Oatmeal Raisin Power Cookies

I've been experimenting with various ingredients to stay away from the ones that aggravate my pre-diabetic condition. This gluten-free, low-carb, and high protein cookies are very easy to make. My husband said they remind him of cliff bars except that they're good and they're good for me.

Ingredients: 

1 ripe banana 

1/2 c peanut butter 

1/2 c flaxseed meal 

1/2 c old fashioned oats 

1/2 c almond flour 

1/2 c raisins 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 

2. Mashed banana. 

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients. 

4. Chill the dough for 15-13 minutes. 

5. Scoop one spoonful of dough and with your hands roll into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

6. Lay them on a parchment paper-lined sheet and press to flatten them slightly (3/4 in" thick).

7. Bake for 12 minutes. 

8. Let it cool. Enjoy. 

Year-End Letter - Pandemic Edition

This year we did not send the usual Christmas card.  Instead I made a simple card that contained our year-end letter which T and I signed.  The letter and card were simple - reflecting the life we all had during the year in review 2020.

Eucalyptus: The illustration used on our card this year.

  

December 25, 2020

Dear Relatives and Friends --

To say that 2020 is a different year is both an understatement and a cliché. And yet in spite of the sudden shift in the way we lived due to the pandemic, life in 2020 was mostly ordinary. Tim and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary early in the year. When the shelter- in-place was imposed, our children were in different places: Shannon in Madison, Wisconsin; Brahms in Arcata, Humboldt County; and Miriam in Davis, Yolo County.

Most significant this year
Miriam: Participated in an hour long performance of the Steve Reich piece “Music for 18 Musicians”.
Brahms: Got my teaching credential and moved to Redding for teaching job.
Shannon: Bought a house.
Helen: Got my Certificate in Botanical Art from Filoli.
Tim: Lived with Helen 24x7 at home.

Weirdest this year
Tim: Enrolled in a college class.
Shannon: Got into volleyball for a couple of months
Miriam: Had a month where I was fixated on learning everything about the Zodiac Killer.
Helen: Raised chickens
Brahms: Spur of the moment trip to Portland and Seattle.

Learned in the Pandemic
Brahms: Sometimes you need to be the person reminding others of the seriousness of the issue. Other times you need to be the person assuring others that everything will be okay, and sometimes you just need someone to remind you of these things.
Shannon: Plague horror movies weren’t wrong in depicting lots of people breaking quarantine and failing to take the disease seriously.
Miriam: I learned to let go.
Helen: Learned to make artisan breads using my own yeast culture.
Tim: Learned to grow and enjoy dahlias.

We hope that the resilience and grace we practiced in 2020 has made us all better people to face what 2021 brings.

Best Wishes for 2021

From the Lewis Family

Hint of Spring in the Fall

Hyacinth 

The combination of colors in this picture reminds me of Chowking halo-halo.  The maple tree was turning yellow while the Japanese maple trees have already lost most of their orangey leaves baring their grayish red branches as the fog softened the colors behind the blue and green from the hyacinth.  We got this basket of bulb arrangement from my father-in-law as a gift.  I never knew how fragrant these flowers were. 

Devil's Lake State Park

Back in the days when our kids were younger, we brought them to places.  Now that they are older and learning the ropes of being independent, they do things for us, one thing at a time, as we did for them.  They show us the places they thought would be interesting to us. 

A week ago, Shannon showed us one of the bigger state parks in the area - the Devil's Lake State Park  in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  There we hiked all around the lake.  One side involved hiking on a railroad while the other half involved trekking among huge boulders.  I preferred the latter.  But it was a good hike of not just Tim and I but with our two daughters.  This does not happen very often anymore but whenever it happens, we are grateful.  It good to have an insider tell us what time to go there because the place got busy after a while.  We were fortunate to have been able to find a decent parking and not had to walk another mile back to get to the car.

Devil's Lake was beautiful.  People from the area go there to do all sorts of outdoorsy things including hiking, picnicking, snorkeling, partying, swimming, reading, boating, rock climbing, just being in the sun, and many more.  I even saw people taking pictures of wild flowers!  :)  I thought to myself that in our own area, we also have the Folsom Lake but in general people go to the lake to be active and be cool.  At the Devil's Lake Park, it was like Stephens Green in Dublin, Ireland where people just go there to be outside their homes and be in the sun.  Although they also do all sorts of activities, they don't have to do anything else once they are there - other than collect some sunshine, I guess.  

The boulders on one side of the lake were pinkish in color, which to me was unusual.  According to geological record of the place, the rocks are made of quartzite which are characteristically whitish gray.  The ones in this lake, however, are a special type of quartzite - called the Baraboo Quartzite which contains a significant amount of iron that changed the color to pinkish to purplish gray.  

At the end of our hike, I was feeling the effect of the Wisconsin humidity.  But we stopped at a nearby town to enjoy some Culver's and enjoyed the refreshment from Buffalo chicken tenders, butter burgers, French fries, cheese curds, and frozen custard.  

It is a good feeling to experience things that our children discovered on their own and are now shared with us.

Peaches, Lemons, and Neighbors

This morning while I was watering in the backyard, I noticed buyers who are looking at our neighbor's house which has been in the market for at least two months now.  I know that because when we came back from our trip to the Philippines last June, we were surprised at how many signs for sale have sprung up in our neighborhood.  Anyway, as normal buyers do, they evaluate and make comments about the house loudly as if none of the neighbors are listening to what they are saying.  I did not hear about what they said about the interior of the house but I heard everything they said about the backyard.  They commented about the pool and the surrounding area - how nice it is.  They though the greenery above the spa was ridiculous - not sure what they were referring to.  They liked the mature Queen palms around the yard.  And get this, they like it that the neighbors (which is us) are growing the peaches and lemons. 

We planted our trees along the fence line and although we regularly prune off the branches that hang into their yard, we also asked Steve and Melissa (Miller) to feel free to cut of any branch that they don't like from the trees.  For a good reason, they decided to let one tiny lemon branch which was loaded with fruits to remain hanging into their side of the fence.  Now that branch is at least two inches in diameter and continues to bear a lot of lemons every year.  This made me happy because they are taking advantage of our overly prolific tree - either for practical use or aesthetics as lemons can be very pretty when the fruits are yellow. 

Because we are not good at pruning, our peach tree is doing the same thing.  However, Steve prunes it on their side from time to time but only after the fruits are gone.  As of today, the tree is still loaded with fruits even after I harvested a big bag of peaches yesterday.  The branch that hangs onto their side of the fence is still fruitful. 

I hope that whoever will buy Steve and Melissa's house, that we will be good neighbors to them regardless of the trees between us.  😊 

Making Memories

The state of the union - 2019

People accuse of me always taking pictures.  That is something I can't deny.  It has been a habit of mine to keep photographs from events - whether significant milestones or the mundane everyday - in our journey as a family.  I enjoy taking pictures because they are visual memories of that split second.  With a photograph there is a greater chance that I can pretend to travel back and feel the same vibe that was there at the time. Sometimes when I look into an old picture, it can either uplift me to think that we once experiences such a delightful time in the past.  Sometimes it brings me a heavy load of nostalgic emotions of sadness - knowing that such time will never come again and that we can no longer go back to it.  It all depends on what my emotional state is a the time.   Sometimes old photographs inspire me to do things that I have long stop doing because of changes in our life. For example I used to love collecting different plants but because of difficulty in maintaining them either due to lack of time as my children's needs demanded more of my time or due to drought, I stopped adding to the already existing plants I had in my garden.  But now that my kids need me less and less than they did.  And although conserving water is now a part of our everyday life, drought in California is no longer a hindrance to gardening.  I could collect new plants again, with restraint.  And this I thought because, I see from time to time pictures of my old garden.  

His new hobby - taking close up pictures of wildflowers.

During our visit with Brahms, I brought my camera. I took pictures and also asked Brahms and Miriam to take pictures with it.  Here are some the ones we took of us during that fun time we spent with Brahms.  

One of few occasions when Tim is my background :)

They don't like posing for me.

Brahms holding the camera.

Brahms and I in Mckinleyville, CA

Miriam at the Fern Canyon 

It was windy in Trinidad

August Trip 2019 - Part 3 (Fern Canyon & Trinidad)

Fern Canyon

There is a place in the northern coast of California close to Oregon where ferns of various species thrive.  This place is called the Fern Canyon.  I'm guessing that over a long period of time, the path of a continuous stream of water coming from the mountains created the ravine that leads to the Pacific Ocean.  Today, the canyon which is part of the Prairie Creek State Park, is so deep that the walls could easily be 20 feet in height.  Ferns  grow on these vertical walls extending their fronds towards the light.  In areas where water trickle from the top of the ridge, mosses have covered the rock walls like a Turkish rug that hangs from the ceilings of the rug store I've seen in Istanbul.  The stream, of water runs low at this time of year but I've been told that there was a lot more water earlier in the season.  Although the vegetation in the canyon is predominantly ferns,  as you go above the ridge, different wild flowers grow there including the imposing skunk cabbages in the minor gullies.
This was the first place.

The Lewises trekking the canyon

Trinidad, CA

As we drove back towards our hotel in McKinleyville, CA, we stopped at the town where Brahms used used to work - Trinidad.  According to Brahms, this is he smallest town in California.  It is a a beautiful place, most of the houses there are vacation homes.  The school where he worked is very close to the beach and on another side there is a cove where the fishing boats are moored.  The view reminds me of Portwenn, the fictitious town in the BBC series Doc Martin.

Windy and beautiful

Brahms showed us the way

Miriam and her stick

It was windy, sunny and cold when we got there.  And we found the place beautiful and unspoiled.
We were all glad that Brahms showed us some of the beautiful sights in his stomping grounds.

August Trip 2019 - Part 2 (Arcata)

Now that Brahms lives in Humboldt County, it is a lot easier to conjure a reason to travel north than it used to.  Having said that, he has traveled back home since he moved more times that we traveled to visit him.  This time he will be a student again working on acquiring a California Teaching Credential and probably he will be busier than before.

Brahms has the gift of making his family feel at home no matter where we are.  He makes sure that we do the things we do as a family regardless of our situation.  For example, he brought a game and some dessert to enjoy while we played.  When he could not be with us on Sunday morning, because he was working to prep for the church service, he directed us to go walking at the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary   It was a delightful place especially for us who appreciate wild flowers and for Miriam who paid attention to the numerous species of birds that inhabited the place.  We could have lingered there were it not for other things on our agenda for the day.

Brahms works as Children's Director at Catalyst Church.  We attended  service there which was held outside on the church's courtyard.  There was a fabric awning to attenuate the sunshine but the pastor and the worship team did their thing under the direct sunlight.  We guessed that because this is Arcata where they get few sunny days in a year they were trying to harvest as much sunshine as they can get.  Later on we went to eat at one of his recommended burger place where we again dined on the patio where I had a fancy salmon burger and a very good green salad - I recognized pea sprouts in it!   It was generally a beautiful day with temperatures between 65-75 degrees (F) and knowing that the temperature back home was a lot higher.  Then we walked to Brahms' new place, since we have not seen it before.  He showed us the backyard which has a lot of potential as a garden.  In fact Brahms already staked his claim on one of the planter boxes with the token bean plants which he started in coke cans back when he was in his old apartment.  We strolled a few blocks to go to a used bookstore called Tin Can Mailman.  There I bought a book, 'The Orchid Paintings of Franz Bauer'.  Miriam browsed the music section but nothing begged her to buy it.  

That was the first half of the day.   

August Trip 2019 - Part 1 (Fortuna and Eureka)

This weekend we headed north to go see family.  First of all, my mother-in-law's birthday is coming up and a trip to see them would be apropos.  Secondly, we have been informed that G-ma is moving to Brookings, Oregon.  We thought that we would go see her on R Street one more time before she moves.

Marilyn (Mom) and Johnnye seem to be doing fine.  They talked about the joy of seeing Jennifer and her children, Maya and Jason.  Although they have the usual medical issues, there seem to be nothing unusual at this point.  If they did, they did not tell us of any particular decision or views as to their plans for assisted-living scenario.  However, one thing is clear from our conversations with Marilyn - proximity and accessibility to children is now a consideration.  In the past, we were the ones pointing this out as a factor for consideration, this time Marilyn said it voluntarily.

I asked Lois (G-ma) if she was excited for the move and she said yes.  She is looking forward to being in a new place closer to Carl and Paula which she described as beautiful.  However, she is at the stage where she has to go through her stuff which were accumulated over many decades of living - full of memories and emotions attached to them.  After a almost a life time of believing that everything that is in the house on R Street is worth keeping, she now has to reconsider the value of everything she owns.  She will soon learn to separate the memories from the material things.  Sometimes, we all feel that our memories die with the objects but that is not true.  I know that for a fact, having lived in a place where things easily decay or rot or get ruined.

Anyway, she gave me three pieces of her Kingston Red glassware set.  These are the things that sit in a glass cabinet - I've never seen them in use except during this trip when one of the candy dishes was on her coffee table.  She has been hinting to give me her other precious dinner sets but I have always been intimidated to have them and Tim is not keen on acquiring such things either.

Over all the trip was short but wholesome.  Michelle Obama in her book 'Becoming' said that "there is grace in being willing to know and hear others."

Goodbye 2018

Writing the date of this occasion made me realize that new year's eve is the last day of the old year.  And that New Year's Day is, duh, first day of the new year.  In this house, these two days seem like one.  So I will not attempt to separate the two.

What usually is a busy day in our family when everyone is doing something to comply to the traditions we had developed over the years, was not so much this year.  We started by going to one o our friends house (Annelydie and Larry's) where we had breakfast and played games with them.  We cooked some of our usual New year's eve food but not as extensive.  Nick Pham, Miriam's friend joined us.  We introduced him to the Lewis tradition of watching Pride and Prejudice, now synchronous with Shannon in Madison, WI and Brahms in Arcata, CA.   It is not the same as when everyone is in the same room eating from the same platter of Tim's herbed sausage concoction and lumpia but it is what it is.  My only consolation is that at the time when we would all be together, my other kids no matter how far they are, were with us.  Thanks to technology which is getting better every year.

Top Ten Happenings for 2018:

Helen
1.   Board Secretary of WASH (Watercolor Artists of California Horizons)
2.   Started classes in Botanical Art at Filoli
3.   Twenty seventh  wedding anniversary in Vancouver, Canada
4.   Two trips to Nashville
5.   Whole family Trip to Madison to visit Shannon.
6.   Hazel and Mitch's wedding in Toronto where I met my new sister - Jona.
6.   Gastronomic delight and walks with Tim in Taipei
7.    Lost Lala, our dove of 16 years.
8.    Audible books and introduction to Greek Mythology (Circe)
10.  Empty-Nestedness; The house is really quiet.

Tim (To be added later)
1.  Shipped another kid to college and another to Eureka and became empty nester.
2.  Visited Cheekwood
3.  Drank coffee at Lion Coffee in Toronto and saw Mitch and Hazel's wedding.
4.  Used the chain saw and didn't fall off the ladder.
5.  Lost Bunny to heart attack.
6.  Went to eureka for Christmas.
7.  Finished two short stories.
8.  Chauffered Helen to Filoli, a lot!
9.  Sang in choir.
10.  Celebrated 50th birthday and 27th anniversary.

Shannon (To be added later)
1.  Moved to apartment - the 3rd time in Wisconsin.
2.  Paid off car loan.  Now officially owns car.
3.  Game Con in Cleveland
4.  Game Con - Philadelphia - 16-hr drive. 
5.  Improvisation
6.  ....

Brahms
1.  Found Blue liquid (whatever that was)
2.  Creation of UC Davis Bathrooms (IG)
3. Grew some baby greens
4.  Potluck in a roundabout
5. Drove a parade float
6. Dug a hole
7. Pizza named after me
8. Won a selfie contest with cousin and a giant snail
9. #branch (beginning and end)
10. Got my keys out of my car

Miriam
1.  Tree prison
2.  Anvil? NOPE! Cowbell!
3.  Two Cutie Nominations by UC Banduh mates
4.  Two solo gigs hehe
5.  Realized HS Band was not as great as college band
6.  High School Spriiiiiiiiiiiing trip
7.   SMOKE WEEK in Davis
8.  I got 5 free t-shirts
9.  Beach Cally/SLO first college all niter
10.  I broke up with McDonald's

Nick (Guest of the Night)
1.  Kinda switch to tenor Sax.
2.  Made lots of peanut butter sandwiches.
3.  Springgggg Trippppp.
4.  First vlog videoooooo.
5.  Drove from Folsom to LA in the roundtrip to Hell.
6.  Gave Miriam Hubert
7.  Handed a .... (I can't understand!)
8.  Played Catannn!
9.  (I can't understand his handwriting)
10.  Pride and Prejudice Marathon  Whyyyyyyyyy??!
Note:  Nick's handwriting are not only cryptic they are also ambiguous.

Well, there was 2018.  And now we begin a new chapter -- to live and enjoy what we have and not regret what we do not have.  To get wiser and kinder than we were a year ago.  To make new friends; to learn new skills; to try new foods; to push our ourselves not only to make us more popular and famous but also to make others happier and more at peace.  To be more tolerant of others and set a higher bar for self (I hope).  To smile more.  To participate in activities with other people just for fun.  This is just to list a few.  The longer the list the greater chance we have of achieving something.  :)

We thank God for all the grace, blessings, trials, and guidance he has showered us last year.  All of which He used to prepare us for 2019 and beyond!  Praise Him!

Thanksgiving 2018

Another year has passed since the last Thanksgiving.  Like in everything else we celebrate, each year grants us the chance to do all the traditions that we have developed over the years and also a chance to accommodate changes and new things that reflect the progress in all of us.  Sometime the changes result from deliberate choice and some are imposed on us.

I'm thankful for changes.  Traditionally, I would have used my good camera to take pictures but this time I used my cell phone.  The quality of the pictures would have been better but the spontaneity would not have been there. 

All my children would be home on Thanksgiving but Shannon was not.  However, we were talking to her almost throughout the time we prepared food - just like when we would all be home - through Skype.  We got to see her pet cats while they climbed on her as she talked to us.  My kids are growing more and more independent and slowly developing their own tradition.  On the other hand I too need to slowly release my grip on their schedule. 

We would all sit around a beautifully set table to enjoy the food.  This time we sat on the floor of the family room and ate Thanksgiving dinner while watching The Phantom of the Opera.  We were really casual this year which is more fun and liberating.

I am thankful for tradition.  Tim still grills the turkey.  We still get a huge turkey regardless of the number of people to allow leftovers.  Brahms still helps with making apple pie and mashed potatoes.  Miriam is in charge of the obligatory veggie in the meal.  Our Spiced cranberry sauce and Stuffing with Italian Sausage all remain to be a hit.  They are the simple things that remind us of the occasion and which then connect this year to the next one.  

I thank God for my family.  In the end, however, the most important thing that makes Thanksgiving are the people that gather year after year.  These are the people who share a common connection and understanding of life together.  They are the family who have experienced and acknowledge common blessings.  All else are decorations.  Sometimes we invite people for Thanksgiving, we say, as a gesture of generosity but most often I find it as an obligation to show rather than an act of love.  

Thanksgiving is a recounting of blessings 

in the presence of God - the Giver of all. 

Smoky Sunday Afternoon

The air was still heavy with smoke from the Camp Fire.  Being outdoors is the least thing we would want to do.  After the church service today we, along with Matt and Jean Peterson, were invited to go play games at Larry and Annelydie Bagget's place.  We had tea with Swiss Apple Pie.  Swiss Apple Pie is like fruit tart which, one of these days, I will try to learn to make it.

I always enjoy going to their place because they have an interesting backyard with different fruit trees.  Their house has morphed into something beautiful and a delightful place since the first time we saw their place last year.  Larry is a very handy man and Annelydie is similarly a very hardworking and creative, always looking for something to challenge herself. 

We played Sequence. Spouses did not team up together.  Tim and Jean Peterson won most of the time.  Although Tim was very competitive, Jean was not.  But they won anyway.  I'm inclined to believe that chance instead of strategy made it all happen.  Matt and Larry won twice but Annelydie and I almost won every time.  Sadly, almost never happened.

The Bagget's have an airbnb unit at their place.  It is a very nice room with a great view.  The smoke makes the trees look like they are separated by low lying clouds or fog.  Sometimes I wished we too had a guest room with a separate entrance.  This is also because I've been watching the British show "Escape to the Country".  :)

Within my line of sight no more

What used to be one unit is now pulled apart into four.  I'm referring to our family - my husband and I plus my three dear children.  They are all part of me and for a long time I took for granted the fact that they were all within my line of sight under one roof.  Then one by one university education, and now job, pulled them away.  Then all of a sudden my life is changed.  I didn't anticipate this effect on me and I guess I did not prepare for this.  

Although, parents spend what seems to be a lifetime preparing their children to be independent, in my case, I was not prepared to be separated from my children.  It is like losing a part of me and that I now have to adjust my life.  But it is not simply adjusting.  It appear that it requires a lot of time getting used to the change.  

This period in my life, however, is not all that grim.  Things may be so different now but the situation brings me to a different level of growth which started when my first child went away to Wisconsin for her job.  God used the situation to teach me very hard lessons on giving up control (101).  I thought I barely passed.  But now with my second child I am now put in another upper level class - giving up control and trusting God (202).  I must admit, this is a difficult subject.  The lab exercises are excruciating.  However, I am learning to depend on God in a real way.  I'm learning to say to Him, "God they are Your children before they are mine.  So I trust them in your hands."  I am not only learning to give up control over the welfare of my children but most importantly I recognize whom I can transfer my control into.  

The picture above is a collection of snap shots from the four locations of my family taken today within a period of thirty minutes.  It serves as a reminder to me that God is with His children no matter where they are.  Things are going well.  And it is not because of me.  It is all because the Ruler has everything under control.

   

 Parenting brings unintended maturity.

Just a thought on Social Media

A beautiful pine cone I picked up on one of our morning walks. 

If only social media did not cater to self-promotion, self-absorption, pride and comparison;  if only social media did not promote envy, hate, and cynicism;  if only social media did not provide a stage for superiority complex; if only social media was a means to reach out for the sake of reaching instead of climbing our own ladder; if only social media did not morph into an anti-social media... If only...

But alas, social media mirrors that which goes on in the real world.  The good things I do are often ruined by some shrouded intentions of my heart.  The seemingly innocent acts are tainted by my selfish motives.  The impressions I have on others are a highly if not completely determined first by what I think of myself.  Alas, self gets in the way of every good opportunity to be a good social being.

Sometimes the root of the problem is the 

only solution to the problem.

Last High School Graduation

Graduation Day - May 25, 2018

It's hard to believe it's been four years since Miriam walked into the portals of Oak Ridge High School.  Four years of learning different subjects from different teachers; four years of making new friends as well as culling out people from friend groups; four years of Band and drumming; four years of homework and tests; four years of riding the school bus - well, almost four years; and so many more that I cannot name.  Four years and now everything is going to stop.  Not only a break but a total halt. High School days are over!

The card we sent to relatives.  (Picture taken on May 11, 2018)

Miriam's graduation marks the last time we will see our own child graduate from high school.  Unless a miracle happens - which is a possibility I am not going to discount at this point.  :)  It also means that Tim and I will not be getting up at 5:30 am to prepare breakfast and packed lunch.  She will also have to read the bible on her own instead of her father reading it to her while she eats her breakfast.  There will be changes to happen in her life as well as ours (her parents) just because she's graduating from high school.

This year's graduation was different for so many reasons: 

1. It was a cold day.  In fact it rained on the morning of graduation day getting the students wet during rehearsal.

2  We did not have a big family get-together.  Outside our immediate family, only her Grandpa George was present - per Miriam's request.

3.  We were late going to the stadium - we had to stand by the fence links to watch the ceremony.

4  Varoff, Band Director, decided to involve the the graduating members of the band to play during graduation.  

It is hard to write down everything in one blog post but pictures will tell more stories than words can tell.  Here between these few words and the pictures are lines that tell whoever will read or scroll this page that my husband and I are proud of our daughter for her accomplishment and the hard work, discipline and diligence that made it a fun ride.  That we are thankful to God for the grace that He granted her so that things that seemed impossible were made possible and the spiritual guidance that kept her to stay on course when it seemed better to take the other way.  And most importantly, we are thankful for those moments when Miriam was clearly aware of the hands of God in situations that seemed out of her control. God is good!

I see graduations as a milestone on the 
highway of God's grace.