A long birthday

Another birthday--another year older! Rebekah and Chuck planned a lovely birthday party for me while we visited them in Portland. Chuck cooked a delicious salmon supper and Becky "made" the cake! Later in the evening, they took us to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) to see Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds. www.bodyworlds.com It was awesome! We were told that we needed at least an hour to go thru the display, but we could have used at least two!
The next morning, as we traveled toward Redding, we read these words from Psalm 139:13-14
"Lord, You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother's womb.
Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous--and how well I know it!"
How fitting for God to give us that reading on June 21st, just after He had so plainly shown us how awesomely complex He had created us!
That afternoon, when we arrived in Shasta, we discovered that Becky was having trouble with her motorbike, so she had Jim take a look at it. The battery needed replacing, but it took both of them some maneuvering before they were able to get the old battery out...
While Micah's away at school, Becky is not only becoming the chief mechanic but also the chief cook, cleaner, blogger, dog care-taker and everything else in between! And she's doing a fantastic job, too! We really enjoyed the short time that we were together with Becky. We even got to talk to Micah as he made his first call home the evening that we were there. And of course, we continued the birthday celebration...
We came home a week ago to lots of cards and well-wishes. And, several ladies in our church took me out for dessert this past Tuesday, so it has been a very long celebration! But now I am ready to move forward to the rest of the year! Thanks to all for the celebrations!

Back to Portland

We left Seattle on Wednesday, just before noon, to drive to Portland so we could spend a bit more time with Rebekah and Chuck. She had taken the afternoon off, so we met her at their house in town and she took us out to "the farm" so we could check on the progress being made.

As you can see, the house is really taking shape. They just have a bit more landscaping and a few other touch-ups on the inside and they will be ready to move in. They can hardly wait...

Becky even has her new address...

The view to the west is quite awesome...
the master bath is a work of art...

the floors are in...the lights are all in place...the house looks roomy and bright...

(how did they manage to squeeze all of this into that little shack???)

ooopps! I guess that I photographed the wrong house! I was supposed to take a pic of the house on the other hill...

the front view... the back view...

Thanks, Rebekah and Chuck, for sharing your building "dreams" with us. It was so much fun to actually see the place after hearing so much about it and seeing the pictures of the work being done. We hope that the finishing touches come together quickly so that you can move into your beautiful home.

At the convention

Convention is always such a fun time! Not only do we get to hear some fantastic messages from God's Word, and news of so many exciting things that are happening in our churches all across the US and Canada, but we also get to re-connect with many friends and family members. It was wonderful to see Jim's Aunt Carol (above left) and his cousin Alice.
We also enjoyed visiting with Betty, another friend from Fergus and also a former co-worker of Jim's when he was working in the international missions office.

And then there was the opportunity to re-connect with former missionary friends! We worked in Africa with Rod and Helen (left) for many years, and now rejoice with them as they support their son and his family serving as missionaries overseas.

We also visited with David and Susan, who were dorm parents for our younger two sons many years ago. Their oldest son, Ezekiel, is almost done with high school (we remember him best at age 3...his sister Hannah was unable to attend the evening service, so we didn't get to see her). It was just fun to laugh about some of the things that we endured together in Africa--so long ago! And also to hear about how God is using their family to honor Him.
And then there is our dear friends John and Tammy. We first met them 12 years ago when we were both serving churches in North Dakota. Little did we know back then, the paths that God would bring us down as we followed His leading! We rejoice that they have now joined us in our synod, so even if we are separated by many miles again, we can always be connected thru church functions.
It was fun to see Marybeth (left) and Nathan (background center) again. Marybeth lived with us for two years in Africa while she taught our boys. We played "matchmaker" for her, and soon she and Nathan were married! Linda (right) will be going to Africa in August to live with Dan and Rachel's family and teach their children. She appreciated all the insight that Marybeth was able to give her! We also enjoyed visiting with Jim's cousin June and her husband Joel (background right).

Day #3--to Mukilteo, WA

The third day of our trip was short and sweet. We arrived in the Seattle area around noon and met Jim's cousin Erick at a restaurant for some soup. It was deliciously warm and nice, since the weather had turned "typically Seattle"--rainy and cold!

But in the afternoon, the sun came out and...

...we were treated to sunny skies for the rest of the day, so we took the opportunity to spend some time at Mukilteo Beach just down the road from Erick's house (Jim's cousin, who we stayed with during the convention). Above is the famous Mukilteo Lighthouse.

While we were walking on the beach, the ferry came in from the island. And almost right after that, an ocean cruise ship also sailed by! The sight was awesome!

We were treated like royalty by Jim's cousin and his wife Merrily! We truly did enjoy the time that we spent at their lovely home. Thanks for your hospitality!

In the evening, Erick and Merrily invited several relatives over for supper. We were privileged to meet Linda (on the right), who will be leaving in a couple of months for Africa. She will be teaching the children of one of our missionary families. She stayed with June (Jim's cousin, Erick's sister) during the convention, but we were able to spend alot of time with her as we tried to answer her many questions about Africa.

E and M have done a fantastic job of landscaping their backyard. It was hard to get a picture that portrays it all, but this will give you an idea...

That evening, we enjoyed this view from their living room window! On a clear evening (or day!) you can look across the bay and see the mountains in the distance. A very peaceful scene...but that was all the sunshine that we saw until 30 hours later!

day #2--onward to Portland...

On Thursday AM, we packed our car, said good-by to Micah, and headed for Oregon. We drove through the beautiful mountains of Northern CA, and were awed once again by the majestic beauty of Mt Shasta. (It never ceases to amaze us that our kids have been on the top of that mountain--it is huge!)

At the suggestion of my sister, we stopped in Ashland, OR for a bit of sight-seeing. It is the town where the Shakespear Festival is held, so is a quaint little place that really reminded us of villages in Europe.
Since it was Flag Day (June 14th), the downtown streets were lined with flags. This was a welcome sight for us, since we have missed the decoration of flags that we had in our hometown back in MN. After all the years of living overseas, we never tire of looking at the beauty of our flag and all that it represents to us as citizens.
It was nice to "stretch our legs" and go for a walk in the restful park. A small river and waterfall ran through the middle of the park.
We appreciated the warmth of the sun, since we knew that we were headed for rainy Seattle weather!

When we arrived in Portland, Chuck met us and drove us out to "the farm" to see the new house they are building. It was a quick tour, since we arrived late (stuck in traffic...) and needed to meet Becky for supper after her meeting at the clinic. (We'll post more pictures of "the farm" on a later post.)

We met Becky at a lovely restaurant downtown and enjoyed this view overlooking the city, with the mountain peaks in the distance.

Chuck and Rebekah treated us to a delicious supper. Becky had even arranged with the restaurant to print "Congratulations Jim and Marilyn--35th Wedding Anniversary" on the top of our menus!

Our stay in Portland on the way north was short, but we were able to spend more time there on our return trip. More to follow...

Our trip north--first to Redding...

Last week we drove to our church convention in the Seattle area. We decided to break the trip up into segments and visit family along the way. We left early on Wednesday morning so we could escape the travel in the LA area. We made good progress and were happy to meet Micah in Redding less than nine hours later.
It was lots of fun for us to see all the work that Micah and Becky have done on their house. (they truly do live in the woods...) A year ago, we toured the house before they had had the final purchase papers, so we did get to see it before they started working on it. They have done a wonderful job of re-modeling the house and also clearing the land around the house.
Micah grilled for supper. We missed Becky, since she was still at her family reunion in Washington, but Micah and Sammy entertained us!

We know that Sammy misses Micah now that he is away at school! He's quite the little companion now for Becky.
In the evening, Micah took us to Whiskeytown Lake. The days are very hot around Shasta, but the evenings cool off nicely because of the lake. The scenery where Micah and Becky now live is just awesome!
My battery went dead just before the best sunset picture over the lake, but we were happy to at least get this much. There were some sailboats on the lake--it was so beautiful and so peaceful. We really appreciated the time that we could spend with Micah. Thanks, son!

Doctors and nurses

Our son Mark has been home with us for the past several weeks. It was so nice that he changed his schedule and arrived here almost two weeks earlier than he had planned. Last week he took the first part of his national medical board exams. Now we are enjoying having a much more relaxed son! Mark returns to Iowa this coming weekend. He will be starting his clinical rotations beginning next week.
This past weekend was a time of celebration for us--Jim and Marilyn celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary and Mark celebrating the completion of his exams. And now today, we have more to celebrate! I (Marilyn) got a job offer today! I'll be working as a part-time nurse in the coumadin clinic at St Jude's Heritage Medical Group here in Fullerton. It will be good to be back in the medical field again, after this long break! And now begins another new challenge--something I haven't done before. But the people that I met today (the ones that I would be working with) were so nice and I look forward to getting to know them better.

a farewell picnic

This past weekend, we drove to Beaumont where we attended a farewell picnic for Krista's sister Jenn and her family. They moved this week to Florida. It was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon, and we were happy to see so many of Krista's family and friends again.
Plenty of food, as always...
Randy and Kevin were the grill masters...
Penny helped organize the kids in some fun games...


the kids had soooo much fun!Krista organized the little ones and they played with bubbles--huge bubbles!After eating, the adults played volleyball. The "35 and unders" beat the "old folks" but we did put up a good fight!And as always, it was good to see our kids having fun together!

And the celebration continues...

We've had a wonderful, event-filled weekend at our house!
Lots of friends, food and fellowship!

On Friday morning, many of the women who meet at Kelley's house for Bible study fellowship, came to our house for a potluck brunch. We had plenty of food, and lots of laughter. We will not be meeting together on a regular basis during the summer, so this was one way that we could just spend time together before we get into the hectic summer schedule.

We ladies love being together! Our times of prayer and sharing are something that we all treasure. We are looking forward to a new study again this fall, and also adding more gals to the group!
On Saturday afternoon, we drove over to Pasadena to celebrate another birthday party for Jim! His cousin Penny hosted a potluck dinner at her lovely home. It was also fun to see their daughter Heidi who is home for summer vacation from the university.

Our good friends, Doreen and Steve, also joined us for the celebration. As always, when we get together with our former African colleagues, we enjoy alot of reminiscing of our times in Africa and as the stories roll on, so does the laughter! Great memories--great friends!

A bit later in the evening, we were joined by some more friends! Joan (missionary kid from Africa also) and her husband Pat stopped by Chuck and Penny's house. We had not seen them for about 12 years, so we had alot of catching up! Of course, the time went all too fast. We look forward to more visits together during the summer months. It has been so wonderful to have family and friends close by even here in SoCal.

After church on Sunday, we enjoyed having guests over for noon lunch. (sorry, no pic!) Mark took a break from his studies and relaxed all day! We felt like he needed some laughter after all his serious studying, so we watched a funny movie in the afternoon. Afterward, we decided to treat ourselves to some dessert at Coldstone. It was a perfect end to the day! And to a wonderful weekend!