If These Streets Could Whisper

I was trying to figure out what to title this entry, but as I am writing it I am listening to a song called "If These Walls Could Speak" about a man's trip back to his childhood home in a dream and about what the walls and streets would say if they could speak about all the memories in that place, and I think that kind of fits what I am thinking about now.

It has been a crazy month of traveling for me, I've been in Sacramento, Minnesota, Houston, Los Angeles, and now am in Seattle in the last 3 weeks--talk about a lot of time in airports! (My luggage has only been lost once and only 1 plane was significantly late...) I've loved my time in each of those places, I've seen amazing people who have all been such huge parts of my story, and I have had a little time to relax...not a lot but it has been a good start. But, waking up this morning on Heather and Darbee's couch and seeing the sky slightly overcast and feeling the cool, fresh air blowing through the open window made my heart feel instantly at home and at peace. Darbee graciously left me her car this morning and after sleeping in I headed up to Queen Anne Avenue, my favorite neighborhood, and spent a couple hours up there. As I was walking up and down the "ave" I realized I felt truly relaxed, and felt like I fit, I was me again. I am not sure I can explain it, but I almost laughed out loud at how wonderful it felt to be walking down such a familiar street wearing such a typical Seattle outfit--jeans, a long sleeved tshirt (which I haven't been able to do in MONTHS because everywhere I have gone has been so incredibly hot!), my chacos, with my REI bag with my journal and a book slung over my shoulder, and a latte from Cafe Ladro in my hand, seeing the sun peaking through the overcast sky and running into several familiar people as I stolled in and out of book stores and card shops. I spent some time journaling in Ladro and realized as I was writing that it was exactly 1 year ago this weekend that I left this place, that Ryan and Kelli and I loaded our Penske truck and headed south. It feels as if it has been about 5 years, so much has happened in my life and in my heart. As I was journaling I realized that a year ago, I was telling God that I would go to seminary, but I didn't want to be a pastor, I wasn't ready, and today I just turned in my application to start that process. A year ago I had never heard of Cursillo nor had any desire to ever go to Texas, and I have just returned from my second trip in six months and head back again in about 3 weeks. A year ago I never thought I needed or desired yet another community of friends, yet now I have two soul mates that God has brought into my life down at Fuller and I have others who have become part of my life and my story, and I feel so honored to know them. A year ago I wasn't sure about the idea of my parents moving to Minnesota, yet today I have just returned from time there and LOVE the place--so much so that I am thinking of looking into doing my hospital internship there in a couple years just to spend more time in that beautiful place. It has been quite the year.

And Seattle is home. I love Fuller, I really do. But, Seattle is home. It's not just the people, even though I have wonderful friends here and love my "family" here. It is not just Bethany either, even though I still think that is the most amazing church community ever. It's more than that. It's the culture. I was talking to Jean this morning and she affirmed that, the feeling of this city is unlike any other city I have been to. It is so relaxing to be here, there are so many amazing places to wander with others or by oneself. It is a city that tells so much of my story. I don't know that I'll ever come back here any time soon, and if I don't, that is ok with me. It's a big country and there are all kinds of wonderful people and places for me to meet and experience, but this city will always feel like home...my heart finds peace here, and that is an amazing feeling after a hard summer!

So as the chorus of this song goes:

If these streets could whisper

If these walls could speak,

They would scream out love

They would cry themselves to sleep

They would pray to Jesus

They would sing rock and roll

They would laugh with each other

They woud live soul to soul

If these walls could speak

I know what they'd say...

The memories in this place are unbelievable to me as more and more come flying back...amazing memories and some hard memories. But I love being here, and if these streets could whisper there are a LOT of stories they could tell...

The Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Backman

Megan and Nathan finally became husband and wife last Saturday on an absolutely gorgeous summer day. (That's right, my little sister is now Mrs. Backman, that is so strange to me!) The wedding turned out to be unbelievably beautiful and elegant and everyone relaxed and had a great time after the chaos of the preceding week. We realized that the families of the bride and groom are way too busy welcoming their guests to take any pictures, so we only have a few so far--more will definitely be coming as the extended family sends their photo CDs to us, but so far, this is a glimpse of the big day :)

Megan's dress was absolutely gorgeous, but it took us 45 minutes to get her into it! It laced up the back which is part of why it was so pretty, it could be made to fit her perfectly, but it took Emily and I forever to get it done right! But she looked beautiful when we were done so it was worth it!

The five bridesmaids and my cousin Chelan hanging out before the ceremony. (Kate, Emily Chelan, Kimi, me, Hope)

The wedding party--I think we were all looking at our photographer, not my mom!

Father-Daughter dance--don't worry, Megan and Dad got 1/2 the dance to themselves before the rest of the fathers and daughters were asked to come join them!

Megan, Grandma Nan, and I at the reception, we were all so glad that Grandma was able to fly down to join us for the celebration!

Cutting the cake. The decision about wedding cakes was apparently the most stressful part of the whole planning phase, it really is a LONG story but in the end the cake table looked gorgeous and the mocha mousse cake was absolutely divine! (There were several flavors but I only wanted to try that one since I had been hearing about it for months!)

Part of the head table--you can see the gorgeous flowers and decorations Megan chose--it really was beautiful!

The first dance with the bride and groom--their song was True Companion by Marc Cohen

Dad and his little girl dancing to I Hope You Dance by LeAnn Womack--they had taken dance lessons so they looked great!

Searching for the garter--Megan had a rash on her legs and so she didn't want that to show, so Megan put the garter down the front of her dress when Nathan wasn't looking and the DJ made Nathan keep his eyes shut while trying to find it on her legs, and while his eyes were closed she pulled the garter out of her dress & sat there spinning it while the audience howled--poor Nathan had no idea why he couldn't find it on her leg!

My mom's close friends for the last 20 years--her, Phyllis Twelves, Ann Beinhorn, and Toni Cappadona

The Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Backman Part 2

The first set of pictures got a little long, so I decided to split them up into 2 separate posts. Most of the pictures in this section were taken by Keith (Nathan's dad) and emailed to us, thanks for sharing with us Keith!
I got to give my second police report ever during the reception. The photographer had her 2 nice cameras stolen right out of the church entry way while she was in the sanctuary setting up her lighting equipment before the ceremony, and us bridesmaids had gotten a good description of 2 people who were hanging around the church when we got there--people who looked a little suspicious and were very much out of place in an otherwise-deserted parking lot. So the police showed up at the reception site and we got to give them some information--of course my mother and the other guests thought this was hysterical (not the cameras getting taken part, but the fact that the bridal party all looked like they were in trouble!) and we got several pictures!

Megan and Nathan before dinner was served, the candles on the table were their unity candles from the ceremony that were brought over to the reception and made a beautiful center piece for the head table.
After the ceremony & before the reception, while the guests were arriving at the country club the bridal party did some beautiful out door pictures on the golf course--I love the candid-ness of this picture and the evening was absolutely gorgeous for out-door pictures so they should have turned out beautifully!


This picture of the post-cake kiss turned out better than my mom's did--you can see the wonderful contrast of the red roses and the white cake and how beautiful the setting of the reception was!

And more wedding photos...

I'm not really sure why it wouldn't let me post these pictures with the ones before it, but it wouldn't so here is another post of a few more wedding pictures....

My favorite picture from the wedding...this was taken in the church nursery before the ceremony. Megan couldn't sit very well in a chair because of her dress but we put her on the floor and put her foot up with ice...isn't she cute!

Mr. and Mrs. Backman at their reception

The first dance to True Companion

Leaving the ceremony

The Rehersal and Dinner

Friday night we had a great time at the rehersal and rehersal dinner hanging out and figuring out how Saturday was going to work. It was also the first time the bridesmaids and groomsmen had a chance to meet each other.
Here are Ben and I practicing walking in--Ben was Nathan's unofficial best man--Nathan decided all his guys were "best men" and so they stood in height order and his friend Dave gave the toast--it worked quite well for them!
Here comes the bride...! (and dad!) Emily was in charge of making the ribbon bouqet from the bridal shower--she did an amazing job, there were a LOT of ribbons!
Our 2 grandmas watching the chaos unfold around them...
and the beautiful moms--Nathan's mom, Gail, and my mom...
After the rehersal we all enjoyed dinner at Mimi's Cafe. Here are my dad, Kate, Dave and I. Kate & Dave are the couple in Spokane that Megan and Nathan spent the most time with...we kept teasing them that their wedding is next!
me, Hope, Emily, Kimi, and Kevin, one of the groomsmen
Megan, Nathan, Gail and Keith Backman

The Bridal Shower

On Friday afternoon I helped throw a bridal shower at Megan's god-mother's house which was a wonderful gathering of women from all parts of Megan's life...old neighbors, family members, friends of my parents--it was really fun to see everyone and celebrate Megs. Here are a few pictures from the party..
Amy, Hilary, Gail (Nathan's mom) and Brenna hanging out and getting to know one another before lunch started.

Sharon had just had her pool and patio re-done, and it was a beautiful day so we had a great outdoor eating area! Here are Amy (our old babysitter and close friend), Josie (my dad's colleagues' wife), Sharon (Megan's god-mother) and Grandma Hildie (dad's mom)

Aunt Carolyn, my cousin-in-law Julia (Brian's wife), and my Aunt Vernita (my dad's younger sister) enjoying lunch outdoors.

The cousin table--our 3 cousins Amanda, Mikaela and Rachel, and my cousin-in-law Stacie (Jason's wife)
3 of the bridesmaids--Kimi, Megan's best friend from the time she was 18 months old! Emily, a wonderful friend she met in college, and Hope, Nathan's sister. I was taking the picture and Kate wasn't at the shower, but she and Kate were friends from Whitworth. There you have the bridal party!
Megan was not a fan of the idea of a lingerie shower, so all the gifts were practical--except the one from us bridesmaids that we went in on together--we figured she couldn't fire all of us the day before the wedding!
Lunch time! I had asked several different women to bring different kinds of salads and we added french bread and cheesecake to them to complete the delicious meal! Here is Debbie Towery (a former neighbor) and her daughter Angela and I--Angela is now 15 but Megan and I started babysitting her when she was 4 so we go way back! (now she's taller than I am when I don't have shoes on, it's so sad!)


Here are Sharon and my mom--Sharon and my dad met in high school in Sacramento, and then she and him both went to Pacific Lutheran where they met my mom. Then my parents and her all resettled in Sacramento so she's been part of our lives for a LONG time!

The group during present opening
My grandma Hildie has always made us beautiful quilts for any special occasion, and when a grandchild gets married they get to pick their pattern and colors for their first "queen sized quilt" (she always makes twin quilts for us!). Here is the beautiful quilt she made for Megan and Nathan's new bedroom.

In memory of a dear friend

Early Monday morning our families' dear friend Steve Twelves passed away. Steve was diagnosed with a form of cancer 9 years ago and has endured countless surgeries, infections, removals of tumors and radiation and his body simply shut down on him after so long. When he was first diagnosed the doctors only gave him about 4 years to live, so he surpassed their expectations and was able to accomplish several of the goals he made for himself. He was able to see his youngest daughter Hilary graduate from college this past June, he got a new roof on his home, he was able to get his MGB running (he'd been rebuilding it for years in his garage and that was one of the things he wanted to accomplish before he died). Steve and his wife Phyllis have been my parents closest friends for the last 20 years, they lived across the street from us, and their kids Ryan and Hilary, were our faithful playmates for our childhood. I don't think I have any memories of New Year's Eve that don't involve our parents playing card games and laughing the night away. I have so many memories of World Series parties (especially the 1989 series of the Giants vs the A's--us Hansons were Giants fans and the Twelves are die hard A's fans and I think our families watched all the games together with much heckling involved!) Steve and my dad could always make each other laugh and had the best time together. Their birthdays were less than a week apart (Steve's would be tomorrow, August 11, and my dad's is Tuesday, August 15th) so they often celebrated together. I know that we will all miss him--his laughter, his sense of humor, his stories, seeing him in his garage tinkering with that car...

All our hearts are heavy this week as we grieve and as we hurt for his family; but we are also rejoicing that Steve knew Jesus and we know that he is dancing in heaven right now free of pain for the first time in a long time. Steve's passion before he got sick was sailing his sailboat out on our local lake--he would go out all the time and I remember getting to go with him several times. He would regularly enter races and loved being out on the water. I would like to believe that there's a place somewhere in Heaven, maybe on that glassy sea, for him to sail again...
Phyllis and Steve with my parents sometime last year when they drove his MGB to a winery for a day


Yeah, nice try Steve!
Hmmm...they look serious about this wine tasting!
This was taken in June when my parents were in Sacramento doing wedding stuff. They were enjoying what looks like a lot of Root Beer with Phyllis and Steve and Toni and Ron (the other couple in the infamous card playing, baseball watching, new year's eve celebrating group!)
Their family at Hilary's graduation in June.