2002
Copyright © James W. Blilie, 2010: All rights reserved
Phyllis and Jim's family photos - Main Page
Phyllis and Jim's family photos 2002
We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and that you have a healthy and prosperous New Year. Wow, what a year 2002 was! So big, we didn't get to our Christmas cards and I am just now getting to our Holiday letter. Oh well, I got it done in January anyway!
Jim had a big Winter and Spring as he wrapped up work on the place in White Salmon, finished up work at the FAA, and made plans to move to Minnesota and sell his house in Renton. Phyllis visited Jim in Renton in January and again in April. During the April visit, Jim's Seattle friends threw a surprise Going Away Party, which achieved complete tactical surprise, much to his delight. The big surprise was: Phyllis arrived a day early and showed up at the party, even though it took Jim a few minutes to figure it out. Hey, he was tired from a hard day's work! Jim also visited Phyllis at President's Day weekend in February.
Phyllis had another good school year, teaching 2nd and 3rd graders at EXPO Elementary School in St. Paul. She was all alone in her apartment and missed Jim and Joe a lot. Joe came by almost every weekend for some fun with Mom. Phyllis was often sending Jim e-mail late at night after Jim had gone to bed (think about the time zones … !)
Jim's last day of work was April 30 and he moved out of his house and headed east on May 4. He arrived in Roseville, very late on the night of May 6, to a warm welcome from Phyllis. Together at last after so many years!
This was just the beginning of a new flurry of activity: shopping for a house. With the help of Steve Carrigan, we were able to locate and buy a place we really love in Shoreview. We did have quite a bit on negotiations with the previous owners over a new roof that was required. In the end, that all came out fine and we have a nice new roof we can count on for the next 30? years. It has turned out to be even better than we expected when we bought it. It has a pond in back, which we use, and County open space across the street for skiing. We have nice neighbors, including some boys for Joe to play with. It has a wonderful shop for Jim's instrument building and an office for Phyllis. Joe has his own room and there is a guest room. The living space is really great. To go with the house we got a new dining set which we love, and just a few other pieces of furniture. We love our new house.
In between finding the house and closing, we went to White Salmon and Seattle for two weeks in June. We had a great time, hanging out and doing some projects around the White Salmon place. We also closed on Jim's old house in Renton. We returned to White Salmon in October bringing Joe with us. This was Joe's first trip on an airplane, first time seeing the ocean, and his first time seeing mountains. He hiked with us up to the Eliot Glacier on Mt. Hood and was thrilled.
We closed on the house at the end of July, and, not satisfied with moving and buying a new house, we got engaged on August 1. This of course started an intense couple of months of work to coordinate the wedding, which was planned for November 29, just 17 weeks away! We also visited Phyllis's family in and around Shawano, Wisconsin in August and Jim got to meet all the people and see many of the places he had heard about all these years.
But, of course, it all worked out great and we were married on November 29, 2002 in the Sunken Garden of the Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul. The Conservatory is a favorite place of ours, a retreat for warmth and humidity in the winter, and we couldn't think of a finer place to get married. It was lovely and we thoroughly enjoyed having so many friends and family gathered around us on our big day.
Through all this, we have laughed a lot, talked a lot, played a lot, and just thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. After all, that feeling of being together is what got all this started in White Salmon, way back in July 2001. And, through it all, we have maintained our sense of humor. Much wine was consumed! And, Phyllis has continued to teach at EXPO. Jim has built two (almost three) violins, has a viola in plans and now has two guitars ordered and in work. Jim is still looking for an engineering day job.
Jim and Joe are developing a close relationship, partly through a mutual love of music. Joe is now learning guitar in addition to his violin. Joe told Jim recently that he wanted to try and build a guitar or a violin some day. Jim's response was, why not both? Maybe Jim and Joe will even agree on a movie rental some day!
Joe continues to do well at Turtle Lake Elementary School in Shoreview. This fall he participated in LEGO League which involved building robots, with real computer brains, motors, sensors, etc., and competing with them against other school teams. He did really well, even if his team didn't quite make it to State. Joe also continues to play violin in the school orchestra and is enjoying music very much. Joe will soon be playing a full-sized violin built by his step-dad.
Phyllis's friend Nannette and her family kindly invited us to go with them to a cabin near Lutsen on Lake Superior for 4 days at Christmas. We had a great time and ate some fine food planned and made by Nannette and Jeff and family. We also took their boys Lee and Chris on a Christmas Eve hike up Eagle Mountain, the highest point in Minnesota. A first winter ascent for everyone except Jim! We then went to Shawano for a post-Christmas visit with Phyllis's family.
Phyllis and Jim's family photos - Main Page
Phyllis and Jim's family photos 2002
Last updated: 13-Jan-2010