Irene Patterson:  

husband to cancer when her daughter was only 18 months old. Her daughter, Jennifer, just turned 30! And 4 months ago she and her husband had a baby girl, Emily, and Evie is so much enjoying her grandchild. Mike and I were able to go out in April when Emily was 3 weeks old, and spend a few days. How much we enjoyed visiting them, and meeting our new grand niece -- and she is adorable. Instead of us going to Floirida, we are looking forward to Evie and her family coming to California over Christmas this year. We have our home listed for sale, and if it sells, and we're out of our house at that time, we are thinking we'll rent a house at Lake Arrowhead for the holiday, or, use a friend's home up there which they've offered, but which we're reluctant to use. Would rather rent something. We missed the HPHS annual picnic again. When I booked our vacation house at Bass Lake last early March, the entire summer was booked except for last week, so we had to take it. Maybe I'll make it to the picnic next year! I looked at the pictures and videos posted -- so nice to see some familiar faces. UPDATE: March 4, 2010 Just a very quick update. Two of our sons have been layed off their jobs; one still working. We are in hopes they'll get back on the band wagon soon! Mike & I & son & daughter in law, James & Alaina, are going to a conference in April, in Bermuda! This is one place we've never been & hoped some day we could go there. We're all looking forward to the time together. Thankfully, James & Alaina are both still working! They live in Idaho, so we don't get to see them nearly often enough. I have officially retired, altho I still will do office work a few hours a week, & will not get paid! I have joined a Writer's Forum, which meets once a week, & have gotten back to my writing, which was neglected for a couple of decades! :( I still attend my quilters class, and off & on I make something! We, Mike and I, continue to be active in our church endeavors. So, that's my update for now! UPDATE: August 19,2009 A lot has happened since I wrote the info on the bottom. Our youngest son, while living and working in Texas, met a young woman, and when his work ended there and he returned to CA, she came with him. On Oct 17, 08, my husband and I went with them to the Santa Ana County courthouse, and were their witnesses for a civil ceremony wedding! We agreed at that time to follow it up with a church wedding, and that took place here in chino Hills on May 30, 2009. What a wonderful day it was! I posted some pictures, if someone wants to look. The picture with Michelle wearing the green dress is the civil marriage ceremony, and then the others are all from the May 30 wedding and reception. Evie is holding the huge bouquet of lilies and roses, the bride (Michelle) is with our niece, Jennifer, in the blue gown, and the group picture includes our nephew and his wife who were transferred to this area from Virginia about one year ago! In November, 2008, we had to evacuate our home in the middle of the night, due to the fires that afflicted Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda, Brea, and Carbon Canyon, where we live. We are thankful that we returned home 3 days later to an untouched home! Two days later Mike flew to Copenhagen to do some work on the ship. I wanted to be home with Tim and Michelle for Thanksgiving, so I didn't leave until the day after Thanksgiving Day, and we returned home together the middle of December. Since then, until this month, we didn't take any other trips, but just last week had a vacation at Bass Lake. We had the pleasure of renting the house my husband's grandparents built up there -- now having new owners, but they had it offered for rent by the week. Of course, there are other things that have occurred, but not to bore you, I'll just say that's enough for now! Irene Life The q&a portion of this site frustrates me! I can't put the answers I want. So, this is an add-on. We no longer have pets, since the ones we had have died. Over the years we've had several cats and dogs, and one billy goat. We had the goat when we were living on 3.5 acres in Solvang/Santa Ynez! My husband and I like to do volunteer work for a Christian organization that operates around the world with ships. Due to that we have traveled a lot, and althou he doesn't enjoy the travel, he enjoys the work. I enjoy the travel. Because of the travel, we've made friends in many countries. The ships usually have volunteers on board from about 40 nations, and many of these have become friends. We usually go for 4 to 5 weeks, although in 1977-78 we were oveseas for 1.5 years. We go wherever the particular ship is in port. Thus, we've been to England, where we lived for 6 months, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Germany, Morocco, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Israel, Egypt, South Africa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Luxembourg. We also went to Kenya, but that was on a safari with my sister, Evie, and her daughter, Jennifer, when Jenn graduated high school 7 years ago. Do we take vacations? For years we didn't, other than to visit family in California, Texas, Illinois. Now we have family in Idaho and Florida, and visit there. For actual vacations: New England (New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, N Hampshire, Maine and Vermont), Colorado, Georgia,Colonial Williamsburg/Jamestown, N & S Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky,and Hawaii. We bought a small plane, a Cessna 172, in New Hampshire, and flew it back to California, visiting many states enroute across country. When we were overseas in 77-78, our 3 sons were with us; the ship provided school teachers for them. The ships always have 30-40 children on board, so teachers and classrooms are a must. Now we have one son & daughter in law in Idaho, one son & daughter in law in Texas (our son there has 2 step kids and 4 step grands), & one more single son in Texas. None of our sons have had children of their own to date. Our most memorable event? When we were leaving the country on July 4, 1977, we were on board our plane at Kennedy airport in NYC waiting to depart for Amsterdam, & our plane was held up 3.5 hours while a hijacker tried to board the plane we were on. We sat in the darkened plane watching the hijacker walk back & forth waving a gun on a city bus, watching the many law enforcement agencies trying to apprehend him (he had hostages), & watching fireworks going off over the city. He was apprehended & our plane was the 1st to have permission to depart. When we finally landed in Amsterdam the next day, the headlines were all about it, with a very large picture of the hijacker. It was in Dutch, of course. The only thing we could make out was that he was 22, and from Jordan. We've had a great life of adventure -- something I never anticipated when I was growing up -- and it isn't over yet. It has been a gift from God, for sure, not something we sought out. The ships have been asking him to come to Croatia for the last 3 years. We haven't been able to go, but if it works out that we can, we will. We just don't know where, as we must go wherever the ship is located when the request comes! Our favorite place to vacation for relaxation is Bass Lake, CA, 50 miles north of Fresno, near Yosemite. I continue to do office work for our business. Mike is a contractor, and does steel work for new custom homes, and also does a lot of work for the oil industry. We used to have many employees, but the last few years he has worked alone. I also returned to college in the 80's and got a degree in Interior Design. I had my own business from 1985 to 1995. Now I just do the office work, as there isn't enough time in a week to do both! July 11, 2008: Well, I just returned from a week at a quilters camp. I took up quilting as an art form a few years ago, and although it can be tedious at times, I love the end result! I started a wall hanging in camp, and when I complete it, I'll photograph it and post a picture.