Tag Archives: Newport Beach

Beach Walk Sightings

Home again after a long day of traveling and no energy to participate in Wednesday Hodgepodge. Alaska Airlines upgraded me to First Class for my flights home and that was a nice treat. The flight attendant was cheerful and happy to serve which made things even more enjoyable. After landing in Spokane on my second leg of the journey, we made a stop at Hobby Lobby to try to find a few things for the walls of my of our guestrooms that we upgraded to a King bed, etc. My brain was in slo-mo which made making design decisions difficult. We left with two small items and headed to Costco to fill up our vehicle with gasoline and buy a few items. Back on the road home we tried to stop at a favorite spot for dinner in Deer Park but it was closed for some mysterious reason. We tried a new spot in Loon Lake and it was good enough that we will stop there again in the future. Once home we had absolutely no energy left so the unpacking will be slow. Here are some extra photos from a walk along the Beach that my sister and I enjoyed.

Besides the beautiful ocean and beaches we saw both pretty and unusual things on our walk Friday the 10th of June.

The dog walker. This made us smile. This was a group of very well behaved dogs!

And besides seeing things on the ground we spotted this group in the sky.

Getting back in the groove here at home. Thank you for following along and all the kind comments. I’ll be responding soon. And just like that we are at the middle of June!

June Gloom

On Friday morning my sister and I drove to her son’s home to feed the cats and have a walk along the coast. The photo above is from the patio of our nephew’s home. Not too shabby.

This was a typical June gloom morning with the sun hiding but it was still warm. They live by ‘The Wedge’.

We ended up at over 7,000 steps and lots of nice views. The houses along our walk were beautifully landscaped with great windows positioned to get all the views. When our walk was over we did some shopping and had lunch out. Later in the day the sun broke through and we could see blue skies. Maybe by the time I fly home we’ll get a blue sky day at the beach.

Tonight (Friday night) we pick up our youngest brother when he flies in from a long day of flying.

Leap Day Birthday

We started celebrating early and continued all day.

We had breakfast at Babette’s in Newport Beach just across the street from the Pacific ocean.

After breakfast Vera and I did some shopping while Debbee and Melissa and my sister Kathy made some preparations for the evening dinner party.

The quote of the day was, “you only turn 18 twice!”

The top photo in the collage is my sister Vera with her two kids, David and Debbee. David opened up the evening with a beautiful prayer for our gathering and his mom.

Top photo are the siblings who could make it to the party in birth order. Kathy, Vera, Ellen, Steve and Lana.

Mom’s and their daughters, Aunts with their nieces.

Love our little grand niece, Avery, photo bombing this photo of our nieces and sister, Lana.

I leave you with our pop’s hallmark ending to all our phone conversations and farewells when visiting.

Above all, Love each other dearly!

Living Vicariously Part 1

Our son Josh and our dear DIL, Laura, flew to Southern California for a few days to celebrate Joshua’s birthday. This photo is of our nephew David and his dear wife and our kids at Huntington Beach.

Our niece Melissa and niece Debbee with our kids at Huntington Beach. Debbee and David are siblings, my sister Vera’s kids. Melissa belongs to my sister Kathy. So grateful that many photos were taken and shared.

 

Newport Beach/Balboa where David and Kristin live.

The guys heading to the gun range. Nephew Tim and Dave. Nephews in law Ryan and Lenny. Our grandnephew, Jackson and our son Josh.

Seriously…

The girls making lotions and such while the guys were shooting. Niece Debbee, Melissa and Michelle. Niece in law, Kristin and grandniece Avery. Daughter in law, Laura. Melissa and Michelle are sisters.

After shooting and lotion making a dinner celebration with cake for Josh.

Breakfast at Juliene, a family favorite in San Marino, California.

And a rare treat to be able to get together with two of our nieces on Dear’s side of the family. Kacie was in Southern California visiting from North Carolina and our niece Annie is now living in Long Beach moving from North Carolina recently. Their sister Jenna lives in New York.

Our kids filled up their days in California enjoying their cousins. Their Dzeda, our pop, told them all before he died to “stay together, love each other.” It fills me with joy to see them doing just that.  I’m thankful for social media so I can see things like this and (steal) share the photos to memorialize them on my blog.

My next post will be all about cousin time at Disneyland with other encounters, too.

Spur One Another On…

…in love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching. Hebrews 10: 24-25 (NIV)

Cousins enjoying breakfast together the day after the funeral.

While many of our extended family gathered in southern California for our Pop’s funeral we took every advantage to enjoy each other’s company at restaurants, in homes and at the beach.

Cousins, aunts and uncles at Huntington Beach.

These two had to leave shortly after this photo was taken.

After the beach we gathered at our niece’s home in Huntington Beach and my siblings and I were captured having a laugh out loud till we cried moment.

Addy with her cousin once removed reading to her. Breakfast, Beach, airport, dinner all on Saturday July 21st.

Our pop’s famous greeting and benediction.

Newport Beach, Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula on Sunday July 22nd.

Newport Beach at our nephew and niece’s home. We are enjoying pizza and salad here for dinner. Earlier in the day we walked over to Balboa Island and enjoyed hot dogs from Crocker’s , the well dressed frank! Oh yum I forgot to take a photo of the best Chicago Dog that I’ve ever had!

Many of us out of towners left after this get together on Sunday July 22nd. The rest of the family enjoyed more special times together after we left.

Sunday July 29th was a birthday celebration at Golden Skewers in Montebello for our brother Leonard who is twins with our sister Lana. (She was gone for this celebration). Next door to Golden Skewers is a bakery we’ve enjoyed for over 50 years, Amy’s. The birthday cake in the next photo was purchased there.

Birthday brother with my two older sisters getting ready to enjoy the cake at my sister Kathy’s home.

With our parents gone from this earth the baton is in our court to keep our families connected and accountable to carry on in the good faith of our fathers.

Back here in Washington State we continue to tie up loose ends on this side of the mountains. We are making progress in emptying out our shop and making plans to find a spot to store that stuff in Colville or Kettle Falls. It’s been quite hot on both sides of the mountains and we are looking forward to cooler days to work in. Some new possibilities for homes have come on the market. We have a comfortable space here at our son and daughter in law’s in the meantime. God bless them. I’ve also had some quiet times in the morning to spend in the Word and then to even visit blogs. I don’t feel as displaced these days. Thank you for your visits and comments and prayers during this time of our lives. You are an encouragement to me.

Adieu to California

Our dear old Pop’s signature farewell to us. He always said it three times. A friend of our niece’s left this sign on her doorstep the day after our Pop’s funeral. Such a sweet thoughtful gift. I think all of us will be having these signs made soon.

Heading home to continue to empty out our home. We’ve got 7 days left. Thank you once again for your prayers and encouragement. I really do appreciate all of you.

Balboa Island

While we were in Southern California on Memorial weekend we were invited over to my nephew and his wife’s home in Newport Beach on Sunday morning before my pop’s birthday gathering in the afternoon. They are enjoying living on the waterway just across from Balboa Island. Living here gives them the benefit of being a stroll away and not having to deal with the constant traffic of those trying to cross the bridge/ Marine Ave. to get to the island.

This nephew of mine is my sister Vera’s son. He and our sons, Josh and Dan, grew up together and have a strong bond. Here we are setting out to walk the floating walkway/dockway to get to the bridge to Balboa Island.

The bridge was nicely decked out for Memorial Day. You can see the lineup of cars crossing the bridge.

I think walking across the bridge is a lot more pleasant.

The main drag on the island with all the clever shops and eateries.

There’s a museum where you can find out which of the frozen banana stands was really the first one, Dad’s or Sugar ‘N’ Spice.

We didn’t indulge in a frozen banana on this morning. Our niece informed us that Sugar ‘N’ Spice is in fact the original. She found that out at the museum.

I was using my little pocket camera this day and managed to cut off the name of this chapel, St. John Vianney Chapel. If and when I visit again I’ll pop in and see the interior. It’s on the main drag tucked between the two banana stands.

“It was about 77 years ago that the tiny church was established and began to see the first arrivals of the Mass-goers for whom it was built: vacationers. At the time, the only Catholic church in the Newport Harbor area was the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which sat–and still sits–about halfway down the Balboa Peninsula. For weekend and summer visitors to the island, getting to the peninsula church could be a bit of a stretch, particularly when gasoline rationing was instituted after the outbreak of World War II.”

We kept walking crossing the Grand Canal to Little Balboa Island.

We found another walker who was willing to take our photo. My sister, me, nephew, niece, son and daughter in law. We popped in to a local eatery, The Village Inn, for some appetizers before our walk back.

Balboa Island North Channel

It was low tide for our time walking about. On our way back we spotted these creatures.

The sailboats and yachts were very impressive but this next boat is more my speed…

After our little trek to the island we all piled into our cars and headed inland to La Habra for our Pop’s/Dzeda’s birthday gathering.

And just like that we come to the last day of May. We’ve been busy since I returned home. Yesterday was Spring cleaning day at this Old House. I’m determined to visit and see what I’ve missed on your blogs today.