.

The mother of the bride, Lizzie. Her husband Todd and she have been married for 25 years.

Marie’s great grandmother and her grandparents. Great grandmother was married for 73 years before her husband died! Each of Marie’s grandparents have been married over 50 years! (53 & 55 I believe)

Caleb’s grandparents, my SIL’s parents, married for 56 years.

Caleb’s grandparents (my parents) watching the wedding via facetime at their apartment. How cute are they all dressed up for the wedding from afar!? They have been married for 70 years!

Father walking his first daughter to get married down the aisle. They were both fighting back the tears. Marie has two younger sisters.

Both fathers officiated the wedding side by side.

It was great, Todd prompted Caleb for his vows and Steve prompted Marie for her vows.

And then all the grandparents came up to pray a blessing over this young couple.

What a beautiful moment representing 364 years of marriage!

I’ll be sharing more posts soon because there’s the bride, the groom, the flower girls, the extended families, the venue, the tables, the fabulous way they had us find our assigned tables, etc. etc…

I’m feeling more alive today. Yesterday was a do nothing recuperation day for me. How’s your August going?

FFF ~ Announcements, Announcements, Announcements!

Time to choose our favorites from this past week and to link up at Susanne’s Living to Tell the Story to share them with our friends in bloggy world.

March has proved to be a month of wonderful experiences at our house. While we were in Seattle enjoying and celebrating my 60th birthday with our sons and daughter in law, our daughter Katie and Andrew were in North Carolina with our blessing on their plans to be married! This was going to be a secret until their wedding next winter but yesterday they decided to go public! I’m so happy to be able to share this and not keep it a secret for a year! So my #1 favorite for this week is …

1. …the announcement that we have a new son Lance Corporal Andrew and that our daughter Katie has changed her last name. We are still planning an official wedding with my brother who is a pastor officiating and our family, Andrew’s family, and friends witnessing their vows and covenant promise to each other.

These are their temporary rings which will be replaced at their wedding.

2. Katie and I have spent a lot of time together this week at the different government agencies that need her new information. We have made sure to enjoy nice lunches together after spending lots of time in waiting rooms people watching.

3. On Saturday Dear and I spent a day in Snohomish eating and shopping and buying a new piece of furniture that was delivered on Sunday.

4. Josh and Laura came over for brunch on Sunday and we enjoyed their company. Waffles, ham, and strawberries were on the menu.

5. Finding out our cookbook Mennonite Girls Can Cook is now available on Amazon for pre-order! It’s due for release on May 1st!

Our household is thankful for all God’s goodness to us. My cup continues to overflow.

What were your favorites this past week.

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.

Fun Monday ~ What Was & Is Worth It…

Southern Doll is hosting Fun Monday this week and she has the following assignment. What have you done in your life that was worth doing?

I know that as soon as I publish this there will be other things that come to mind. I decided to start with high school and move on from there.

The thing in high school that was worth doing was getting baptised in my junior year. I started a more dedicated journey following Christ at this point in my life and would never turn back.

During my College years I was part of a Christian Rock band. I met Dear in this group and we became engaged and then married in 1974. We went on two summer tours in England together with the group which was an amazing experience in travel and ministry.

Getting a College Degree and a Teaching Credential was worth doing.

Getting married to Dear was and is definitely worth doing and we’ve been doing it for 33 years. Oops! I think I just probably embarrassed my children and myself by accident.

Having each of our three children was worth it big time in my life. Each of them is unique and I thank God for their individual gifts and personalities.

Developing close friendships and opening our home for fun and fellowship and spending loving times with my extended family has been worth it.

Much of this time is spent around food!

Moving to Seattle in 1988 and raising our children there and developing friendships there was worth it.

Starting a blog and meeting bloggy friends around the world has been worth it.

Growing older with Dear and being faithful to our marriage is worth it.

For more Fun Monday posts head over to Southern Doll’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Marriage