Happy 2nd Birthday to Titus!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

I can never thank my Mom enough for being the best Mom ever!  I admire her strength and courage to go to a foreign country far away from all her family and friends and raise and teach five kids.  (And this was well before all the modern technology that we take so much for granted today!)  There was no "Skyping" with grandparents.  They wrote letters that would take weeks and sometimes months to arrive.  There was no Google or internet to look something up.  There were no cell phones, iPods, CD's or microwaves that most of us use without a second thought.

But there was time.  Time to learn and do school together. Time to watch my mom cook meals from scratch everyday. Time to sit down at the table and eat together at every meal.  There were good times and bad times but I could always count on my Mom being there.

So, today I say "Thank You, Mom!"

Thank you for loving me.  (Even though I was a crier!)

Thank you for teaching me about Jesus.

Thank you for teaching me how to read.

Thank you for getting the nasty bug out of my eye.  (I still remember that day!)

Thank you for all the time you spent with us.

I love you!

Happy Birthday Margie!

Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you...

Today is my sweet niece's eighth birthday.  It just seems like yesterday that I was meeting this cutie pie for the first time.  To celebrate I put together this collage of the many faces of Margie.
Love you!  Auntie Ruth

P.S. Photo collages are super fun and easy to make with Picasa :)

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours!

It's hard to believe that I started this blog five years ago on September 6, 2006. It really doesn't seem that long ago! Through the years I found it to be a great place where I could share thoughts, memories and photos with family and friends near and far.

This summer I took a brief hiatus from posting and spent lots of time enjoying family, friends and the great outdoors. So as summer comes to an end I am ready to get back into the groove.

My Summer

Sunny days at the beach

warm sand

excited kids splashing in the waves

Trips to the city

exploring monuments of concrete and steel

beautiful ceramic fountain

Serene countryside

majestic falls

snugly, fluffy kittens to hold

Two birthdays and a wedding

family, food, friends

spending many wonderful hours together

Walks in the park, sharing summer bounty

in colors of red, green, purple

enjoying tasty treats

Summer has come and is almost gone

warm memories will stay forever.

Happy First Day of Summer

I started getting in the summer mood a little early by spending lots of time in the pool this weekend! We all got together to celebrate Greg's birthday. I love sunny summer days and good times spent with family and friends.

Summer solstice with the most daylight hours of the year started a little gray but ended in a beautiful sunny afternoon. After my walk in the park I hung out with some of my four legged friends. Coby (the regal one), Rufus (the cuddly one), Zorro (the leaning one), Sunny (the lumbering one), Gracie (the temperamental one) and Machka (the kissing one).

Circa 1963

Today would have been my parent's 49th wedding anniversary. I don't have a picture from their wedding day but this photo was taken soon after. A friend wrote a fitting description... "In the early 1960s my father (left), a Colombian Émigré, returned to his native country with my mother, a Pennsylvanian farmer's daughter who spoke no Spanish and who was, for the first time, seeing her husband's native country. In this photograph they meet an old family friend (right) on a busy street in Bogota. It was popular at the time for street photographers to take a person's photo and given them a ticket they could later redeem for a developed print - often as a same day affair."

Whirlwind

The last couple of weeks in May have gone by like a whirlwind! Is it really June already? It's been busy but good. The ladies Spring tea at Grace was on the 21st.This was the culmination of several months of planning and preparation. Melanie gave an inspiring talk of the theme of "God's Unfailing Love".

I didn't host a table this year but I enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful tables the ladies decorated. All so different but beautiful in their own way. I am so blessed to be part of such a great group of ladies. They all are an inspiration and encouragement. In the middle of it all I misplaced my camera and didn't get to take any pictures during the tea. Thankfully I found it at the end... Phew! The following day was the art exhibit at church called The HeART of Isaiah. It was sixty-six pieces of art representing each of the chapters from Isaiah. I met up with some of my Grace Group friends and enjoyed seeing every one's creative expressions.

Work was also quite busy. End of May also means the end of a semester and graduation ceremonies. It is one of the busiest times for us at the office. Another record breaking number graduated this year. I stayed away from campus on that day since they were expecting more than 10,000 guests on campus.

Memorial Day weekend has sort of become the "unofficial" beginning of summer. The weather is finally getting warmer and spending time outdoors has been fantastic. I wanted to celebrate by inviting some friends over and making them dinner. It was a fun evening and we all got to take a turn at turning the crank and making homemade ice cream.

Summer also means that the trees are yielding lots of fruit. Apricots are in season now. My neighbor invited me to go pick some and of course I couldn't pass on that opportunity. Today, I made 12 jars of apricots preserves from all the fruit we picked. I love summer!

Sunday supper on a Thursday

Last Thursday after work Grace and I took the train down to Irvine to meet up with Jon, Adam & Edgar for dinner. If you are ever in the Irvine, CA area and want an unforgettable dining experience that will rock your tatsebuds then you must visit Lucca Cafe. This month their "Sunday Supper" normally held on the second Sunday of the month was held on Thursday which was perfect timing to celebrate J's birthday. Chef Cathy Pavlos didn't disappoint. One of the delicious dishes was Raviolo alla Mascarpone (ravioli with marscapone cheese, potatoes, wild mushrooms and thyme; with butternut squash risotto, radicchio, caramelized onions & nutmeg. Mmmm so good!