Bitter Sweet

When Rich and I married in December of 2002 we were the last of 3 couples to be married that year in the church that I worked at and we all attended.  Rich and I and the other 2 couples knew each other and had all been very active in the church.  All had married a little later in life.  The first couple Kyle and Wendy married in August of 2002.  They were in their mid 30's and Wendy had some health struggles.  They really wanted children but Wendy had a hard time and miscarried quite a few times before having their little boy, Kai, in September of 2005.  They were very sweet and always sent Christmas cards to us after we moved to Oregon and we kept in touch on facebook.  Last year in April, to our great shock and sorrow, Wendy passed away leaving Kyle and her 10 year old son.  She loved that little guy so much.  My heart ached for him. This is what her husband, Kyle wrote right after she died:

Wendy, my beautiful wife and mother of our son, passed away Friday,April 15 (2016). She is the most loving, caring, toughest, huggiest, oneriest woman I have known. She will be missed. Thank you all for the prayers and support through this difficult time.

 Wendy and Kai

Their last family picture taken at the beach

 

Just a few days ago we received some very sad news from the 2nd couple, Peter and Eve, who were married in September of 2002.  Eve had died suddenly leaving her husband Peter and 2 boys, David and Joey (one just older than Mary and one just younger).  Eve too had miscarried their first baby, like Rich and I did.  Eve was such a sweet girl and wonderful mother.  In her single years she was very active in the youth ministry and many kids just adored her.   This is what Eve's husband Peter shared about Eve's death: 

 

On Thursday night, April 27 (2017),  I came home from night classes finding Eve deceased in the bath tub. Life saving measures were unsuccessful. Over the last few years, Eve suffered a few seizures. The cause of her seizures were unknown. The most likely scenario is that Eve drowned after suffering a seizure. I want everyone to know that I believe Eve left us with no suffering. She had no memory of her previous seizures as they caused an immediate loss of consciousness. Every indication allows us to believe the same for this. Eve spent her last two days enjoying quality time with family and friends. We spent our last evening with her talking for hours, just like we did when we first met. Her last conscious moment on earth was spent warmly wrapped in a luxurious lavender bath, and then she heard, "Well done good and faithful servant."

 

 

Eve in the 1990's having fun with the youth group kids

 

 

They all loved her so much

 

Here she is with one of her little guys.  Such a loving mom.

 

 Eve with a friend's little girl taken 2 weeks before she died.

 

 

Peter & Eve's 2 boys, Joey and David with them in the background.

 

It has been hard this last week taking this all in and remembering events over the last 20 years.  I went to Calvary Chapel Oceanside for 14 1/2 years and worked there for almost 13 years.  It was big part of my life and I got to know a lot of people there.  I remember when both Wendy and Eve got pregnant and had their first babies before I did.  I was sad as I was 6 years older than Wendy and 12 years older than Eve and wanted a baby so bad.  When I miscarried our first baby when I was 44 almost 45 I had to fight hopelessness and thinking I was too old.  I knew nothing was impossible with God.  So I continued to wait on the Lord and against all odds Rich and I had Mary.  Now we are 57 and 61 and I ponder the death of these 2 sweet gals leaving their children just Mary's age.  Little would I of dreamed that they would have left this earth before I did and were not able to raise their children.  I am so thankful to the Lord for Rich and I's good health but more importantly our waiting on the Lord and trusting him in all things and continuing to stand on the promise that God has given us to raise Mary in the knowledge of Him that she will walk with Him all her days.  

Easter, better late than never

I wanted to share our Easter pictures. We had a wonderful weekend.  I made a skirt for Mary and we went shopping for the rest of her outfit.  I was pleased with how it all turned out.  My girl is just growing up so fast! 

We dyed eggs this year using a technique that made them vibrant.  We used a cup of boiling hot water, 2 tablespoons of vinegar and a lot of food coloring and soaked them for 15 minutes.  Some colors we used 15 drops of dye.  They turned out great!

Rich's folks' cherry tree was in full bloom.  It has really full blossoms.  So pretty!

Our sweet girl with the blossoms!

We had a wonderful meal with Rich's folks and sister and brother-in-law.  Rich's dad has melanoma cancer that has metastasized in his lungs.  He is on a special medication that boosts his immune system but it can not cure the cancer.  So we are enjoying all the special moments we can with him.

 

We had asparagus and lamb and many more yummy things.  The lamb was delicious and so very tender!

I found a wonderful recipe for a lemon blue berry cake with whipped cream cheese frosting.  It was delicious.  Mom loves lemon and Dad loves blueberry, so it was a perfect cake for them.

 

Mary enjoyed her Easter basket.  I got her a stuffed llama and some Andes mints.

 

 

The folks showered us with See's Easter candy.  So yummy!

 

 

We truly had a blessed Easter and so very thankful for all the Lord has done for us!

Every Evening

Every evening I juice 2 large carrots, 4 celery stalks, 1/2 apple and some beet juice to top it off in the glass.  I use all organic vegetables.  I can't wait to grow these in our garden.  But organic at the store will do for now.  Anyway I drink this every evening and I have been doing this for several months now and I feel great!  I didn't have a cold last winter and I sleep great and wake up refreshed.  If you want to find out all the benefits, just google fresh carrot, celery, beet and apple juice and you will see how good it is for you!

Ellie Kitty

Well, now that we own our house, we are able to own more pets.  Mary has wanted a cat for the longest time.  She was so very young when we got Mac that he bonded to Rich and I but not too much to Mary as he is a very small dog and she was a sweet little kid but a little bit to busy for Mac to feel safe with her.  The one Mac worships is Rich.  He loves me and likes Mary but absolutely adores Rich. 

 

We were so blessed by Mary's piano teacher with a wonderful cat.  She had 2 beautiful part Himalayan cats.  One really liked Mary and would always come around when Mary was there for her piano lesson.  So, when Barbara found out we were wanting to get a cat after our home purchase, she said that she was looking for a home for one that really like Mary.  She loved the cat and would only give it to a good home and she knew we would be that home.  She needed to give her away as her granddaughter had developed a cat allergy.  So 10 days ago we went over to get the kitty.  She was really scared to say the least but she is a very sweet cat.  We set her up in Mary's room and she spent the day hiding under her bed.  It took a couple days for her to get back to eating good and feeling safe.  We have not let Mac interact with her as he has always chased cats out of our yard.  So we are keeping him in the front of the house and she gets to be in the back bathroom and bedrooms.  They are getting used to hearing each other and smelling each other.  Ellie was used to Barbara's little dog but that little dog was not quite as loud as Mac.

 

Needless to say, Mary is in 7th Heaven!  She loves that cat so much and she is such a sweet thing.  Very friendly, mellow and pretty.  We comb her hair everyday and she loves it.  She loves to play and Mary thinks up all kinds of games for her.  I will post some cute pics of her and you can see how fun she is.  What a sweet gift she was to Mary and to all of us.

 

The Story of Buying our House

When we first moved to Oregon in 2005 I was coming back to my home town after a 16 year absence. I had really missed being home. When I had moved to Southern California after my mom died I had only planned on being gone a year and a year turned into many years. They were hard years in one respect because of it being so expensive to live there and so crowded. I missed the country roads and simple life of my home. I met a lot of friends and the Lord provided all my needs but I was lonely and finally after 12 years I met my wonderful and loving husband. We had a blessed courtship and wedding. Three hundred and fifty people came to celebrate with us and it was a wonderful day and a honeymoon on the seas off Mexico on a beautiful ship at Christmas time to top it off. My heart was so very happy, I had not felt this way in many years. But my heart still longed for country roads and growing gardens. So in 2 1/2 years the opportunity opened up for us to move back to my home and I was over joyed! The house that I had grown up in was sold and strangers lived there and the yards and garden that my parents had kept were almost all gone. In about 6 months we were able to rent a newer home not too terribly far from the house I had been raised in. We would go out and drive by the old home place once a year when we went to put flowers on my mom's grave. Each time I left with a little sadness in my heart. The place of my childhood was there physically but not the same, I had a longing to go back to somewhere that was only in my memory.

 

We loved the little house that we rented. It was warm and snug in the winter and cool in the summer. The soil was very fertile and we grew tomatoes and peppers in the open soil that wasn't covered with grass. The landlords had put grass all the way around the house and we hired a gardener to come cut it during the summer. We were blessed with our sweet daughter, Mary, in that house. We brought her all bundled up from the hospital on that cool October day into our sweet little home. So happy and excited to have a baby and have a lovely nursery set up and a guest bedroom too. The rent was reasonable. It was the biggest and nicest separate dwelling that either my husband or I had ever lived in. We had both been single for many years and had rented rooms from people and rented small granny flats and mobile homes and apartments but never a whole house with a fenced yard and attached two car garage. The house was only 7 years old and we loved the floor plan.

 

In a couple of years the landlord came over one afternoon to reattach a fence on one side of the yard so we could have a completely enclosed yard for Mary to play in, the summer before she turned two. We got to talking with him and found out they were Christians and that they had built our house. He told us that when they bought the property that the spot where they cleared to build our house was a nesting area for the Mourning Doves. He said when they prayed over the land before they built the house they felt the birds were a symbol of the Holy Spirit. I was so comforted by his story as my folks had built our house that I grew up in and they had prayed many times during it's construction for help and direction.

 

Later that year in the Fall, they had the house appraised. I thought they might be selling it. So I talked with Rich about it. He was making a good amount of money at his job and we were out of debt and we could afford to buy something. We were not in any hurry and were happy renting. We really didn't want to move as the house was the perfect set up and the thought of trying to pack up stuff at our age with a busy 2 year old was over whelming at the time. So, I called the landlords and asked them if they were having the house appraised to sell it. They said no that it was for another business purpose. I did tell them at the time, if they did sell it that we might be interested in it. They said that we would be the first people to know and get a chance at it if they ever sold it.

 

So 8 years passed, faithfully paying rent each month and Rich fixing things that needed fixing around the place and keeping the yards and a small garden. They never raised our rent and kept it at the low "come on" price they had advertised it at to get some one in the place. Our financial situation changed. Rich's job got too hard physically for him to do anymore. So, we tried doing a home ceramic lamp business that didn't work out. We went through all our savings and got into debt. Right when we were at the end of our rope financially, he got a job working for a local hospital. It was a great job with lots of potential and possible benefits but the pay started out low and he had to work on call and sometimes part time for a year and a half. Needless to say things were very tight financially. Finally he got a full time position with benefits and pay raises. It allowed us to start chipping away at our debt and build up a savings account again. So by last summer we were doing great! Finally at a place where we could buy something.

 

December 7th I received a message on my phone from our landlord. They were looking at retirement and was thinking about selling some of their rental properties. He said he was thinking and praying about it and all of a sudden he remembered what we had said 8 years ago that we might be interested in buying the house. So, he wanted to know if we were. We said we would see what we qualified for after Christmas. Rich said that he thought we probably wouldn't qualify for more than a mobile home because of our income level being low. He didn't want me to get my hopes up. So he checked in with the work credit union to see what they would lend us. It was kind of in the ball park, so he called the Landlord and told him we wanted to proceed. So, they came by a few days later with a price and it was 25,000 more than what we qualified for. My face fell and I told him that. He said, don't worry, I will work with you guys and I want you to have the house, so please don't worry. Well even the highest price the bank would loan us was out of our reach because we could not afford the monthly payments. Then Rich remembered his 3 year service in the Army when he was young. He had never used his VA loan benefit. He had never bought property and neither had I. So we checked into a VA loan and it was a great deal and a payment we could afford. So almost 11 years to the day we signed the rental agreement to move into this house, we submitted to the bank to buy it.

 

We got loan approval, had all the credit checks and the house was appraised. So we were just waiting for a closing date. One morning as we were sitting at the breakfast table talking about the house and all that we wanted to do with it after it was ours. Rich looked at me and said, "Elena, you are kind of like Naomi in the book of Ruth. The Lord is restoring to you, the things that you had lost, a home place. Now we can fill it with memories for Mary. We can do a big garden, plant rose bushes and rhododendron bushes. Have some chickens. Mary can have a cat and a pet rabbit." I shook my head yes and couldn't talk at the moment because tears were streaming down my face. So many things have happened to us much later in life than most people, but still all so very good. We will now have a home place and most likely live here all our days and when we die, it will be Mary's. I was finally home.

 

I know my real home will be with the Lord when I die and He takes us all to Israel to rule and reign with Him for a 1000 years before he makes a new heaven and a new earth, but as for this life I am living now, I am home. We will sign the papers for the house in 2 days. I am so excited and also feeling awe and a sober feeling of responsibility that I have never felt before as I have never owned land before. I am so looking forward to this next step in our wonderful journey together as a family.

 

 This is in 2007, our first summer in our house after we had Mary.

 

     

Birthday and Daffodils

I had a wonderful birthday week.  lol  Rich took Thursday and Friday of last week off.  On Thursday We went to Way Back Burgers.  Rich had been hearing about it from people at work saying it was really good and they were right! 

Mary picked out a lovely chocolate cake for me.  We each had a piece with Raspberry White Chocolate ice cream.

 

 On Friday after Mary's piano lesson we went out to Arbys.  Mary had a Turkey Gyro, I had the Reuben and Rich had the Pepper Philly.  They were all super delicious!

 Sunday we went out to Olive Garden with the folks.  Again super delicious!

 

Monday we took a trip out to Shady Cove to admire the daffodils on Daffodil Hill.  You get there by going on Sawyer Road.  They were so beautiful and it was a lovely day.  A perfect ending to a wonderful birthday celebration.

 

 

 We stopped at Phil's Frosty and got ourselves so ice cream.