The past six weeks have been unusually quiet on the ministry front “on purpose” as we have taken time to “be” grandparents as well as to take care of some neglected “physical” maintenance.

And it’s been good and productive on many levels.

But first: after our wonderful vacation in Ogunquit with our dear friends, John and Marilyn, we celebrated Paul’s birthday before the days of August expired. The Johnsons planned and prepared a delightul cook-out celebration in Virginia before Paul flew west for a second celebration with his birthday buddy and first grandson, Brandon (and his family).

*The Johnsons celebrate the Big Guy’s birthday.*

He didn’t make the trip just for a birthday party: Kari’s husband, Gabe, went on a pastor’s retreat the first week of September, and Julie’s husband, Derek, was in Armenia on a Neurokids’ mission that same week, so we divided and conquered. Paul spent the week supporting Kari by helping get the kids where they needed to go and doing a number of helpful projects around their house, and I spent the week supporting Julie, minus doing projects around the house. :) It worked out well all around and we were thrilled to be able to come alongside our children and grandchildren.

While Paul was in California, I was thrilled to have a brief but lovely two-day visit from my dear friend, Dawn. We explored our new ’hood, did lots of walking and a little pool floating, and attended the church in Leesburg where her nephew serves as associate pastor and at which he was preaching that Sunday. Everything about our visit was delightful.

*My dear friend Dawn (in pink) with her sister and nephew.*

September was dedicated to HIM counseling and preparing for the rest of the fall, which is quite full, to being spectators at Nathan’s football and basketball games, as well as to “maintenance,” mostly of the bodily sort. We have new doctors down here and are playing catch-up to several somewhat neglected signs of “parts wearing out,” proving that we are aging. :) A hearing test for Paul confirmed his need for hearing aids, which I’ve known for some time, but . . . He’s now sporting Phillips’ hearing aids from Costco and is amazed by the difference they’re making!

He also had his first cataract surgery in late September, and the second one is scheduled for Oct. 28th. He’s not noticed a huge improvement yet due to another issue in the now cataract-less eye, but hopefully will see a big change once the second one is done.

*Julie kindly supported us when Paul had his first cataract surgery (as well as every other time we need support!)*

All of these “maintenance” projects have underscored how blessed we’ve been with our health that has allowed us to continue going full tilt, and that the minor issues we have are easily remedied. We take none of this for granted.

After four years of attempts by daughter Lisa to get me to California for “The Sound of Music Singalong” at the Hollywood Bowl, she succeeded this year. Ever since watching this classic, captivating movie for the first time at the Loma Theater in Pt. Loma, California, with my favorite teacher ever, Mrs. Mimi Test, it has topped the list of my favorites, so Lisa was taking no risk in believing this would be a beloved, fulfilled bucket list item.

And was it ever!! Hosted by our dear friends Lorita and Jen Granger, from start to finish, everything about it couldn’t have been better. Costumes in hand (yes, we dressed up!), we started at the Granger home, where we made picnic dinners out of amazing supplies procured by Lorita. We arrived at the Hollywood Bowl (a first for me) well before the show began and leisurely ate our dinner from our “box seats” which were in the lower quarter of the 18,000 seat bowl. We enjoyed the parade of costumed SOM lovers (and no, we were not in the parade), marveling at the creativity of many. And then, the movie, projected on a 20’ by 60’ screen, had the words to each song dancing across the bottom of the screen, inviting the crowd to “sing along.”

And we did.

A more delightful evening could not be imagined and I am so very grateful for Lisa’s thoughtfulness (and the Grangers’ generosity) for making it happen.

*Lisa, Lorita, Jen, and I had the best time at the “Sound of Music” Sing-along!*

The rest of the weekend was tons of fun too: an outdoor movie night at the Heritage House, an early morning hike up Mt. Rubideau, an inspiring church service Sunday morning, followed by lunch with Katie Herbst (my niece, Lisa’s cousin), and a red-eye flight home (delete this from the “fun” part), getting me there in time for Paul’s cataract surgery (for which I was very thankful).

The next weekend featured the visit of dear friends, Pam MacIver and Christy Keating. Though we all acutely felt the absence of the fourth in our party, Patty Benes, who passed away last Nov. 22, it was wonderful to be together and celebrate our 30 years of friendship. Besides going to church and watching Nathan play football, our time was very low-key and relaxing. A very warm Saturday made the pool inviting and a couple of walks around the block keep us moving. It was a very sweet visit.

*It was such a joy to have Pam and Christy spend a weekend with us!*

As September came to a close, the next maintenance project accomplished was on our house, not our bodies. Our aging roof was replaced with new shingles, so we should be good to go for a long time to come.

After a full day of counseling on Oct. 2, we flew to California on the 3rd for an almost two-week, multi-faceted trip.

We spent all day on Oct. 4th hanging with some of the most important and shaping non-family humans in our lives. Starting with a morning two-hour visit with Carol Kraning, we caught up with her at her new home in a senior complex. She’s as spry and delightful as ever and we were most impressed with her resilience in taking this big step into the next season of her life.

We next met up with John and Grace Tebay for lunch at a restaurant. We were so thankful Grace had recovered so well from her broken ribs which she sustained in April. She was in very rough shape when we visited them in May. We’re always so inspired by these treasured mentors, who continue to set the bar for us as deeply committed Christ-followers who truly walk their talk. I was deeply impacted by Grace when she shared with me the progression of her macular degeneration, which very likely will leave her blind. “I know God wouldn’t let this happen to me without having good purposes for it, so I trust Him—and since I have all my piano music in my head, I don’t need my eyes to read music anyway!” She is remarkable.

Our final visit of the day was with Wendy Turney, another in our “Hall of Fame” of revered mentors/friends. Though always too short, we made the mosts of the 4-hour visit, catching up on each other’s hearts as well as enjoying a restaurant worthy steak dinner a la Wendy. We returned to Lisa’s home 12 hours after we left, with full, inspired hearts. We are so blessed.

*Dinner with the ageless wonder Wendy Turney*

After a great morning with Lisa, which started with a sunrise hike up Mt. Rubideau, and a yummy breakfast out at “Brandon’s Diner,” we headed to Alpine Retreat Center in Blue Jay to speak for their second annual weekend family camp. We were so privileged to partner with them and were very thankful for a wonderful weekend together.

The program, developed by Christi King (their program director) included four large-group meetings consisting of worship, a child-friendly object lesson, and family devotions led by us. We love seeing families gather around the scriptures and we especially love helping them connect the dots between the Word and its practical application. During one session, we taught on parenting while the children were entertained with outdoor activities and we heard a lot of positive feedback on the teaching.

We loved being a part of this weekend family camp. What a treat to be with eager families, to participate in great activities at this beautiful camp, to partner with a dedicated staff, and to share the vision and value for such an event.

Besides all that, the highlight for us personally was sharing the weekend with Gabe (and Rosemary) Valencia, executive director of Alpine. Gabe shared with us that he was a camper at CBS in the early 80’s and it was there he received his call to ministry. He was so grateful for our leadership at camp and for all we had done to develop a place committed to Kingdom work.

How humbling and generous of him to share that with us. We ended up spending many hours with the Valencias, sharing our hearts, which we discovered are so in sync. We were blessed to hear of how the Lord is using all five of their children in the ministry entrusted to them—most of them working for the two camps they’re in charge of. The four of us celebrated God’s faithfulness to our families throughout the generations and we all give Him all the glory.

*The Alpine Retreat Center is over 80 years old!*

*Family worship was a highlight of every general session.*

Barbara Steele masterfully produced this very professional booklet for the family camp which included the schedule and camp-specific info as well as devotional pages for each session. Everyone appreciated having all needed information in one place and were impressed with how beautifully it was done. We’re so very grateful for Barbara so generously using her gifts to serve the ministry needs so cheerfully and with excellence.

*Families working together on the devotional.*

*We felt immediate kinship with Gabe and Rosemary Valencia, executive director of Mile High Ministries, which includes Alpine.*

We drove north to Visalia on a beautiful fall Sunday, overwhelmed with gratitude for the weekend.

Next stop, Kent and Staci Copley’s home in Visalia, for dinner and an overnight. Last June 10, these dear friends experienced the kind of miracle that few will, when Kent had a complete aortic dissection while attending a conference in San Diego. Only the Lord could’ve orchestrated the events as they unfolded and which He used to save Kent’s life, but when Staci was told he had a 1% chance of surviving the surgery to repair the damage, she knew their only hope was in the Lord.

And in His mercy, Kent not only survived, but he is thriving.

All praise is His.

*Kent, the walking miracle, and Staci Copley run a great B and B.*

We had a wonderful visit with them before parting ways early Monday am to meet up with Dr. Marshall and Terrie Sorensen, with whom we’ve been friends for over forty years! The Sorensens (with their two young daughters, who were later joined by their son) came in to our lives in the late 70’s at CBS as family campers and we’ve been fast friends since. They are on our short list of favorites and any time we can connect, we do. Our over two-hour breakfast together made a small deposit in our longings, but we are very grateful for the time we shared. We love to soak in the wisdom of those who are ahead of us on the journey and are so thankful for the gifts they are.

*Dr. Marshall and Terrie Sorensen are some of our dearest, almost-5-decades-long friends.*

Next stop, lunch with Badveli Greg and Sossy Haroutunian! We partnered in ministry with these two for many years when we both lived in the Boston area and we loved hearing of God’s work through them in the Armenian community in Fresno now. We solved many of the greater world’s problems in a surprisingly short amount of time and left so encouraged by their faithful hearts for the Lord and their very proactive ministry. Again, time was too short, but it was rich and full.

*Badveli Greg and Sossy Haroutunian so faithfully serve the Armenian community, and we have loved partnering with them.*

Monday late afternoon (Oct. 7) through Wednesday mid-morning, we gathered with Paul’s four sisters and their spouses in Exeter, California, at the temporarily “empty” home of Randy and Rachael Clark (our nephew and niece-in-law) for this sibling reunion. Randy and Rachael are Isla’s parents, our sweet little great-niece who has been battling the effects of HUS as a result of an e-coli infection almost 3 years ago, and they were in Austin, Texas, for surgery to implant Isla’s stoma. They eagerly offered their home for our get-together and it was perfect for our gathering.

It was so good to be together!! We’re all very aware that we’re not getting any younger, hence the value of these times grows. There was much to celebrate during our hours shared and at the top of the list was the legacy of faith through the generations which continues unbroken. How blessed we are!!

The time together flew by as we caught up with one another. We had great fellowship, which included lots of talking, laughing and reminiscing, preparing and sharing good meals, enjoying the pool, and working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. A highlight for all of us was having Jim and Betty Morehead join us for dinner one night. The Moreheads have been Friesen Chosen Family for decades as they’ve shared life in Pixley, both in farming and in “church-ing.” Very sadly, Betty has early-onset dementia and is living in a skilled nursing facility currently, but thankfully, she was fairly “with it” during our time together and we were all so grateful for our time together.

*Dinner with the siblings and the Moreheads (at the far end of the table).*

*The original five Friesen siblings: (l-r) Carol Herbst, Beth Smith, Joyce Rottschafer, and Sandra Clark.*

We drove off Wednesday to the strains of “We love you Friesens, oh yes we do . . .” with very grateful hearts that we are not only DNA-related, but more importantly, spiritually connected—which means that these “good-byes” are temporary.

Yosemite National Park was our next stop, and this is a legacy place for me. Having camped in this uniquely awe-inspiring place since I was very young, Yosemite holds lifelong memories for me, and married memories for both of us. We were able to “camp” two nights in Curry Village, in an unheated tent-cabin, and thanks to somewhat balmy weather for early October, we were very comfortable. We spent most of Thursday hiking the Panorama Trail, from Glacier Point to the valley. The 11-mile moderate hike is spectacular as it passes Illouette Falls, only viewable from this trail, as well as Nevada and Vernal Falls. The views of Half Dome and all the other landmark features of Yosemite Valley were breathtaking. We are so thankful to have the ability and capacity for such adventures!

*Welcome to Yosemite! Emerging from the tunnel, this stunning view is always worth capturing with the camera.*

*Though Yosemite Falls was as dry as a bone, the beauty of the valley was not diminished.*

*From Glacier Point, we began the 11-mile Panorama Trail on a beautiful fall day.*

*Illouette Falls can only be seen from the walking trail.*

*View after view after view was breathtaking.*

*Also breathtaking was the temperature of the Merced River—but it was definitely refreshing after hiking 16 miles this day.*

*Sunrise over Half Dome . . . the skies declaring the glory of God!!*

Besides putting on many miles walking around the valley, we also hiked in Crane’s Flat to the Tuolomne Giant Sequoia Grove. The daunting size of these mammoth trees is hard to believe without standing next to them. All creation points back to the Creator and it’s impossible not to praise Him for His handiwork.

*Hard to imagine the size of these trees until you’re standing under one!*

We left the beauty of Yosemite behind Friday late afternoon and drove to Oakland to spend a couple of nights with the Garcias. We were so fortunate to be there for both Brandon’s and Micah’s football games on Saturday and we loved watching both of them play (and score wins). We were also so happy to join them for church on Sunday at their next-to-the-last service held at their rented space in Jack London Square! New City Church Oakland will move to new rented space in a church building on Lake Merritt on the 27th, after they celebrate their 3rd birthday as a church on their final Sunday at their first church home. We are so excited for them as they enter this next season in a space much more suitable to their growing needs as a church family.

*Along with Gabe’s parents, Dan and Debbie Garcia, we enjoyed watching both boys play football on Saturday.*

The next two months will be quite full with traveling to speak and counseling, and we continue to be so grateful that with a bit of maintenance behind us, we’re fit and ready to go. All praise is His!!!