25 Years Ago And Still Today

August 21, 1988

We were practically babies.

He had just completed his Masters Degree

in electronic music and recording engineering.

 

I had just turned 21, three weeks

before the wedding,

and was working as a home furnishings 

specialist at Laura Ashley.

 

We were so completely crazy in love with each other.

 

Don's father and he had started to

build our little love nest,

or "Bunny Hutch" as we called it,

over the garage on their property.

 

Don's 25th birthday

was 4 days before our

wedding day.

 

I made my gown and beaded my shoes

and my mother and I made the bridesmaid's

and flower girl's dresses.

  

Don's mother and I sewed about a hundred

white covers for the folding chairs for the reception.

 

We were married at
Menlo Park Presbyterian Church,

on a perfect Sunday afternoon.

 

My father walked me down the aisle,

while Vivaldi's "Spring" was played

on flute and pipe organ,

and then he preached the wedding sermon.

 

During our ceremony,

my love accompanied me on guitar,

while I sang

"My Romance". 

Our wedding supper reception was held

in Don's aunt and uncle's back yard.

His Greek aunts made the delicious

food for the buffet,

all the while carrying on their hilarious "arguing."

(This is still one of my very dearest memories of the day.)

 

Our friends and family shared tears

and laughter

and joy.

Our marriage was prayed over 

and blessed.

And it was a good day.

 

Over the last 25 years,

we have lived a lot of life,

inhabited many houses in several states,

served the Lord and His people in numerous churches,

made A LOT of music,

given birth to our beloved India,

journeyed to China to adopt our beloved Ahnalin, 

prayed through many crises,

and seen many miracles,

packed around about a ton of fabric (!!)

and

dreamed many dreams.

We are still very, very much in love.

I have been blessed with the very best man.

My "Hot Rockin' Hubby" is still the man of my dreams.

God has blessed us so much.

 

Happy Anniversary my dear Don.

I can't wait to see what the next 25 years hold.

A Birthday Dress For Ahnalin

Ahnalin had a birthday.

So, of course, she needed a new dress.

Because who can resist this face?

She wanted the dress to be in her
favorite style sundress.
I don't use a pattern for this style,
as I just cut it based on her current measurements.

And she wanted me to use this
Cath Kidston napkin, that Grandma
bought at a garage sale,
for an apron sewn onto it.

We both love the apron look.

She picked out this vintage 1930s green
rick rack

and the yellow
floral fabric for the sash
and hem band from my stash.

And the Beatrix Potter
buttons were on a card that was dated "1976". 

She was very happy with her birthday dress!

 And of course!

Birthday girls get to lick the beater for the Kitchenaid mixer.

And they get to blow out candles!

Sometimes, they even receive beautiful bride
dolls as birthday presents!

Sometimes they get their very own
little tiny watermelon.

Sometimes they get free scoops of ice cream
at Baskin Robbins.

Ahnalin was very blessed because Grandma Barbara 

and Grandpa John came for the weekend.

You see, Grandma Barbara's birthday

was on Saturday! 

So we had lots and lots of birthday!

I made this pillow for my mom (Grandma Barbara).

And Ahnalin used my embroidery machine 

and made this fleece scarf her.

Grandma loved these gifts,

but I think her favorite was the chocolate fudge cake

with Nutella frosting and coconut that I made for her

from scratch.

Oh it was so good!!

All in all, we had a wonderful

birthday weekend!

Happy Sewing!

Sivje

India is Twenty-Wonderful!

Do you have any idea how much I love this girl?

India is the only treasure that I carried under

my heart for 9 months.

And she has been my joy for every day of her

21 years.

I am so grateful that she is mine.

She loves a good adventure!

She is goofy and knows a good cuppa' when she sees one!

She knows how to wield a fry pan when necessary!

And she is completely wonderful in every way.

Today,
as my darling girl is still battling
a nasty cold,
and awaiting news of her (hopefully!!!)
impending acceptance for another
term in the Disney College Program,
I pray peace and health for her.

I pray joy and love.

I pray tenacity and strength.

I pray trust and courage.

I am so grateful that
21 years ago,
God gave me the desire of my heart,
and gave me this jewel.

Happy Birthday Princess India.

I pray all your dreams come true.

Love,
Mommy



(Photo credits go to her darling friends Sigrid Forsythe
and Jayne McKenna)

Candles, Cocoa And Change

Tonight we lit the Shepherd's Candle of Joy.

We love Advent Sundays in our family.

They are my favorite tradition of the 

Christmas season!

We usually use a brass Advent wreath or 

a red cutout metal Swedish Advent wreath.

But this year, we are using the wood and greenery

wreath that Ahnalin and I made at the Advent Festival

at our old church. 

( More about this below.)

In this picture, we were singing

"The First Noel".

I can't tell you how much I love this picture.

I love love love love it!

Every Sunday night of Advent, 

we read the Bible verses,

sing the songs,

pray the prayers,

and light the candles.

Then we enjoy dessert and 

salted maple hot chocolate.

Last week, we had chocolate cake

and the same salted maple hot cocoa.

Do you see my darling Christmas Goose china?

I love it!

And the first Sunday of Advent,

we had dark chocolate brownies

and salted maple hot cocoa.

And yes, I have lots of different Christmas china.

All of my dishes for the rest of the 

year are super practical,

but I love my wonderful Christmas dishes!

And in case you were wondering,

the "Salted Maple Hot Cocoa"

is my own concoction.

You see, I had been very, very committed

to the Anti-Inflammatory diet, 

and had avoided all sugar, wheat, corn and potatos

for months.

But pure maple syrup is allowed occasionally. 

And I loved the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

at Starbucks, so I wanted something similar for me!

So, here it is!

Salted Maple Hot Cocoa

Serves 4

4 cups milk

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon plus a pinch of salt

3/8 cup pure maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup boiling water

whipped cream 

(yeah it has a bit of sugar. I don't care!)

cocoa powder to sprinkle on top

In a medium sauce pan, heat the milk on low heat.

(Be careful not to scald or burn the milk or you get a yucky

brown film on it.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder,

salt, maple syrup, vanilla, and boiling water until foamy.

Carefully blend the cocoa mixture into the hot milk.

Pour into 4 mugs and top with whipped cream.

Sprinkle a bit of cocoa powder on the top of the 

whipped cream. 

YUMMY!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

And the change I was referring to.........

Well, we have loved our time at Santa Rosa

First Presbyterian Church,

but we are so excited for our next adventure!

Last Sunday was our final Sunday at First Pres,

and this morning was our first Sunday at 

Sebastopol Christian Church!

Don is the new 

Director of Music and Worship

at SCC! 

We had such a fun time 

in worship with our new fellow

singers and musicians. 

We can't wait to get to know new friends

and serve in new ministries.

God is so good!

And the best part is that 

we will still be able to see

our friends from First Pres because we 

are staying in Santa Rosa!
YAY!!

I am so grateful to God 

for the gift of His Son

and the gift of worship.

Happy Advent!

Oh My! My Baby India Is 20!

Happy 20th Birthday India!!

Yes! 

She is 20 years old! 

And this is the bike she bought with her 

Birthday money.

Pretty sweet ride, eh?

So in honor of her birthday,

I thought I would show some fun photos of my

first baby.

I took this photo on her last day at work

as a "bookie" on the 

Storybook Land Canal Boats

at Disneyland. 

Ahnalin and I were riding Casey Jr. and 

as the track runs all around Storybook land,

our train happened to be directly overhead

as India's boat was going under the bridge.

 And here she is right 

before midnight on her final night of work

as she was graduating from the Disney College Program.

Ahnalin and I, 

along with some of her DCP buddies,

were honored to ride her final boat.

This was, without a doubt,

her very favorite job ever!

A week after we brought her home from the

Disney College Program,

my parents came for the weekend

and we drove over to Bodega Bay for a visit.

As usual, India chose to make goofy faces

in nearly every shot!

I love this picture. 

I actually took it in May when

I got to visit her all by myself

in Anaheim. 

This picture is a few years old but I love it.

India is holding my darling niece Cherish

and I think they both look beautiful.

This was taken a few years ago when

India, Ahnalin and I went to a friend's wedding.

This was taken when she was not yet 4

and we were moving away from her favorite

cousin, and best friend Tyler. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of these two.

India loved eating at the American Girl Cafe

in Chicago when we lived there.

This visit was when she was 7 years old.

This was taken at India's third birthday.

She LOVED this dress!

Blue gingham and the apron

was white with pink birthday cakes.

I even made a matching outfit for her Ginny doll!

And here she is just a few years ago in 

her Alice costume.

I stole this picture off of her Facebook page.

A friend took it when she was a freshman

standing outside the drama room at school.

Her shirt and her expression are pure India.

Here she was singing at a local restaurant

while her Daddy (aka Hot Rockin' Hubby)

accompanied her.

This is my all time favorite picture of my India.

She was 3 and

attending Healdsburg Preschool Co-op. 

She is just so yummy in this photo!!

I love my India so much.

She was my first baby.

She is the one who had to 

bear the brunt of all my first-time-mama parenting,

yet, somehow, she has managed 

to grow into a brilliant,

talented, 

beautiful,

funny,

amazing,

loving,

generous,

spontaneous,

gifted,

happy,

faithful,

imaginative,

committed,

and miraculous 

WOMAN!

I can't even begin to say how very proud I am of her.

As she enters this stage of her life,

her "20s",

I pray that the Lord will

bless her with wisdom,

joy,

courage,

faith,

health,

peace,

love,

relationships,

success,

miracles,

imagination,

and 

yes, I pray that she be blessed

with her heart's desires.

Jeremiah 29:11 is India's favorite verse.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you a hope and a future."

She is a lovely woman

but she will always be my baby.

India, mama loves you forever.

Happy 6th Chinaversary To Our Family!

We are a family.

And 6 years ago today

our precious Ahnalin was placed in our arms.

This is not the prettiest picture of me,

but we both had been crying.

God has brought us a long, long way.

We struggled with Reactive Attachment Disorder,

PTSD and Sensory Processing Disorder.

She didn't sleep at night

for a long, long time.

But God has healed her and now

she is a wonderful sleeper.

She was terrified of Daddy for a long time

but they are so tight now!

Ahnalin and India are REAL sisters in every sense of the word.

They fight (like crazy!) 

but love each other more than life.

We are so blessed to have each other.

We are a family.

Thank you Lord.