For the grandchildren...

 We have these events for our grandchildren.  If we let them participate.  That's why I put on the seder.  For Scoutie.  For my granddaughter so she attends and participates.  Because she will remember.

These are both pictures for 50th annivesary parties.

The first from 1996.  30 years ago.  We had a party for my in-laws for their 50th anniversary.  They did a war-time elopement so (they were 19!) so they never did have a wedding cake.  So we got one for them.  There they are cutting the cake.  Right close by, taking it all, in is 6 year old Naomi.  We didn't even know she was up there until we got the pictures back!  But she's fully engaged.

The second is from our own 50th anniversary party.  This past June.  Naomi and Stephen had ordered a cake for us, a duplicate of the cake we had.  We had ordered a floral topper for it and Dennis is gently putting it on the top.  Look who is right there.  5 year old Frankie who is not going to miss any of the action.

We do it for them....

Spring birthday beach

 Some weeks ago, we had a picnic at the beach for our family for the spring birthdays.  At Edmonds Beach, our go to beach.  First nice day in the spring and EVERYBODY was there.  Left to right: Scoutie, Megan, Suzie, Naomi, Stephen Jessica, Danny.  Puppy Millie in Danny's lap.  The water is the Salish Sea (or Puget Sound)  n the distance: Whidbey Island.  We had a reconstruction of the Civic Club Special and Stephen made a chocolate bundt cake.

It's nearly June.  We have Danny's birthday in June, also Scoutie.  We have our anniversary party and Melina's graduation, it never stops.

2025 Thanksgiving

 

Our Thanksgiving dinner this year.

And thankful I am for family members and our ability to gather around a feast.

Naomi and Stephen hosted.  Stephen especially was eager to put on a big family event.  In their (new to them) house.  I think setting up the two tables in their living room worked just fine.  The host couple are in the foreground.  The guests were Naomi and Stephen's immediate families plus Papa, Stephen's grandfather at the end,  Their house is great because it's level entry.  The empty chair was where I was sitting.  Stephen insisted on two turkeys though it wasn't necessary.  We brought over boxes of serving dishes, a full stuffed turkey, a pan of gravy, gravy, a flower arrangement (thanks to my neighbor), one of the main tables, a smaller table with an electric knife and cutting board, tons of stuff.

We had a lot of food, no question.  Then we had to break it down, figure out what to do with the food, help clean up and bring all of that stuff home.

But the families get along great (give thanks, that is not always the case)  Everybody came.  The hosts did great!

Informal family picture at Naomi's wedding

 

A more informal picture from Naomi's wedding in late June.  You can't see Scoutie in the yellow dress.  But we have Melina and Chris in the picture.  But everybody's there including my brother Charlie and my sister Pam

Picnic with Robert

 

Robert S came to visit, so fun, I was so glad he came.  We did plan a picnic at the beach.  With fish and chips from our local taco truck.  The bottom picture was with Danny, Jessica, Stephen, Naomi, Melina.  We had visited Pops earlier with Suzie and Megan. No Scoutie though. The top picture is later when we tarried awhile at the beach.  Another high school friend Vickie is taking the picture.

The weather was iffy but I stuck to my plan and it all worked out.

Great atmosphere!

Yippee, we did it!

 

Whoo!  After all that, we made it!  After all that fuss!  I think Naomi enjoyed all the parts, she was ready!!  Two weeks, a married couple!

Crafting

 

My daughter Naomi shares a love of crafting with her new mother in law.  We were over there for a lunch on July 4 and they were both prepared to CRAFT!  Naomi had pressed the flowers from her wedding bouquet and had some fabric from her dress.  She had also bought a nice frame from Goodwill.  So they got to work, arranging and re-arranging, making bows and making up some ideas.

Dennis is watching intently but did no participate.  I did a little.

Look how nice it came out!  The wedding was less than two weeks ago and she has a lovely keepsake.

Naomi has a strong girl-scouting background and those girl scouts LOVE to craft.

Naomi and Stephen wedding!

Congratulations to Naomi (my youngest) and Stephen on their marriage last weekend.  Beautiful weather and check out the view (Rose Hill Community Center in Mukilteo WA).  Everything (almost) went according to plan with lots of people helping out (especially Stephen's family).  Very happy for them.  Picture by my brother Charles Ginsburgh. 

The view from Naomi's new house

View of Puget Sound.   Pretty nice! 

Latkes a little late

 We had our latkes Saturday night.  A little late, but it took awhile to get the latke team together and all facing the right direction.  This year's latke production team: Susanna, Megan, Stephen.   Of course, I did some work too!

Here's Susanna light the menorah with her daughter Scoutie looking on.  At the table, Megan, me, Dennis, Danny, Jessica and Stephen.  This is the first year to light the new to me Menorah that my great grandfather Edward Cohen got in Palestine in 1917.  That's 3 greats for Scout.

Traditional dinner of latkes, applesauce, sour cream and brisket.  Yes, those are paper plates and cups.  Plus Susanna and Stephen stayed and did *all* of the dishes.  This is going to be key to having family events here.  With a dinner like this, you know that Dennis was washing dishes a lot of the day and had a dishwasher load going during the dinner.

Our new family picture

 Here's our new family picture with two new members:  Tiny Simon (5 months old) and Stephen (Naomi's fiance on the far right)  They are getting married next June.

We tried a rainbow theme this year (last year was plaid).  Every family unit wore a different color.  Much negotiation and switching of colors.  At the last minute Melina called panicked, "we don't have anything orange!"  I told her that they could wear black.  Everybody complied.

Per request, we all had a picnic dinner of the Civic Club Special plus Seattle Pops popsicles right there at Hamlin Park

Left to right

Chris
Melina
Jessica
Danny
Dennis
Sandy
Ilana
Simon
Frank
Matt
Scout
Megan
Suzie
Naomi
Stephen

The dry dock at the beach

One of the most fun activities at Edmonds beach was watching the guy move boats around at the dry dock facility.  Kept Frankie busy for quite some time.  Naomi brought a special treat with matching clothes for her and the grandkids.  Frankie with his shirt and Scoutie with the dress matching Aunt Naomi.  I think that Tiny Simon got one too.

So much to do at Edmonds beach

The Stonebrakers are here! We went to the beach!

 Ilana and her family are here.  We went to the beach the other day.  Taken from afar, we see Naomi, Ilana and Frankie playing in the sand.  I'm sure that Suzie or Megan and Scout involved with the sand.

Teresa and Mark's wedding 2022

 

In the 'better late than never' category, here is the family picture from my niece Teresa's wedding Labor Day 2022.  I remember this one was the only picture that we were in but I never saw it.  So Teresa sent it to me today.  This was a no-child wedding,  I don't remember why Suzie and Megan didn't come except that it was Labor Day in Indianapolis.  Jessica didn't come but Danny's there along with Naomi, Matt and Ilana.  And my sister along with the bride and groom.  Knit shawl by my friend Kolette.

Back of Naomi's Save the Date

 

The back of Naomi's Save The Date mailer.  Naomi and Stephen are planning their wedding just about a year from now.

I kinda like pictures of people from the back.  I'll have to ask them where they took the picture.

Wedding Dress Shopping

 Today I went wedding dress shopping with my youngest daughter Naomi. Megan (her sister in law), Cami (her friend and a level head) and Merrie (the groom's mother).  Nope I'm not going to show any dresses.  Not now.  But she tried on several dresses that looked great on her.  The latest thing (at least as far as I know) are pale rose colored dresses,  Like the dress closest to the camera.  That color looked great with her skin tone.  We'll see how she feels over time.  But so many nice dresses for her.

Memorial Day dinner

 At the last minute, Suzie and Megan decided to have a dinner on Memorial Day.  It was a good one with hamburgers and chicken.  We brought some ice cream.  Naomi and Stephen came also.  A little chilly.  Much wedding talk.  Scoutie played around us,

Naomi and Stephen engaged!

 

Naomi and Stephen announced their engagement to their families Friday May 5.  Check out the size of the rock on that ring!  For newbies, Naomi is my youngest daughter.  They are very happy and excited!

Seder

 This year's seder.  We did it on Sunday so Naomi and Stephen would be back from Indiana.  Our total was 10.  We invited pretty close to the minimum; Melina and Chris couldn't come (but Melina made the brownies).  We invited Stephen's parents but his dad couldn't come.  Megan and Suzie made the matzah ball soup (and it was good).  We rigged it so Scoutie found the afikomen.  Naomi and Stephen brought the grape juice.  I suggested 2 big bottles would be enough.  But Stephen is an engineer and he took 4 cops literally, did the calculations and bought six (!) bottles instead.  We whipped through it pretty fast as we add a not-quite-two-year old.  The flowers came out.  You can see the seder plate with the orange.  Danny and Stephen helped move the furniture back.

We were so pooped out; said we would not do another one.  But probably will.

Bloomington Water Treatment!

 Naomi and Stephen are visiting Ilana, Matt and the boys in Bloomington IN.  Stephen is interested in water treatment so Ilana found him a Water Treatment center to tour.  So here, they are, having a great time!  So many people, so many interests!