Before the End…

…of our Son in law’s tedious years of studying and writing and creating and presenting for his degree in Aeronautical Engineering tomorrow, I thought I would do a quick post recapping our time last weekend with lots of photos.

Uncle Josh and Addy at the zoo. Our kids and our friend’s kids went to the zoo on Saturday.

Uncle and Addy on the carousel.

Auntie and Addy at our kid’s home. Addy and her parents stayed with our oldest and our dear DIL for this trip since our house is in another period of chaos.

After the zoo we all met up at Jamie, Sarly, Rae and David’s house for a barbecue dinner and fun in their backyard.

The sandbox was a fun discovery for Addy and David enjoyed it alongside his new friend.

Rae was a sweet hostess and took Addy for a ride about the yard.

Addy enjoyed sitting in the driver’s seat.

The dads gave their little ones some fun pushes on the swings.

David and Addy helped out by mowing the lawn and the putting green.

Some use golf clubs to get a hole in one, others take the easy road and just plop the ball into the hole.

The adults took turns helping the younger ones have a good time.

Help down the big slide was appreciated.

More help to zoom about the yard, too.

Loved seeing Katie’s purple hair amongst the purple blooms.

A great time with our dear friends who are family to us.

On Sunday late morning all our kids arrived at Baba and Gramps’ for our traditional family Swedish Pancake breakfast.

Addy got to see her pink kitchen that I bought a Goodwill for $1.79. I’m tucking it away for her to enjoy in the future when she’s older and can appreciate it more.

She enjoyed navigating our home again on very steady feet.

Some fun faces and a discovery of the tupperware lid drawer.

Our girls.

Our guys.

All of us together.

Till next time dear ones! It was a great couple days together.

Looking forward to Andrew’s graduation festivities on Friday and Saturday in the midst of us repainting our colorful walls and our kitchen the last few days. Oye, we are tye tye here at this old house. We are trying the neutral pallet to see if that will help us sell our home. Time will tell. Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I’ll be able to breath a sigh of relaxation come Sunday, Lord willing!

Totally Rad 80’s Hodgepodge

1.Describe your 30’s in one sentence. If you’re not yet 30 tell us one thing you hope to accomplish once you hit that particular decade.

A decade of change with a 2 year old toddler, 2nd baby (1981), 3rd baby (1985) moving on to elementary years with two moves, one north to Ventura where 3rd baby was born and then further north to the Pacific Northwest for hubby to pursue a career change at the University of Washington.

How’s that for a long sentence. In one word or three I’d describe my 30’s as “Changes” or “gnarly but rad”.

2. Is it harder for you to exercise or eat healthy?

Depends on the definition of exercise and healthy. I’m not a gym kind of person but I enjoy walks or easy hikes and mowing the lawn. I like good food and a variety of food. You won’t find me drinking green shakes.

3. June 7th is National VCR Day. Huh? Anyway this reminded me of something I saw on Facebook listing household items we no longer have and the VCR was on it. I couldn’t put my hands on that list, but found another list here of 21 items we all had ten years ago, but which are now obsolete-

bookshelves (WHAT!!???), drip coffee makers, alarm clocks, file cabinets, desktop computers, printers, printed phone books, answering machines, fax machines, paper shredders, a Rolodex, CD racks, CD burners, china cabinets, home phones, entertainment consoles, DVD players, calculators, takeout menus, incandescent light bulbs, and cable TV

Your thoughts? How many on the list do you still have? Still use?

Haha! We still have everything on the list but CD burners, answering machines, a Rolodex. Instead of CD racks we have baskets that hold our CD’s. We do still have a VCR but it’s not hooked up at present.

4. What’s something you see disappearing in the next ten years?

Hopefully not the postal system.

5. How did you celebrate your birthday this past year? Is that typical?

This year Josh and Laura had us over for brunch to celebrate my birthday and it was wonderful. It is typical for us to enjoy a meal together but we usually go out.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This past weekend was packed with all these people who are near and dear to us. Our family connected with the Dickinson family the decade of my 30’s and our friendships have grown since.

Linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge hosted by Jo From This Side of the Pond. She asks, we answer.

The Four Loves ~ C.S. Lewis ~ Quote

I’m reblogging this from May 16th, 2007, my first year of blogging. As I’m going through all my posts I’ll reblog some along the way.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

This quote is from The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. My friend Jan sent it to Jody and I as it describes what happens in close friendships between 3 or more people. I love this quote and I hope it will augment your idea of friendship. I chose this book to illustrate this quote because the 3 friends Lewis speaks of are pictured on the cover.

Lamb says somewhere that if, of three friends (A, B, and C), A should die, then B loses not only A but “A’s part in C,” while C loses not only A but “A’s part in B.” In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles…

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Our Little Warrior, David

This very special little guy had his 2nd birthday party on Saturday and we were happy to celebrate the miracle he is. He was born very premature and only weighed 1# 9oz. He spent well over 100 days in NICU with surgeries and emergencies along the way. The day he was able to come home was a huge milestone.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate. It was fun to see a few of our son’s high school friends with their fresh little ones, too.

We love this family and are thankful God brought us together in friendship 29 years ago.

If you’d like to pray for little David Daniel specifically, please pray that he gains weight. Thank You.

The College Years

My college years spanned from 1968 to 1973. I had a fifth year for my teaching credential and student teaching.

For my first year of college I went away about 60 miles east of my home to the University of Redlands.

My college roommate was Violet (Violeta). Her major was Spanish. After my first year I decided to move back home and commute to Cal-State Los Angeles to finish my college years.

Back in the Los Angeles area Heidi’s family and mine attended Bethany Baptist Russian Church in L.A. and we became the best of friends. This friendship continues to this day. In fact, all these friendships that I show here are still intact.

We went on an a trip together in the summer of 1970 to Michigan and New Jersey with side trips to Buffalo (Niagara Falls), New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C. This was the first time I flew in an airplane.

These are my and Heidi’s Russian friends from Buffalo, New York and San Francisco. None of us went to Stanford although I did apply to go there but was not accepted. The photo above was taken on the day of the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Stanford was playing someone in the Rose Bowl Game. This was either January 1st, 1971 or 1972.

While in college Jeaneen and I met in our Home Economics classes and a new friendship was started. I introduced Jeaneen to my cousin Jim and they ended up getting married. We’ve had many great times together through the years. After marriage the four of us continued our friendship. We both had homes in Huntington Beach and we attended the same church while we lived in H.B.

I met Dear in my college years in 1972. My friend Heidi auditioned for the Christian singing group that Dear was part of and I met him at the concerts that I’d attend with Heidi. After a summer tour in England the group needed an alto so I auditioned for the group. That fall Dear and I started dating and September 6th of 1973 he asked my father for my hand in marriage.

While in college at Cal-State L.A. I had a part-time job at Montgomery Ward in their parts department. I paid my own way through college but I lived at home so my parents fed me and never charged me rent.

I graduated from Cal-State with a degree in Home Economics and earned my teaching certificate. The photo above is myself and Dear and my brother and me. Besides Fred and me graduating at this time my cousin Jim and my friend Jeaneen and another friend from my Russian Baptist church, Alex, graduated with us.

Some significant things that happened while I was in college besides what I shared already:

My sister Vera got married in November of 1969.

During Summer quarter in 1970 I came down with a terrible sore throat one week before finals. Then I broke out in a rash all over my body. When I went to the doctor they had me come in the back door and straight to an examination room. The doctor diagnosed Scarlet Fever and sent me home on bed rest with medications. While in the doctors office the doctor kept bringing in all the nursing staff there to see what Scarlet Fever looked like. OYE. I was flat on my back in bed and very sick for a couple of weeks. My sister Kathy was planning a trip to England with her best friend so the doctor put her on antibiotics (precautionary). My poor sister ended up being allergic to the antibiotic and broke out in hives all over her body on the day of my cousin Alex’s wedding. She was quite upset but went to the wedding anyway. I missed all my finals and had to take them the beginning of Fall quarter. Needless to say that wasn’t a great quarter for my grade average!

My brother Fred got married in April of 1972.

There was a gasoline shortage in 1973 where there was rationing and we could only buy gas on odd or even days depending on our license plate ending number.

Lynden B. Johnson (63-69) and Richard M. Nixon (69-74) were the Presidents of the United States during my college years.

My next post will be about post college years with my engagement and wedding.

My youngest brother and older sister both commented on my Hume Lake post that I forgot to mention another epic thing that happened in 1963, the year I was saved. How could I ever forget the fact that my mother delivered twins at the end of July that summer? A little girl and a little boy born and my parents now had four boys and four girls under their roof! My father had no idea my mother was having twins and only found out when he got home from work. (no cell phones and my father worked at remote sites with no phones) My little brother Tim ran out to the car to greet him when he pulled into the driveway from work and said, “Pop, not one baby, two babies!” My poor father was in shock!

I leave you with this sweet photo of our little twins Cvetlana (Lana) and Leonard from 1963! They are the icing on the cake for our family.

People! I’m seeing sunshine outside my window and blue skies and very few clouds. This is cause for a celebration here in the Pacific Northwest! We have had rain, rain and more rain for a nice long stretch now and what a welcome sight the blue skies are this morning.

Baby + House = Love

We were happy to help Dan and Jamie celebrate their growing family and their new home with their family and friends.

This winter their area is experiencing more snow than usual. The above photos were taken from the front porch. When I visit sometime without snow on the ground I’ll be able to take more extensive photos of their property.

Their new home has more open space and larger views. One great feature is their Russian Fireplace. You can see the fire glowing on the front of the fireplace. On the right side you see another glass door that can be used for baking or proofing or slow cooking. One of their open house gifts from friends was a cord of wood! Slapping my hand because I did not take a picture of the pantry which is amazing.

Of course I had to show some photos of the nursery again.

Morning views out the windows at the rear of their home.

Sunset views.

Their new place can fit at least 45 people milling about. I got some not so great photos of the crowd while Jamie opened presents.

Jamie with her mom and granny.

There’s a story behind that chicken that has been passed around the family as one of “those gifts”. We think we know who is getting it next.

Josh and Laura were able to fly over to make it to the party on Saturday and we enjoyed part of Sunday together before they flew back to Seattle. I’m glad Laura thought to have a picture taken of the four of them.

When we return we hope the path through the garden to the chicken coop will be easier to navigate.

We are home getting things organized at this old house so that we are ready for another quick trip across the mountains to welcome Addy in person. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Keep the Old ~ Monday Mosaics

Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver the other gold. A week ago Monday I was able to attend the memorial service for my long time friend Heidi’s mother in Tustin, California. We had a message in Russian and a message in English. Heidi’s son, son-in-law, and brother gave eulogies and remembrances of their grandmother and mother. My brother-in-law led us in singing familiar hymns and the singing was robust with organ accompaniment.

The service was held at the same church that Ken and Heidi were married in back in 1978. I was her matron of honor. Heidi and I have been the best of friends since 1969. We spent countless hours in each others homes and around each of our sets of parents and siblings. Heidi lived in Dear and my home during her engagement to Ken.

The photo on the top of the mosaic is of me, George (Heidi’s brother), and Heidi. The lower photos are of Dear’s brother and sister-in-law and friends of ours from our Christian Rock band years.

Me and two of my sisters with our dear old Pop. Our extended family and Heidi’s family attended the same Russian Baptist church growing up.

Two of my sisters with a cousin and cousins by marriage.

My cousin Jim with my pop, Jim’s uncle. Can you see some resemblance? Jim’s father was one of my father’s older brothers. Me and my bestie from college days, Jeanie, who married my cousin Jim.

Heidi and I had many adventures together from 1969 and on. We traveled the East Coast of the U.S. in 1970 and traveled to England with our rock band more than once. Our kids were born in alternate years, our Josh in 1979, their Nikki in 1980, our Dan in 1981 and their Nathan in 1982. We added one more with Katie in 1985.

Our kids enjoyed their times together when they were little. We moved to Washington State in 1988 and then our visits were few and far between and the times we get together now are for events like weddings, baby showers, or funerals.

After the memorial service two of my sisters and I spent late afternoon and early evening with Ken and Heidi in their home with their kids and grandsons. So many good memories shared. It was so encouraging to see the relational dynamic within their growing family and get to know Nikki’s and Nathan’s spouses better. We loved those kids as little ones and really enjoy them now as adults. I wish I would have thought to take a photo during our time. Our hearts are with you as you miss the presence of your mother, grandmother and Gigi here on earth.

Linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Twice is Nice

On Saturday while the guys held the fort and watched over the turkey on the Traeger grill my girls and I took a quick shopping trip to World Market and then to Molbak’s. Molbak’s is a local garden and gift shop that has an amazing array of poinsettias this time of year.

Katie chose a small variegated variety to take home.

There were many displays of Christmas trees decorated in different themes.

There is always a huge poinsettia tree for photo ops. Our girls…Laura, Jamie and Katie.

After we got home from shopping the kids had time to play a board game together before the rest of our dinner guests arrived for our 2nd Thanksgiving meal.

We took the ottomans out of the family room to add a round table for the older ones of us to sit. The younger ones sat at the dining area table.

The turkey on the Traeger grill was a hit. It was moist with a subtle smoky flavor. We had the regular sides our family enjoys, mashed potatoes, ~~stuffing~~ dressing (we usually have stuffing but since the turkey went on the grill we stuck with dressing), candied sweet potatoes and Sarly brought a delicious spinach salad. My sister Lana brought an appetizer tray. Our DIL Jamie made a pie with her delicious home canned apple pie filling.

Raelynd, Sarly, Jamie, Laura and Katie. There’s a 6th little girl who is not visable in this photo, yet.

Rayna (Dan & Jamie’s dog) Katie and Andrew.

Our dear friends Jamie, Sarly, Raelynd and David Daniel. Many of you have been praying for our little warrior, David Daniel. He is now 16 months old and getting stronger every day. Please keep praying for his development. We enjoyed watching him crawl and pull himself up. We enjoyed a group game of hangman with Raelynd, ending with a rip roaring Sunday School song “I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!”

We tried a huge group selfie with all our guests for the evening. Friends and Family all together.

This morning Dan, Jamie (with our developing granddaughter), and their dog Rayna packed up to head back over the mountains and onward to the far eastern part of our state.

We are now laying low after emptying the dishwasher and putting away the extra chairs and tables. We also put away all the Thanksgiving decor. Dear vacuumed for me and I’m grateful for that. This week I’ll start thinking about bringing all the Christmas boxes down to make this old house look a lot like Christmas…

Linking to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Our Friend David Dickinson…

Dave’s life on this earth ended on Saturday July 30, 2016. He died peacefully at home with his wife Beth and son Jamie at his side. Our family of 8 were seated around our patio table when the text came in to inform us of Dave’s gentle transition from earth. We cried and we prayed for the Dickinson family. We have been blessed to enjoy a friendship with the Dickinson’s since our two little guys, Dan and Jamie, met in 2nd grade. We lived on the same hill in Bothell, Washington when our friendship began.

This is a photo of Dear, Dave, and Beth in our kitchen on Norway Hill during Dear’s graduation party from the University of Washington in 1992. Dear had the privilege of baptizing Dave in the early 1990’s. (photos not necessarily in order)

Dave coached a few of Dan and Jamie’s sport teams over their youth sport years. Jamie on Dave’s right and Dan on the end on his knees opposite of Jamie.

Dan and Jamie attended camps together, the prom together, graduated together and Dan was a groomsman in Jamie and Sarly’s wedding.

The above photo was taken at a high school graduation party for Jamie and Dan at the Dickinson’s home.

The Dickinson family before the boys were married. Jamie is their youngest son, Aaron in the middle and Matt is the oldest.

The four of us outside our first rental on Norway Hill. We were snowed in but Dave and Beth could walk down to our place for some fun in the snow. This was in early 1997 or late 1996.

Jamie and Dan in 1999.

Dave and Dear working on our addition in 2002.

Laura, Josh, Jamie and Dan above the Columbia River. We had no idea at this time that Dan would be living in Eastern Washington close to the Columbia. Josh and Laura are the best of friends with Jamie and Sarly, too.

These two shots are from Jamie and Sarly’s wedding day in 2008. Above is Dave, Dear and Josh.

Dave and Beth

Beth and Dave with our Dan when we celebrated his move to Eastern Washington for his new vocation.

Our daughter Katie also has a close relationship with Beth and Dave and Jamie. We won’t get into how Dan and Jamie entrusted their rats from a science project into Katie’s care. A excellent con job if I say so myself.

Katie, Beth and I took a trip to Sequim for a George Washington Birthday Tea in February of 2012 just before Katie and Andrew’s wedding in March of 2012. It was a very windy day.

Dave, Sarly, Jamie and Beth at Katie and Andrew’s wedding, March 11, 2012. (photo credit to Jeremy Leffel)

Kathleen, Dave and Beth (photo by Jeremy Leffel)

Dave decided to try on Dan’s hat at the wedding. Dan wore his formal uniform at his sister’s wedding instead of a tux. (photo by Jeremy Leffel)

Dave with his granddaughter at the Thanksgiving table at our home in 2012.

Early in 2013 Beth and Dave stopped by to tell us that Dave had been diagnosed with Lung Cancer.

The Dickinson family photo above was taken on July 4th 2013 two years before little David Daniel was born and a few months into Dave’s treatments for cancer.

Beth and Dave in November of 2014 after returning from a trip to Europe with good friends. It was good to hear Dave felt well enough to enjoy this trip.

(Photo credit to Jeremy Leffel)

We were overjoyed that Dave and Beth could travel across the state for Dan and Jamie’s wedding in June of 2015. Things can get confusing with Dan and Jamie being best friends and then Dan meeting his bride who is named Jamie, too. Dave was also able to join our sons for a round of golf the day before the wedding. The next 3 photos are from that day, June 26th. Dave had a passion for the game of golf. I love these photos that Josh took of Dave and Dan together enjoying this special time before the wedding.

(Photo credit to Jeremy Leffel)

Dan and Dave at the wedding. Jamie Dickinson was going to be a groomsman in the wedding but wasn’t able to attend because his wife Sarly’s pregnancy was in crisis. Jamie and Sarly’s little son who we call the warrior was born at 25 weeks and only 1#7oz. He was born a few days after the wedding.

Our friend David and our son Daniel each holding David Daniel who was named after them. We found out at Daniel and Jamie’s wedding that this little warrior’s middle name would be given in honor of our son. It was decided early after finding out this child would be a boy to name him after his grandfather David.

There have been lots of prayers for these two Davids.

The Dickinson family Christmas of 2015.

dave with grands

This is the last photo emailed to us of Dave with four of his grandchildren. This was taken at a Mother’s Day Celebration in May of 2016. We were able to visit Dave and Beth before this photo was taken on May 5th and we joined hands and prayed together before we left not knowing when God would call Dave home.

Yesterday a little over a week since Dave’s death we were able to meet up with Beth for lunch. It was good to hear from Beth about Dave’s last days and last moments on this earth. It was also good to hear some plans for the future. We hugged, shed tears, laughed and thanked the Lord for his love and mercy, for friendship and especially for our hope in Him and our future.

There are plans being made for a memorial service that will be on a golf course sometime in the near future. Besides his immediate family, Dave’s brother and golfing buddies were a huge support to Dave over the course of his illness.

The Bayles family thanks God for Dave and his life and his friendship over the years. We will miss him on this earth but rejoice that he is with our Savior. We also ask the Lord to look after and guide and protect our dear friend Beth as she navigates her life without Dave.

1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14

Believers Who Have Died

¹³Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Catching Up…

Way back in the summer of 1968 I packed up many of my belongings in my new red suitcases and boxes to travel 60 miles east of my home to the University of Redlands in Southern California. My oldest sister Kathy drove me to my new home away from home for the school year. My dorm was Bekins Hall and it was an all girls dorm. Times have changed. The collage above shows my dorm, my sister lugging in my stuff and my roommate Violet and our suite mate Louise (Jana). We had a second floor suite with a bathroom/shower in between the rooms. Louise and Tracy were juniors in one room and Violet and me freshmen in the other room. My memories with this suite arrangement are all good.

My roommate Violet who we called Violeta and me on the quad. I forget who’s great old classic car this is. I just found out that this car belonged to Louise/Jana who is in the pink dress in the collage. She called it her purple and white tank! Spanish was Violeta’s major for her teaching degree and she also experienced college abroad in Spain fully immersed in the language. In her early years of teaching she taught in a Spanish Immersion school. I think I’m remembering these facts correctly. Tom and Violet were married right out of college a couple years before Dear and me.

Spring forward 47 years and our little reunion in San Francisco/San Mateo/Redwood City. When I knew we would be in San Francisco I messaged my college roommate to see if there was a chance we could get together. Violet and her husband picked us up from our hotel and drove us south to the neighborhoods where they work and live. We enjoyed a meal at Milagros Cantina in Redwood City. Have you ever had fried ice cream? We split it four ways after our main dish. After enjoying catching up at their home they graciously drove us to the airport in time for our flight home. Thanks again Tom and Violet for a lovely day!

Here it is the first day of February! We enjoyed a quiet weekend here at this old house. We ate all our meals in house (shocking), a Saturday marathon of Downton Abbey viewing (I bought season 6 at Costco on Friday). Yikes tell me how you reacted to espisode5!!?? On Sunday we had a great church service with Communion in the morning, a dry walk on our heart pumping loop, and did a little more pruning on the apple tree. I think I’m halfway done now. My neck can only take so much at a time. Maybe I’ll have Dear take a photo of me in process. Have a wonderful first week of February!