Suko Family Blog

I really recommend that you check out the Suko Family Blog. Caleb Suko is our pastor's son. He and his wife Christina are working towards getting support to be missionaries in Ukraine. Christina is native Ukrainian. She came to America to go to Bible College. They have 3 kids, Naomi, Mishael and Noelle. I had the opportunity to go on a 5 week mission trip to Ukraine when I was 17. I will never forget the experience of serving the Lord there. Right now Caleb, Christina and their children are visiting Ukraine for a couple weeks. They are visiting Christina's family and also scouting out where they may be needed when they are finally able to go out on the mission field. They have lots of great pictures on their blog. They also have a website, www.sukofamily.org that has lots of great info on what they are doing.

Spring in Washington, D.C.

My sister-in-law Ruhiyyih is now living in Washington, D.C.. She has taken lots of grogeous pictures of spring there. Click here to check them out!

Welcome Spring!!

Getting Ready...

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything on my blog, but here I am! :) My weight loss efforts have been going well. I have lost a total of 8 pounds. It was 10 pounds but I have been doing lots of cardio and strength training at the gym. A lady at my church who is a fitness instructor said that I would probably see a little bit of weight gain since I am gaining muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. I know that my body is definitely changing because I have gone down 1 pant size!! I found some old pants that I had put away because they became too small. Well I tried them on the other day and now they are almost too big!! Woohoo! I also bought a new pair of jeans and had to get a smaller size. I guess the tip to not pay too much attention to how much you weigh on the scale is a good tip. Even though I may have only lost 8 pounds of fat I have replaced 2 pounds of fat with muscle, so the scale can be a little deceiving. I plan on only weighing myself every two weeks if not less than that.
Rue and I have been discussing more about when we will try to have a baby. It was going to be this June but we are now thinking perhaps this next spring. We really want to take a road trip across the country before we have a baby and also, hopefully, go on a cruise. We are actually already saving our pennies and we will see what happens. I know Rue really wants to have a baby because he talks about it more than I do. He pats my stomach and talks about the day when there will be a little baby in there. :) I am really looking forward to being pregnant. I know since Rue and I are waiting we will be nice and prepared. (But of course you can probably never be fully prepared for what a baby will bring.)

He Prays for Us

In Ladies' Bible Study we are reading the book Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone by Elyse Fitzpatrick. In one little section she talks about Jesus praying for believers. I know that whenever I read the passage in John 17 where Jesus prays for believers I am really encouraged. I don't think often enough about the fact that Jesus prays for me. When she reminded me of this I was very humbled. Christ prays that believers' faith will not fail. He prayed this for the disciple Peter in Luke 22:32. As John Piper has said that Satan likes to eat up faith. It is so wonderful to know that when my faith is waning Jesus is praying for me. One girl in Bible Study brought up the fact also that Jesus is constantly praying for all believers. He isn't like us where we have a prayer list and we pray for a couple people a day. I don't have to worry that I won't show up on His prayer list until next week. He is constantly making intercession for believers. "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him [Christ], since He always lives to make intercession for them." --Hebrews 7:25
Since Jesus is God then we can trust that He knows exactly how to pray for us. He knows completely what God's will is and so therefore He can pray God's will. What an amazing love that God has for us!! This makes me want to pray more than I do. This makes me want to seek to have a closer and closer relationship with the Lord. Can there be anything more satisfying that drawing close to the Lord and enjoying Him and Him alone. I can be so deceived into thinking that something worldly will satisfy me more than spending time with the Lord but in the end it only leaves me more empty. When the Lord is my focus and my joy, the things of the world go dim. Like the hymn says, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will go strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." I am still so far from being where I should be in my walk with the Lord, but I know that He is working in my heart and praying for me. What an amazing love!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and decided to try it. I have always wanted to try to make cookies with whole wheat and now that I am on a diet this is the perfect time. I made the batch yesturday and took half of them to Bible Study with me this morning. The ladies enjoyed them a lot. They do not taste like an original fattening chocolate chip cookie but they are still very delicious. They have a bit of a nutty taste because of the whole wheat pastry flour. They are kind of between chewy and soft. The recipe still uses sugar but it is half of what you would use for regular cookies. (I may try to use Splenda next time and see how they do.) Also you only use 2 tbls butter and replace the rest with nonfat sour cream. I was skeptical at first, but I was wrong. This is definitely a delightful little cookie! :)


Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 36 cookies

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbls unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg white (I used the whole egg)
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream ( I used reduced fat sour cream since that is all I had)
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (you really should use mini
because this is such a small cookie)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease or coat with nonstick cookie spray.

2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, cream the sugars and butter until smooth. Stir in the vanilla, egg and sour cream. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and stir until well blended.

3. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes until just set. Slide the cookies on the parchment paper onto a countertop to cool, or remove cookies from the sheets and cool on a wire rack.

Discovery Land

Every quarter my church holds the Discipleship Intstitute. It takes place in Sunday evenings from 5:30-7:30pm. There are usually three or four different classes to choose from. There can be classes like Old and Nee Testament Survey, Parenting classes, Christian finance classes, purity classes for the teenagers, and marriage classes. It goes for 4 weeks then we take one week off and then the first 4 weeks repeat so you can switch and go to a class that you didn't go to in the first 4 weeks. My pastor asked if I would be in charge of the kid's program, called Discovery Land. I will be teaching the first 4 weeks and then a friend of mine will do it the second 4 weeks so that way we both will at least be able to take one class. My mom is helping me. Last night was the first night. We weren't quite sure how many kids we were going to have. We had about 12. (Sometimes in Jr. Church we will have up to 30!)

I started off with prayer and songs. I always choose a different child to come up and help me hold up the visuals for the songs. The kids really enjoy helping in that way. Then I read half of a missionary story to them. It was about Jim and Elisabeth Elliot who went to Ecuador in the 1950's and Jim and 4 other men were killed by the indians they were trying to reach for Christ. Elisabeth went back and lived with those indians who killed her husband and learned their language and made it into a written language. She also helped lead many of the indians to Christ. Today there is a Bible College for those indians and even one of the men who killed her husband is now a follower of Christ.
After half of the missionary story we sang a few more songs then I told half of the Bible lesson. We learned about Noah and the flood. During this time I also have a child come up and hold the picture cards for the story. After this we had a little craft and had snack. After this we sang some more songs and I finished the Bible lesson. Then we played a Bible review game. It was pretty much like "Hot Potato" but when the music stopped whoever had the potato had to answer a question about the Bible lesson. If they could not answer it then anybody could raise their hand and I would call on someone to answer the question. After this game I finished reading them the missionary story. It was almost time to leave but not quite so we played a couple rounds of "Heads Up, Seven Up". I had a really wonderful time teaching the kids. There were a few kids that were a little rowdy but I still had a good time.
Here are some pictures that my mom took of Discovery Land. (She did some "poster" effects on some of them.)

The Big Pond

My parent's live on about 2 acres of property out on the Key Peninsula. I lived there from 4th grade all the way up to being married. It was a great place for a kid to grow up. There were just enough woods so you could feel like you were having an adventure, plus a good sized pond that we would put the canoe in and pretty much just float around. We could paddle a few good strokes and then we would reach the other side of the pond. I would sometimes take a book out there with me and float around and read. There was also a little creek that flowed away from the pond and ran into the woods and into a little hollow. My brother and I decided to dig a little mini pond down there. A couple of the neighbor girls joined us also. We dug a little pond about the diameter of a small round kitchen table and about 2 feet deep. We had a great time wading in it. Once the middle of summer came around though the big pond would dry up and so would the creek. But once fall and winter came again, it would fill right back up. There is a man made lake a little ways down the road and the pond is runoff from that. I remember there was even a few times when we swam in the big pond. The deepest part was probably 7 feet deep. I was always way to scared to touch the bottom. Once Ben and I did and it was really icky. It creeped me out. When we would climb out of the pond all the little hairs on our arms and legs would be black because of the dirt stuck to them. Of course we did not care at all, we just loved to go swimming. Now when I think back on it I would not go swimming in it now, but we have some great memories. When the pond was dry we would walk through it to the other side were there was a tree with a branch hanging out over the deepest side of the pond. On that side of the pond the bank was very steep so Ben climbed up into the tree and securely tied a thick rope to the branch. We tied a loop in the bottom of the rope and stuck a thick piece of wood through it. We would put the piece of rope between our legs and a walk as far up the bank as we could. Then we would jump and take off flying down over the pond. I loved that swing! I would go out there almost everyday and go swinging. It felt like I was flying. Sadly, a couple years later when we had gotten a little older and forgotten the swing, the branch broke off and that tree could no longer be used to fly over the pond. I am hoping though that we will be able to find another good tree for a rope swing though so that my brother's and my children can have the great fun that we did.

Well, over the years the property has become overgrown with blackberry bushes. They started out small and then every year got bigger and bigger until it seemed they had invaded the entire property. The big pond was completely cut of from view and their was no way to get to it. Also the little pond that we dug was completely overgrown also and there was no longer any access to it.
But just this week my parents hired a guy who goes to our church to do some excavating. He owns an excavating company. As I am writing this he is out at my parents right now clearing away all the black berry bushes. Even though black berry bushes are nice for their berries, they just seem to take over once they get going. My mom sent me some pictures of before and after. He will also be coming back tomorrow to finish up the job. I can't wait to go over there and be able to see the pond again and go to the place where we dug the little pond. I don't know if the little pond will have filled itself back up but I just want to see the little hollow again.


This picture is before any work was done. This is only a small part of the property that was invaded by blackberry bushes. Just behind the black berry bushes, you see in the distance, is the big pond. Obviously you can't actually see the pond. And just as a side note, the little red shed my mom built all by herself when we moved onto the property. She's pretty handy! She is the tom-boy of the twins.

This is a little bit of a different angle, but you can see that there are no longer any black berry bushes. Where you see the pile of twigs and brush is where the big pond is. The wood shed on the left my mom also designed and built! Yep, pretty handy! :)

This is a better picture of the pond. Behind the excavater you can see there is still a little water in the pond. I don't think there was as much runoff this year. That is my dad standing there. A couple feet in front of him is a pretty big sink hole. You can't see it from the angle of the picture, but it is pretty deep and you don't see it until you almost step into it. It goes pretty far under ground but no one risked jumping in it to see how big it actually is. My dad dumped a bunch of cinder blocks in it to keep anyone from falling in.

This is a picture of him excavating around the pond.

My mom trying her hand at the excavater. Yep, like I said, she's pretty handy! :)

Discovery Children's Choir

At church we have a children's choir. There are two ladies who are in charge of it. They practice every Sunday when they dismiss the kids to children's church. They practice for the first 20 minutes of children's church and then they send the kids down to children's church where they have a Bible story and craft. The kids usually sing on holidays and special occasions and an occassional Sunday here and there. This is a picture of the kids singing last Sunday. They did a GREAT job! They really sung out and none of them yelled, like some children might do when they are told to sing louder. :) My step-daughter Daisy had a short little solo and she did very well. (She is the girl in the blue shirt.) She has a very lovely singing voice.

The Twins

Here is a picture of my mom and Aunt Karin when they were 4 years old. My Gramma made the dresses they are wearing and my mom said that sometimes my Gramma would make a matching dress for herself and my Auntie Annie so all 4 of them would have the same dress.
One time when I was visiting my Aunt Karin I noticed she had the tiniest little ring on a chain around her neck. I asked her what it was and she said that my Gramma had put it on her finger after she and my mom were born so that she would be able to tell them apart. I have noticed that in a lot of pictures of my mom and aunt, when they were little, they had different color barrets in there hair whenever they wore a matching outfit. My mom sent this picture to everyone in the family and asked if they could figure out who was who. My Aunt Karin's husband (my Uncle Dave) wrote back and said, "I can't tell which is which, but I know I got the cute one." My mom is on the left. :)

Westminster Larger Catechism

"The duties required in the first commandment ["You shall have no other gods before Me."] are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify Him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of Him; believing Him; trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in Him; being zealous for Him; calling upon Him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to Him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please Him, and sorrowful when in anything He is offended; walking humbly with Him."

Little Pencil Writing

One of my families dearest friends now has her own blog. We used to live across from Judy and her family when we lived in up in Sumner. She was the first person to show me how to make home made bread. She had me roll up my little sleeves, wash my hands and then let me pound down the dough once it had risen. Her son Casey and my brother were best buds. She is the one I wrote about in my post on Christmas Recipes. Her blog is called "Little Pencil Writing". Click here to check it out! :)

Then and Now

This last fall my mom went down to L.A. for a small (42 year) reunion with her kindergarten teacher.
These are pictures of then and now. :)

Getting Ready...

Well, yesterday I had the stomach flu. I woke up at about 4am and was horribly sick. Yesterday seems like a blur. I was so miserable the whole day. Rue was so sweet. He came home on his lunch break (which is at 7pm) and brought me chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers. I had only eaten one muffin all day. I sipped Sprite every 15 minutes or so because I knew I was really dehydrated. I had a little bit of the soup and nibbled on a couple of the saltine crackers. I went to bed around 9:30 and did not sleep very well at all even after taking 2 NyQuil. (1 NyQuil usually konks me out.) I slept curled up in a tight ball because that seemed to make the nausea go away. Around 3am I started to feel better and then fell into a really deep sleep. I woke up at 7:45 to get Daisy up for school and I felt soooooo much better. I don't really have any energy still but at least I don't fell sick anymore. I took a 3 hour nap after I got Daisy up and now I feel like I could take another one. I am trying to drink plenty of liquids and Rue just went into Tacoma to get me some soup from Vien Dong, which is a nice little Vietnamese restaurant that Rue's family loves to go to. They have wonderful soups.

Also, about my weight loss efforts, I have some really GREAT news! I realized this morning that I was reading my scale wrong. I thought that each little line between the numbers represented 1 pound. But I realized this morning that there are only 5 lines between each "10". So between 180 and 170 there is only 5 lines. Each line represents 2 pounds! So instead of losing 4 pounds in my first 2 weeks on the diet, I lost 8!! I can't believe I was reading it wrong. I was so giddy when I realized what I had done. )I also lost 2 pounds yesterday from being sick but I won't really count that because I know it was water weight and I will probably gain it back.) So, anyways I am really excited!! Woohoo! :)

Moms

My Uncle Paul sent this over e-mail. I think you will enjoy it. :)

"Why God made moms" answers given by elementary school age children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mom?
1. My Mom has always been my Mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the ! stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work & at home, & dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back.

THE MOMMY TEST

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that."Why?" my daughter asked. "Because it's been laying outside, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs" I replied. At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Wow! How do you know all this stuff?" "Uh," ...I was thinking quickly, "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy." We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information. "OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy." "Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face and joy in my heart.

IN CHURCH

"Dear Lord," the preacher began with arms extended and a rapturous look on his upturned face, "without you we are but dust..." He would have continued, but at that moment one very obedient little girl (who was listening carefully) leaned over to her mother and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mommy, WHAT is butt dust?" Church was pretty much over at that point. . .

Wholesome Oat Muffins

Woohoo! Today I get to start eating whole grains and fruit again! I lost 4 pounds in the last two weeks and even though it is not as much as I wanted to lose I am still so happy that I stuck to the diet even though it was really really hard at times. I have lost all my cravings for junk food and am enjoying really healthy food.
For breakfast this morning I decided to make some Wholesome Oat Muffins. I heated one up when I got up this morning and sat down and enjoyed it.

Wholesome Oat Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

3/4 cup + 2 tabls oats
1 cup buttermilk (I used low-fat)
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour or whole grain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cups chopped walnuts
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup brown sugar substitute
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Coat a 12-cup nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. In small bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the oats and the buttermilk. Let soak for 30 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and walnuts.

4. In a large bowl, stir together the oil, egg, brown sugar substitute, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the oat mixture. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbls oats over the muffins. Bake for 11 - 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove to the rack to cool completely.

Scrapbooking

This evening I did some catching up in my scrapbook. I am not a scrapbooker who tries to make the pages look really artistic and fancy. (Plus I don't have time to spend an hour on each page.) I want the pictures to be the focus. Here are the pages I did tonight. (The pages are a lot more clear in person. I tried to get them as clear as I could with my camera.) :)

These pages are of Ruhiyyih's going away party last Sunday.

This is Rue's and my outing to Ruston Way and Point Defiance.

Here are Isaac and Gabe, my two little charges during the week.

Just some pictures of my big bro.

And, of course, Daisy. :)

Grocery Shopping

Today Rue and Daisy are up at Crystal Mountain snowboarding which leaves me all by myself. I slept in a little bit and then went to the gym. After I ate and took a shower I headed on over to the grocery store. I usually go on Friday mornings at 9am. But I didn't get there until about 1pm and it was crowded! When I go in the morning there is hardly anyone there and I don't feel as stressed and I want to just take my time. Today I shopped as quickly as I could.
Starting Monday I get to start in the second phase of the South Beach Diet! I am almost done with the first phase and am really happy. So far I have lost 4 pounds which isn't as much as most people on South Beach, but I am NOT quitting. I may lose it slowly but I am happy to be losing it.
So anyway, I was able to buy things today that I will start eating on Monday. One thing I have not had for 2 weeks is bread. I am so looking forward to being able to eat a sandwich in the afternoon made with whole grain bread! (I am still not allowed to have white bread or simple starches like potatoes.) I never thought I would be so excited over bread. :) Another thing I can start eating again is fruit. I bought some grapes, bananas and oranges. (We already have apples.) I also bought some dried berries for a sweet treat when I need it. For breakfast I bought all-bran cereal and 1 % milk to go with. I bought cute little mini whole wheat bagals for breakfast and light cream cheese. The cream cheese is also for a yummy South Beach sandwich I will be making that has cucumber, lettuce, and cream cheese made on whole wheat bread. I bought oatmeal so I can make some South Beach Oat Muffins for breakfasts also. I did buy some boxed sugar-free pudding for desserts. I made homemade pudding a couple months ago but because I would have to a lot of an artificial sweetner in order to make it from scratch I decided just to buy the boxed kind. Splenda is pretty expensive!
I am really looking forward to Monday! Only 2 days to go! :)

Cozy Bed?

Rosie decided to curl up in the most unusual place this evening. There are many cozy places she can curl up and sleep but she decided on the newspaper. I have noticed that whenever there is paper on the floor she goes and lies down on it. I personally would rather curl up on a cozy pillow or chair but I guess she prefers paper. :)

Black Bean Soup

Here is a South Beach Diet recipe that I really enjoy. I have been on the diet for almost 2 weeks now and I find myself trying and enjoying new foods that I didn't before! Even my husband is enjoying all of the new and different foods I am making. This recipe can be eaten in the first phase and I have already made it twice. It is very filling and my step-daughter Daisy says that it tastes like you are eating a burrito! :) I put a little bit of shredded reduced fat cheddar on top and let it melt. Yum!


Black Bean Soup

Makes 6 servings

1 1/2 cups dried black beans
6 cups water
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 rib celery, with leaves, chopped
Ground black pepper
1 tsp celery seeds
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 lemon, sliced paper thin, for garnish
Leaves celery for garnish

1. Place black beans in a large bowl and cover with water. Add more water if necessary to cover the beans. Soak overnight. Drain the beans and add 6 cups of fresh water to the bowl.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the beans and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours, or until beans are tender.

3. Remove half of the beans to a food processor or blender and process to puree, adding the liquid from the soup to cover. Add the black pepper to taste and the celery seeds. Return the pureed beans to the pot and heat, stirring, until the soup thickens. Stir in lemon juice.

Quilting

Right now I am working on a nine-patch quilt. I bought the lavendar fabric when we were on our honeymoon in July of '04. We found a very cute little quilting shop on the Oregon coast. And since my favorite color is lavendar my eyes were drawn to a little rolled up bunch of lavendar, reproduced fabric, fat-quarters. Reproduced fabric are prints from earlier times like the 1930's and 40's. I decided to make a nine-patch quilt with them. Except my little nine-patch squares will only be an inch big. I thought that would be really cute but of course it makes more work, but I like doing it.

My first step is cutting the fabric into 1 inch wide strips. (There are a few more patterns of fabric but I only picked 4 to show in the picture.)












The second step is to pick 2 different patterns and sew them together. Once the first 3 pieces are sewn together you take 3 more except the opposite of the first 3 pieces sewn together.












Next I cut the 2 strips into 1 inch wide pieces width-wise.









Next I pick 2 pieces from one strip and 1 piece from the other strip. I sew two opposite pieces together. Then sew on the 3rd strip so that the opposite strip is inbetween the 2 strips. I do this until all the pieces from both strips are used. There is usually one or two pieces left over that can't be used.












Now I have little 1 inch nine-patch squares.










These are the steps I am working on at the moment. Once I am done making all my squares I will show what I have to do next. Pretty soon I will have a quilt that I can pass down to my children and tell them I bought the fabric when I was on my honeymoon and they can give it their kids. :)

Party for Ruhiyyih

On Sunday a bunch of us got together to have a little good-bye party for Ruhiyyih. She is moving to Washington D.C. on Thursday of this week. It was mostly family but also some of Ruhiyyih's close friends came also. We had a great time visiting. You can also read about the party on my mother-in-law Bonita's blog also. :) Here are some pictures I took of everyone.

This is a picture of Bonita standing on a bench in the living room taking a picture of the whole group. :)
Here are all five siblings together one last time before Ruhiyyih moves. From top to bottom: Laurel, Rue (my hubby), Ruhiyyih, Taraz and Rahmat.

I loved this picture because the cake matches Ruhiyyih sandals and Taraz's shirt perfectly. They ate the cake while we all sat around discussing what it must tast like. Laurel said it was a great way to enjoy the cake without actually eating all the calories. :)

Here are some pictures that my mom took.

My big bro, Ben.

George and Bonita. Cute couple! :)
Rahmat messing with Taraz. Don't you love their hair!? :)
Ruhiyyih and Justin, her best friend Veronica's little boy. He was such a delight at the party.

Me tickling Justin. Isn't he so cute!?

As you can tell, we had a great time! I love getting together with family and friends. I am so thankful for the family that God had blessed me with. We are going to miss Ruhiyyih when she goes but she is following what the Lord has lead her to do.

A little outing with Rue

I was feeling really restless today and my husband Rue could see it. Outside the sun was shining (although it was very cold) and I just didn't want to be in the house.
Rue decided to take me with him when he went over to the library in Tacoma. He said after the library we would go down to Ruston Way on the waterfront. So we headed to the library and checked out some books and movies to enjoy this evening. Then we headed down to Ruston Way. I made sure to bring my camera and my snowboarding jacket. Rue wanted to rollerblade, so he did. I decided to walk. So he would rollerblade a down the walk a little and then turn around and come back to where I was, talk with me for a little bit and then head out again.
Having a good fresh breath of sea air and sunshine was so rejuvenating. The air was so cold but it felt so good.
We stopped on a pier and I took a picture of Mount Rainier and Tacoma to the east and a picture of the Olympic Mountians to the west. The water was a beautiful deep blue and was really choppy with white-caps.
When we got back to the car our cheeks and noses were red from the cold. I felt like I had so much energy though. We drove over to the Antique Sandwich company to get some hot coffee. On the way there is an old concrete tunnel that you must drive through. It is an extremely narrow tunnel. There were icicles hanging from the ceiling and ice all over the walls. It was really pretty to see.
At the Antique Sandwich Company we both got coffee, Rue regular and me decaf. I brought a little baggy of some sugar-free creamer powder because I can't have sugar right now. We sat down in the back of the room and chatted for a little while. This place was a little different than I am used to. They had all kinds of interesting art up on the walls and rugs that looked like perhaps they came from India. There were all kinds of little wooden statues and nick-nacks. Rue described it as being "hippy".
We then headed down the street to Point Defiance Park. We took the 5 Mile Drive which is so lovely. The trees and shrubs are so dense you could almost forget that you are only a couple minutes outside of Tacoma.
We stopped at one look-out point and as we were driving away a little raccoon came out of the bushes right next to the car. I rolled the window down to take a picture. He kept coming closer so I think he must of thought that we had food for him. But then he turned aroung and scurried back into the bushes.
At the last look-out we could see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the construction of the new bridge on the other side of it.
After this we headed home. I am so glad that Rue had me come with him today. I had such a delightful time! :)