To Have & To Hold
1. Ruth and Jim in Kingsville, MD, before having kids of their own, with Ruth’s brother Pat’s kids Donald, David, and Joyce. Joyce was the flower girl for their wedding.
2. While Jim and Ruth’s wedding announcement stated that Jim’s parents were then living at 15125 La Forge St in Whittier, CA, Adolph and Mildred soon moved to Escondido, CA. The back of this photo indicates it was printed in 1964, so this photo was probably taken around the time of Jim and Ruth’s wedding. It is definitely not the home on La Forge, so it’s likely in front of their place in Escondido. On their honeymoon cross-country trip, Jim and Ruth visited Adolph and Mildred here.
3. Following their cross-country honeymoon journey in the summer of 1964, Jim and Run made another cross-country trek during the summer of 1969. This trip took them up into Canada and to Niagara Falls, where the river had been blocked and the falls were not flowing. This photo was taken at the halfway point, in front of Don and Jean’s house in Glendora, CA. Back: Jean, Jean & Jim’s first cousin John Desmedt, Jim, Ruth, and Mildred. Middle: Susan and Karen. Front: John and Cheryl. John Desmedt was the son of Mildred’s sister Elenore. He was a U.S. Secret Service Agent for the Carters.
4. Even though this is in black and white, it was clearly taken at the same time as the color photo. Jim and Ruth did not make this second cross-country trip alone. Before leaving, Ruth visited her doctor and learned she was pregnant with Steve. The doctor saw no reason for her to cancel, so they traveled as planned. This was also the summer between the dissolution of Jim’s job at First Lutheran School and starting his year at Baltimore Lutheran High School. In some subtle way, they might have imagined the move to California that would happen the following summer. Prior to this photo at Jean’s, Jim and Ruth stopped at Adolph and Mildred’s house in Escondido (see photo above). Despite their plan to play it cool, Jim blurted out “Ruth is pregnant” as soon as his parents opened the front door. They did take a more direct route back to Towson because Ruth was beginning to experience morning sickness.
5. Jim and Ruth on Jim’s immaculately manicured Bermuda grass at the Tustin house. Jim achieved this putting green look with his trusty yellow Mclane 20” front-throw reel mower with roller drive and metal catcher. Unlike modern mowers with a safety lever, once Jim’s mower was set in motion, it could continue on its own.
6. Ruth and Jim inside the small foyer of the Tustin home. The red and white poster in the center is an open invitation for parents to enroll their children at Red Hill Lutheran School. Dick Duntley was in advertising and created the poster. Jim and Ruth hosted many Red Hill Lutheran School staff dinner parties at the house.
7. Jim and Ruth in front of the Tustin home.
8. Jim and Ruth in front of the famous olive at the front of their home at 91 Camino Castenada, Camarillo, CA. Note the lack of a fence extension on the side yard, the Chevy 30 van conversion, and the Ford LTD purchased from the Vogels.
9. Ruth and Jim with a panoramic view of Camarillo and the Santa Monica Mountains beyond.
10. Jim and Ruth in the dining room of the Camarillo house before the kitchen remodel.
11. Ruth and Jim in January 1995 in Sacramento at a dinner celebrating Steve’s graduation from the CHP Academy. Also present were Lynne (Ruth’s sister-in-law), Paul (Ruth’s brother), Debbie, Amanda, Pam, Keith, and (just visible) Tim.
12. Ruth and Jim seated at a possible family graduation event.
13. Jim and Ruth enjoying dinner at Ottavio's Italian Restaurant in Camarillo.
14. The happy couple in an unmemorable location. 😀
15. Jim and Ruth in their Camarillo house.
16. Jim and Ruth at the beach in their patriotic chairs.
17. Ruth and Jim inside the Camarillo house.
18. Celebrating Jim and Ruth’s 40th anniversary in 2004 with Baby Naomi at P.F. Changs in Long Beach on Shoreline Dr, Lions Lighthouse in the background.
19. Jim and Ruth in Kingsville, MD.
20. The happy couple in another less-than-memorable location. 😀
21. Jim and Ruth finally made it to their dream destination of Alaska for their 43rd anniversary in August 2007. Here they are beside their floatplane in Misty Fjords National Monument. Another highlight for Jim was seeing bald eagles in the wild.
22. Ruth & Jim in Steve and Amanda’s backyard at 1006 Little Quail Place, Paso Robles, CA.
23. In June 2011, Jim and Ruth joined a Princess Cruise tour beginning near Rome, with stops in the south of France, Greece, Croatia, and Venice. Here they are in Rome with the Colosseum and the dome of the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo behind them.
24. Jim and Ruth in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
25. Jim and Ruth cozied up on a gondola ride through the canals of Venice.
26. Ruth & Jim at Dodger Stadium for LA Dodgers vs Chicago White Sox on June 15, 2012.
27. Ruth & Jim at Dodger Stadium for LA Dodgers vs Chicago White Sox on June 15, 2012.
28. Lynne (Ruth’s sister-in-law), Ruth, Jim, Don and Karen Larson, and a member of the Young family. Both families were instrumental in helping the Youngs setting in Tustin after fleeing Vietnam.
29. In February 2013, Ruth and Jim traveled to Israel and Egypt. Here they are on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem.
30. Ruth and Jim kneel at the Grotto of the Nativity, believed to be the place of Christ’s birth, inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine.
31. Jim and Ruth preparing to swim in the Dead Sea.
32. Jim riding a camel in the biblical city of Jericho, West Bank, Palestine.
33. Jim and Ruth at the Dome of the Rock, the octagonal Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.
34. Jim and Ruth in front of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali in Cairo’s iconic citadel.
35. Jim and Ruth in front of the Pyramids of Giza.
36. Jim and Ruth in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza .
37. Tim honors Jim and Ruth during their 50th wedding anniversary celebration on August 18, 2014, at the Alves’ house at 95 Avocado Pl, Camarillo.
38. In November 2015, Jim and Ruth took a Danube River cruise that began in Passau, Germany, mades stops in Austria and Slovakia, and ended in Budapest, Hungary. The traveled to Prague, Czech Republic as a pre-trip add on. Here Jim and Ruth stand in front of the Prague Astronomical Clock (Orloj) on the Old Town Hall in Prague’s Old Town Square.
39. Jim and Ruth in front of the Charles Bridge, the medieval stone arch bridge over the Vltava river, with Prague Castle in the distance.
40. During their trip to Prague, Jim and Ruth met this young couple who were missionaries in nearby Poland. Jim and Ruth carried supplies the couple was unable to obtain in Poland and delivered them to the couple in Prague.
41. Prague.
42. Jim and Ruth in front of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.
43. Jim and Ruth with Shannon McMillan, who is related to a former paster from Ascension Lutheran Church, going through a lock on the Danube River.
44. At a Christmas market somewhere along the Danube River.
45. The Viking Riverboat Cruise on the Danube River had passengers write a Christmas wish and place it into a bulb. Ruth and Jim placing their bulb on the boat’s Christmas tree.
46. The family gathered on January 21, 2017, at Cafe Fiore in Ventura to celebrate Ruth’s 75th birthday.
47. Jim and Ruth visited Atlantic Canada in September 2017 eh. Here Ruth and Jim are standing on the ocean floor during low tide beneath the sea stacks at Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park at the northern end of the Bay of Fundy.
48. Along the Atlantic Canada coast.
49. Jim caught violating some archaic Provincial law near Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, Nova Scotia, Canada.
50. Jim mets with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer. On the trip Jim and Ruth made efforts to collect patches for their son Tim.
51. At a lock during their Atlantic Canada travels.
52. On a boat associated with a museum near Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.
53. Along the North Atlantic coast, near Acadia National Park.
54. Before arriving at the Victorian By The Sea—Maine Bed & Breakfast in Lincolnville (pictured), Ruth and Jim stopped at nearby Dot’s Market and bought some of “the best pastries we’ve ever eaten in our lives, and we’ve been to Paris!”
55. In the garden at the Victorian By The Sea—Maine Bed & Breakfast.
56. Jim and Ruth in front of Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
57. Jim and Ruth in Hawaii in December 2018.
58. Jim and Ruth cruising the Seine in June 2019.
59. Jim and Ruth in front of one of Claude Monet's water lilies murals at Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris in June 2019.
60. Ruth and Jim on top of l'Arc de Triomphe in June 2019.
61. Sacrebleu! James A. Neumann!! Did you really go all the way to Paris and eat a McDonald’s hamburger?! Mon Dieu!
62. Jim and Ruth in Jardin de la Tour Eiffel in June 2019.
63. Jim and Ruth in front of the Water Garden at Claude Monet’s House in Giverny, France.
64. Ruth and Jim in Normandy, France, in June 2019.
65. Jim in March 2020 at the celebration of his 80th birthday, held in Founders’ Hall at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, CA.
66. Jim and Ruth make their entrance at the wedding of Anthony and Victoria on May 22, 2021, held at the Alves’ house at 95 Avocado Pl, Camarillo, CA.
67. Ruth being serenaded on her 81st birthday on January 19, 2023, while onboard a Princess Cruise Panama Canal voyage.
68. Jim and Ruth at port on January 22, 2023.
69. Ruth and Jim aboard their cruise ship with the Centennial Bridge spanning the Panama Canal behind them on January 28, 2023.
70. Their Panama Canal cruise began in LA and ended in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Before flying home, Ruth and Jim visited this little guy who featured on their 2023 Christmas card.
71. Ruth, Jim, and Steve pick out a piece of characterful reclaimed lumber at 805 Woodworks to create a mantel for the Camarillo house in November 2023.
72. The now famous double salutes that became familiar to family members in the mid 2020s as they departed the Camarillo house.
73. Jim and Ruth and their extended family at the celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday, August 4, 2024, held at Debbie’s house at 1433 Gracia St, Camarillo, CA.
74. Jim and Ruth with Amanda, Christa, Dave, Steve, and Debbie.
75. Jim and Ruth with Debbie’s family: Naomi, Matt, Laura, Jacob, Zahara, Mark, Debbie, Victoria, Anthony, Rachel, Josh, and Marvin.
76. Jim and Ruth with Dave’s family: Dave, Christa, Anna, and Matt. (Sarah and Allison left early due to having previous plans).
77. Jim and Ruth with Steve’s family: Madi, Jeff, Erica, Matt, Amanda, Steve, Karina, and Will.
78. Ruth feeds Jim a piece of wedding cake on August 1, 1964, at Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Baltimore, MD.
79. Jim and Ruth at their 40th wedding anniversary celebration in July 2004 at P.F. Changs in Long Beach.
80. Ruth feeds Jim a piece of cake at their 50th wedding anniversary in 2014 at the Alves’ house at 95 Avocado Pl, Camarillo, CA.
81. Ruth feeds Jim a pice of cake at their 60th wedding anniversary surrounded by friends and family at Debbie’s house in Camarillo on Sunday, August 4, 2024.
