A lovely Sunday

 

We're having a lovely Sunday - 

It's nice and pleasant with windows open. But once the sun sets behind the mountains, it gets cold. 

Today, we experienced a bit of excitement at church. We spotted smoke in the canyon near the church building. Soon after, we noticed a fire spotter plane and helicopters with water buckets flying about 800 feet above us. It took the firefighters approximately two hours to bring the fire under control, which had spread across nearly 3 acres. Meanwhile, we were enjoying our monthly fellowship meal featuring Costco pizza, and the men kept going outside to watch the action.

Just a few weeks ago, I welcomed my newest great-grand-niece, Evie. 

A week later, her cousin, Oaklyn Brook, was born! Pictured above is my niece, who is now a grandmother of two girls and four boys.  

Evie was 6 lbs, whereas Oaklyn was almost 8 lbs! 

For those who have been following me for a while, you may remember that my niece, Nina passed away in November 2020 due to a fentanyl overdose. She was 28 years old and left behind two children: Abdirahman, who was five years old, and Aaliyah, who had just turned two.

Due to our family's diverse dynamics, Nina's father is a Shiite Muslim from Iran, while the children's father is a Sunni Muslim from Somalia. The two different branches of Islam have differing beliefs, but they share a strong hatred towards Jews, as well as a general discontent towards Christians. 

Unfortunately, I have been cut off from seeing my sister’s grandchildren and my niece’s children. Donna passed away in 2015. The only way I can see them now is when one of my sons checks their Facebook page and hopes that someone posts a photo. Their Grandfather, Abbas, shared some photos. 

I wish I could share the photo, but I'm afraid to. Their father has a criminal record and has threatened us before. The good news is Aaliyah is now 7 and Rahman is 11 and they look well. It bothers me knowing I can't touch them or tell them about their mom and grandmother. I keep some items tucked away for them that I know my mom and sister would want them to have. The whole situation is just sad. 

On Friday night, we attended Erev Shabbat at the Reform Jewish Temple. The liturgy was beautiful, and I always enjoy it when the Cantor chants the psalms in their original style. The music was beautifully sung in Hebrew. I met some new people, and we had pleasant conversations. I noticed that a few of the younger women seemed devastated about the election.

On Saturday late afternoon, we attended a Klezmer concert. It ran longer than expected, and since we had planned to go out to dinner afterward, we found it was too late to do so for us.  Being a Saturday night, every restaurant we considered had a long wait. As a result, we decided to go to Lumberjacks restaurant instead. I ordered a "senior" burger for $11, and it was good. My husband opted for a regular burger and fries. While it wasn't the steak or chicken Alfredo my taste buds were craving, it was fine. Given the time, we likely would have eaten too late for my digestive system to handle overnight. 

Until Next Time,

Debby

 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

Revelation 4;11