Random Ramblings Through the Years: 1980

1980---another year where I was pregnant for most of it.


Easter 1980

It was a particularly HOT summer. I finally begged to take our usual Oregon vacation in August, even though it was only about a month before my due date. It was a great decision!
Tim didn't have any trouble adjusting to Grandma and Grandpa's house! Where else can you lay around in a tire?

And lots of bar b qs with family.

It's not often they got to see Grandma and Grandpa Gagznos. With Mom being a quadriplegic since I was 12 years old, they didn't do much traveling or even going out. But the kids grew up with her that way and accepted her totally.

I think this is suppose to be a picture of Timmy, but get a load of my shoes!!!

Dad loved wearing hats. Didn't matter if it was a baseball hat, or brim hat or what. At this time this was his favorite hat. So I happened to find a statue of a guy with that kind of hat and I painted it to match Dad's (Grandpa's) hat.

We all took turns sporting it.

I think it looked best on me--even 8 months pregnant.

Loved hanging out in the back yard with family!!!! I sure do miss those days!

Tim posing with the canon in downtown Dallas, Oregon.

Mom, a wonderful lady. Sure wish she hadn't been in that car train accident in 1967 that left her a quadriplegic! But, as Dad use to say, if that hadn't happened, non of us kids would have met our spouses and had our great kids! He always had a way of looking at the good side of things! At the time I didn't really know how hard it was to be a care taker, but found out years later. It's quite stressful! And he did it for 32 years! On the other hand, I can't imagine not being able to move for 32 years!!!!! Dad was in the Airforce when the accident happened and was actually stationed in Saudi Arabia at the time. He said the military wanted him to put Mom in a nursing home. Because of that, he ended up retiring after 21 years of military shortly after that. Didn't stay permanently retired, though. He retired from the Airforce on a Friday and went to work as a National security specialist for McDonald Douglas on Monday. Worked there for about 5 years until I got married, then he retired again (at the age of 47) and they moved back to their house in Oregon which they had rented out for the previous 20 or so years.

Whenever we'd make our summer trips to Oregon, we'd usually take a couple days and head off by ourselves to sight see. Although the kids often slept though lots of our sight seeing. Check out that child seat! My daughter would never let me use that for my granddaughter!

Up in one of the many mountains

I could squat like that at 8 months pregnant, but that would kill my knees now!

The central coast was always one of our favorite escapes! Don't be fooled by the shirtless baby, the Oregon coast is NOT tropical! The water is probably about 60 degrees year around. At least when the sun would shine it could be pretty nice.

Not sure whose wig this is! We had fun with it then, but I wouldn't mind having those curls now!

To the very end, they stayed a loving couple!

From another one of our ventures around Dallas. I still remember taking this picture.

always loved the view across from Mom and Dad's house---and seeing all the logging trucks go by.

And back to the PDX airport. So wonderful that Dad would never hesitate to come the 90 miles each way to pick us up or drop us off. In fact, the first few years that we went, they paid half our fare. Dad had quite the sense of humor. He'd say, "You pay your way here and we'll pay your way back."

Back in Missouri---
We use to like to take the kids up to St. Ferdinand park down the street from our house. There were always a lot of ducks for the kids to feed. Sometimes Ken would even do a little fishing.

And back in those early days I use to be the safety Mom who wouldn't let her kid drink out of a can. It might cut them. But I'd let Tim pick a can out of the fridge and hand it to me. This time, he picked up his can, went to hand it to me and fell, smashing his finger between the floor and the can lip. Ended up cutting his finger pretty good on an unopened can! Off to the hospital for stitches! Not the only trip to the emergency room over their young lives!

touring Calaway nuclear plant while it was being built.

tim fixing my chair

Sept. came and went---along with my due date of Sept. 11th. On my Dr. appointment about 3 weeks overdue, they decided to schedule an induction for Oct. 3rd---if there was space. So on the 3rd, I called the hospital to see if it was a go. They initially told me they were full. By now I had so many more aches and pains, especially back aches, that I started crying. So the admissions nurse said come on in---they'd put me in the hallway if they had to. And so----it was Angie's birthday.
They still didn't do ultrasounds, so we still were surprised. I was afraid it would be another long inducing process. But this time, as soon as they broke my water, things began to happen and she was born about 3 hours later.

Again they said she was going to be a small baby because I didn't show much. I really carried her and Tim high and back. But this time I wasn't phased by the remarks that she was going to be much smaller then the 8 lbs 5 oz. that Tim was. She was actually 8 lbs, 5.5 oz! and 21" long.

And just like that, we're a family of 4.

But I still spent 2 or 3 nights in the hospital.

Tim coming to see his new sister.

I love the movies when all the new mothers look like they've just been to the salon. Not so much in real life!

Look at that head of hair!

Angie's newborn hospital photo

Ken's sister-in-law Sue had watched Tim when Ken went to the hospital to pick us up, so this is the first real family portrait of us. First time Tim got an up close look at his little sister.