Forest Lawn Cemetery, Book Stores, and Venice Beach

So what do Lucille Ball, Bette Davis, and Gene Autry have in common with my great-grandparents?  They are all buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills.

We took a drive there this week to see where my great-grandparents, Edna and Orra Stutzman, were laid to rest. 

Edna and Orra were my mom's grandparents. When I was in 9th grade, we lived in Nevada for a while, and my family took a trip to Southern California to go to Disneyland and visit my dad's Uncle Herb (Marshall) and Aunt Edna who lived just a block or two from the Magic Kingdom. We also visited some of my other Marshall relatives in the area. Then we went North Hollywood to see my great-grandparents. I remember them living in an apartment on Riverside Drive.  When we got there, my great grandma had waffles made for us--she sure knew the way to our hearts!

I never knew my great-grandparents really well, but my Grandma Stutzman was really good about sending me a birthday card and a $5 bill for my birthday every year practically until the year she died. Three years in a row she sent me the same birthday card which I thought was hilariously funny! I was a little disappointed when she broke the pattern the fourth year. She always had a nice note written to me inside the cards she sent.

I asked my mom how her grandparents ended up in North Hollywood of all places.  My mom said that they had lived in Michigan and had saved up money during their working years.  They dreamt of moving to California when they retired, so they did.  They bought a four-plex apartment complex, and happily spent the remainder of their years living in the sunshine of SoCal. 



This is the row of graves where my great-grandparents are buried.  Their headstones are at the forefront of the picture.

Just a little history here:  Forest Lawn Cemeteries are actually a chain of cemeteries. There are many Forest Lawn Cemeteries in Southern California.  The Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA has many Hollywood celebrities buried there as does the one in the Hollywood Hills.  Dr. Hubert Eaton started the first Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale. He thought that the typical cemetery was rather depressing, and he wanted to develop a new type of cemetery that reflected a joyous afterlife.  The Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills actually has a theme--the Revolutionary War.  It has a monumental mosaic dedicated to the Revolutionary War as well as statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. There is a beautiful replica of the Old North Church in Boston.  The focus of the cemetery is not on the graves because most of them are flat on the ground; the focus is on the beautiful landscape and tributes to the Revolutionary War. The Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills is right next to Univeral Studios. Before the cemetery was located on the property, the land was used in films.  The battle scenes of the silent movie "The Birth of a Nation" were filmed on the rolling green hills in 1915. The story goes that when Dr. Hubert Eaton proposed a Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, the citizens of the area greatly protested. During one night, Dr. Eaton had four "John Does" from the local morgues buried at the corners of the property. The land became a cemetery overnight.  Apparently the red tape of California government wasn't then what it is now! I'm sure he would have been arrested for the same actions these days.

We also visited some amazing bookstores the same day we went to the cemetery. We were about ready to head home, but the traffic was horrific as it usually is in California every weekday from 3 p.m.-9 p.m., so we decided to visit one more bookstore which just happened to be located a short distance away in Venice Beach. We discovered that the address of the bookstore was located in a venue right on the beach itself.  Venice Beach has a reputation for being an extremely immodest beach--more than usual, but the temperature was only about 60 degrees, so people were dressed (otherwise we wouldn't have gone). Venice Beach was one of the weirdest places I have ever been. 

In the above picture is a homeless man who plays classical piano for money.  I have no idea where he usually keeps his piano, but you can see a pile of junk behind the piano--those are his belongings.  There were several grocery carts piled high with belongings parked in various areas along this stretch of ocean. I didn't take any other pictures because Venice Beach is really a gross place.  There are shops that sell all types of drug paraphenalia, and there were at least three venues for legal marijuana use. 2-4 people wearing hospital-type clothing (like nurse uniforms) with big marijuana leaves on the front would stand outside each "clinic" and urge people to come in. As we walked back to our van, a young woman was kneeling in the grass trying to stand to her feet, but she couldn't. She would start to get up and fall down. She was literally stoned out of her mind, and the young man with her just stood there with a smile on his face. This is an area that is just full of teenagers and young adults who look like they have run away from society. My husband stated as we walked along, "If this is freedom, I don't want it." Man's freedom from God leads to a life bound by sin, and Venice Beach is a sin-sick location. My mind and my heart aches for those who go there longing to fit in somewhere in this world and instead find the emptiness of a life of sin. It was one of the saddest places I have ever seen.

Being that I don't want to end on a downer note, I'll end with this:  We did have a great day together as a family. I enjoyed being able to explore some family history, some great bookstores, and some interesting places with my favorite people.

Be a Supermom!

 For some reason, my kids who are 23, 18, 17, and 14, could care less about any achievements I have had that don't affect them.  None of them ever asked to see pictures of me when I was 17 and the homecoming queen at my Christian school (one time seemed to be enough).  Never once have they inquired about why I was Who's Who in college.  They don't seem too impressed that when I stopped teaching, I got a plaque for being an outstanding teacher. You might think that my kids are hard to impress, until I tell you...

I did James' taxes, and he got a good chunk of money back.  He was mighty impressed!

When we were quizzing each other on Bible trivia the other day, one of the kids said, "You're doing a great job, mom! You really know your Bible!"

Keith got a new book and has been reading it. I was interested in the book, so yesterday I spent some time reading Keith's book. He came into the living room and said, "How far are you, mom?"
     I answered, "Chapter 9."
     His eye widened.  "How do you read so fast?"
     "I've had lots of practice," I responded.
     He smiled and looked proud of me.

A few years ago when James bought a video game called Medal of Honor. Four of us could play at a time, so we would take turns playing as a family.  That was a great game, and I even won quite a few times.  The boys were so proud that THEIR mom played video games and was actually good!

My daughter and I have always had great talks about everything under the sun. Just recently she said to me, "I'm so glad I have you to talk to."

When I made dinner last night, I used a cheaper product, and it really bugged me that the outcome didn't taste like I wanted it too, but as we ate, everyone kept saying, "This is really good!" and they all thanked me for the great meal.

Last week, the opening season for the Cubs was on T.V.  William is a huge Cub's fan, so I let him finish his school work early and watch the game. He was so happy and thanked me for letting him watch a ball game during regularly scheduled school time.

A couple of days ago, I cut Jessica's hair for her.  She has only ever had a salon cut once in her life.  When I was finishing up, she said, "I don't know what I will do about getting hair cuts when I get married one day."
     "Well, I guess your husband will have to cough up the money for real haircuts," I said.
     "I don't mean that--I just mean I know how to explain to you what I want, and you understand. I don't know if I can do that with someone else," she elaborated.  I took it as a compliment.

I know this is gross, but here it goes anyhow.  William called me into the room where he was watching another ball game.  "Mom, Max threw up in four spots. I can't tell what it is," he informed me with watering eyes. Instead of chewing on a beef bone, Max our dog had actually ingested quite a bit of the bone particles.
     I wasn't thrilled, but I had  done this a few times, and I had seen worse messes.  I got some paper towel and swiped up the nasty mess quickly.
    William looked grateful and said, "You really are a mom!"  I knew what he meant. Although he didn't say it in words, what he meant was that I'm a Supermom.

Although my kids are proud of me for accomplishments that I have had, if those accomplishments don't really affect their personal lives, they won't go around thank me for becoming homecoming queen in 1982 or bragging on me for getting second place on a writing project I did in high school. What really matters is what I am able to do with them and for them on a dad to day basis.  What makes me a Supermom in their sight?  Cleaning up dog barf; making a favorite meal; talking about issues that are important to them; taking part in the things they enjoy.  It really is that simple. In fact, it looks to me like any mom can be a Supermom!
    

Getting Ready for Easter Day

We have spent a portion of the day preparing for a dinner with Keith, Tracy, Lauren, and Will Whitehouse tomorrow.  Some of my thoughts are with my mom who will be spending her first Easter without her sweetie, Bob, who went to Heaven in January.  She has had a hard time with all the "firsts" without him, but she has a full day planned for herself. I'm so proud of her!

As I was making coleslaw and deviled eggs for tomorrow, the little girl who lives across the courtyard from us, brought us 2 pizzas and a Star Wars cake--why Star Wars? I have no idea, but we'll take it! I was so happy that I didn't even have to think about dinner--I just had to heat the oven and pop the pizzas in!  God bless good neighbors!

                                                

When I was growing up, my mom made an Easter bunny cake every Easter.  I have also made the same cake for my kids throughout the years.  This year, Jessica wanted to make the bunny cake. My bunny cakes always had the same sweet, simple, happy bunny face, but I noticed that Jessica's bunny appeared to be a little moody (excuse his ears--they weren't quite finished):

Feeling Pensive

Feeling Angry

Feeling Dapper

                                           

We will be attending church at Calvary Baptist Church in Yucca, Valley tomorrow morning.  It's always good to see our friends there, and I always enjoy hearing Pastor Watkins preach.  We are going to spend the rest of the day with the other part of the Whitehouse family in Highland, CA.

What a joy to know that I serve a risen Saviour!  Of all the gods or creators of religions, none but Jesus my Lord has ever risen from the dead. I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter day!

Our Afternoon in Pictures



We took a little drive this afternoon down to Indio to see if we could find a particular bookstore.  We didn't find the bookstore, but we did come across this lovely grove of date palms AND a store that sells all things that have to do with dates--plus some other odds and ends.  Can you see the ladders at the tops of the trees?

Edge of the date palm grove with view of mountains.

This store/restaurant is right next to the date palm grove. Shields has been in business since 1924.

You can get a date shake which is a very popular thing in Southern California; you can also get fresh grapefruit juice.

I never knew that dates came in so many varieties! There must have been 6 or 7 different types available for purchase.

Shields is probably the oldest, or one of the oldest, businesses in the whole Coachella Valley.

If you follow me on Facebook, then you know that my husband and I saw the actor, Val Kilmer, at a thriftstore last week. Unbelievably, we met Fabio at a bookstore today! He was so nice and let Jessica have a picture with him. If he looks a little bit like a cardboard cutout, well...he's been a little under the weather lately. :)

This is our dog Max. He stayed home today, but when you see the next picture, you'll understand why I posted this.

We saw this poster of a cute, little, lost doggy named Pookie.  Hmmmm....I wonder if there is a reward?  Oh, Maaaxxx...I mean, Poooookie!

Gorgeous view of Highway 111 in Indian Wells.

The mountain in view is known as Eisenhower's Mountain. President and Mrs. Eisenhower, in their retirement years, lived in a house on a golf course located in the shadow of this mountain. I wish we could see the house, but it is in a gated area on the golf course. The line in the middle of the picture is the antenna of our van! lol

I took this picture because this is just so beautiful! It's the entrance to a community. There are waterfalls on the left and right side of the actual entrance--you can see the one on the left side pretty well.

William and Jessica

Wednesday Evening at Faith Baptist Church in Wildomar, CA

Dr. Bruce Goddard asked my husband to preach the Wedesday evening service at Faith Baptist Church in Wildomar last evening (Pastor and Mrs. Goddard are on vacation).  So we packed ourselves into our faithful Town and Country and drove ourselves on over to the church--about 90 miles from where we live in Yucca Valley.  We made it there in plenty of time thanks to our handy dandy GPS--praise God for that little device! We've been to the church a few times, but it's easy to get lost on the California highway systems.

             This is Keith, Jessica, James, and William getting ready to make their grand entrance.
                                  James hasn't taken a serious picture since he was born!

Obviously, this is the front of the church--isn't it beautiful?  To the right of the church complex, which you can't see in this picture,  is another building which used to be small hospital. The church bought it several years ago, and it now functions as the school, church offices, Sunday school rooms, etc. 

I asked Jessica if she could get a picture of her dad at the pulpit without making a spectacle of us by allowing the camera to flash, but in the hurry to take the picture, she forgot to turn the flash off! It was okay though--I don't think anyone either noticed or cared.

Of course my husband did a great job, and we enjoyed the special music which was brought to us by the teen choir. I was able to see some wonderful friends from our Hyles-Anderson days. Jessica even got to see her piano teacher of many years ago, Denise Fletcher. One of the highlights of my evening was getting to talk for a while with Jennifer Beil. Years ago, when my husband and I worked with public school kids from our church, Jennifer went on an activity with us, and she was such a blast to be with. My kids were really young, and they thought she was hilarious. Jennifer is now a young mom who has been on the mission field in Ghana, Africa with her husband Brett (one of my former English students). Jennifer and Brett were forced to return to the United States recently due to Jennifer's health. It was thought that she may have cancer, but now doctors think she has some mysterious tropical disease. Keep these folks in your prayers as they try to get Jennifer healthy.

This is a link to the Beil families blog, so you can get to know them and pray for them too:
http://ghanaforchrist.yolasite.com/blog.php

Enjoying the View

We had really crummy weather on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was cooooold; the wind was howling like crazy; and we even had snow and hail. All this crazy weather activity was occurring while my friends in the Midwest were basking in temperatures of the 80's.

Sunday morning we drove down the hill--as seen in above picture--and delighted in seeing San Jacinto covered in snow, glorious snow! Gorgeous doesn't begin to describe the scene, and my pictures don't do it justice.

We saw lots of friends at Parkway Baptist Church on Sunday morning, and my brother-in-law, Dr. Ray Young, preached a great message. Pastor Beard and his wife April have done an amazing job with the church. I have chided myself for not bring my camera and getting some great pictures, but they do have an awesome website. I love the song playing in the background. Here is the link to their church:

http://www.pbchemet.org/

If you are ever in the Hemet area, you've got to stop by and see what God is doing there!

 
Today my husband and I attended an alumni meeting in Hemet for Hyles-Anderson College. Once again we met with wonderful friends and fellow workers in the ministry. We were able to see Pastor and Mrs. Goddard of Faith Baptist Church in Wildomar, Pastor and Mrs. Tom Hertzel of Grace Baptist Church in San Gabriel, Pastor Richard Szydowski of Mountain Avenue Baptist Church in Banning, and many more. The meeting was hosted by Pastor Kirk Beard and Dr. Ray Young was able to be there. What a great time of fellowship! This time I remembered my camera...but I forgot to take pictures! So I took a few more as we drove home and ooohhed and ahhhed over the snow covered mountains.

Thanksgiving Excitement!

   


  I'm so glad that Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away! We have some old friends and their son coming, and Jessica has a friend from college coming for Thanksgiving too. My husband gets so excited thinking of having a full house (well, apartment); he gets really caught up in the holiday spirit this time of year--I'm so thankful to have a husband who loves to celebrate the holidays. He has been counting the silverware to make sure it's all there; he's been cleaning cabinets so that we won't be embarrassed when company comes; he purchased a new Thanksgiving tablecloth and a pretty glass pitcher for our Thanksgiving table; and he's been planning how we can arrange the Thanksgiving table to fit all of our company. I'm a very blessed wife this time of year!  Oh sure, I could knit pick and ask, "Are you sure we need to spend this money?" but I have a very smart husband who budgets and works the figures so that he knows what we have and how much we can spend. I learned a long time ago to just go with the flow and enjoy the excitement!