Zoya was born in Russia when it was the largest part of the Soviet Union. She came of age just in time to watch the Soviet system crumble and to watch the chaos that followed. She was born and raised in a mid-sized city named Tambov, a few hundred kilometers south of Moscow. She did very well in school and was sent to the university and medical school at Saratov, where she continued to do very well. Finally, she moved to Saint Petersburg where she finished her doctorate in Public Health and worked for the district of Saint Petersburg in coordinating their health programs for children. She now works at the University of Washington as a research coordinator for a number of studies dealing with spinal injury and recovery.
1972 - 1990
These are some of Zoya's class pictures from primary/elementary school.
This is Zoya's class picture from her last year in secondary/high school. It was taken in 1989.
1990 - 2001
Zoya went to college in the city of Saratov, where she completed her four year and medical degrees. She then moved to Saint Petersburg where she did her doctoral work.
These are photos of Zoya in Saratov circa 1997 or 1998
This was the first photo I saw of Zoya. She had a friend take some pictures of her in Saint Petersburg. This is from around 1999 or 2000.
2002
After corresponding for almost an entire year, I decided to go to Russia to finally meet Zoya face to face. I went with an engagement ring in my pocket and a plan to propose at the end of two weeks if things seemed to go well. I wound up proposing after just eighteen hours. I was in Russia 11 July - 24 July 2002.
One of the first places Zoya took me was to the Peterhof, the summer palace of the Tsar and his family. It is located on the Gulf of Finland, about 25 km outside of Saint Petersburg. Zoya's friend Larisa, and her boyfriend Pavel drove us out there and showed us around. Unfortunately it was close to 3:00 PM before we got out there, so the inside of the palace was already closed. However, we had plenty of time to explore the beautiful estate and wonderful fountains. These pictures were taken on 13 July 2002.
Zoya acted as my guide throughout much of the city while I was there. We explored a number of interesting sites.
On the night of 19 July 2002, Zoya and I rode a sleeper train out of Saint Petersburg to Moscow, where we stayed with her friend Lena and did a bit of exploring. We stayed until the night of 21 July 2002, when we took the sleeper train back to Saint Petersburg.
On 22 July 2002 we went to her brother's apartment in Saint Petersburg for dinner and to meet the family.
Before my first visit to Russia, I left as a bachelor and returned engaged. However, the horror of the attack on the World Trade Center was still fresh and it was a nightmare trying to process Zoya's fiancée visa. It took almost an entire year to get it pushed through. For Zoya's birthday (18 August) I paid a local florist to deliver some roses to Zoya. Somebody was kind of enough to take a picture of her with my gift.
2003
Almost every man is nervous before his first (and hopefully only) wedding. I was no exception, but my anxiety was sharpened by the fact that I was flying alone to the other side of the planet to get married in a country where I new very few of the daily customs (much less the customs for special events... like weddings) and could barely speak the language. Luckily this was only the church wedding. The 'official' wedding had to take place in the United States or else Zoya's visa would be void.
We were married in Saint Vladimir's Church in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a Russian Orthodox Church and we had a traditional Russian Orthodox ceremony. Almost all her friends and family were there. Her friend Natasha speaks English pretty well, so she stood by me during the ceremony and quietly translated what the priest was saying, or telling me what to do next.
In Russia, it is traditional for the newly married couple to be driven around town immediately after the wedding ceremony. They would be driven to various famous landmarks within the city where they would have to perform small traditions associated with each site, drink a toast and then press on to the next site while the remainder of the friends and family hightailed it to the reception to make final arrangements for the arrival of the couple.
When Zoya and I finally arrived back in Seattle, we were surprised to find my Mom (who lives near Las Vegas) and my sister (who lived in San Diego at the time) waiting for us at the airport. They met Zoya and then we all came home together. It was a very pleasant surprise.
Going on road trips has not been a traditional Russian activity, but it is a cherished American one. I wanted to show Zoya some of the wonders in the area, so we took a couple of road trips to Mount Rainier National Park (3 August and again on 9 August). I figured that we could go for a little hike and a book I had mentioned that the hike to Green Lake on the northwest slope of Mount Rainer is a stunning little 1.5 mile hike. It was only at the park itself, when they gave us a topographical map did I realize that the 1.5 mile hike also went up over 1,000 feet. So Zoya started out less than impressed (as the first picture shows) that I dragged her out of a warm cozy bed to go hiking up a mountain path first thing in the morning. Of course, once we got to the top the view was absolutely stunning.
Since the pass we bought lasted seven days, we decided to come back to the park the next weekend. This time however, the plan was to see as much of the park as possible from the relative comfort of our car. We came around the north side of the park on State Route 410 and then came down the east side of the park on State Route 123 until we came through the Steven's Canyon Gate and then followed the road to Paradise and ultimately to the Nisqually entrance. Zoya was captivated by the beauty of it all, and the first time we saw Mount Rainier close up she almost started crying. She did not speak English at the time, but her exact words (in Russian) were "crazy beautiful".
I wanted to do something special for Zoya's first birthday (18 August) in the United States. I wanted to take her to a very nice meal, but to also do something that I doubt she had ever done before. At the time, the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train ran from Renton to a winery in Woodinville, serving a very elegant dinner on the way up and a lovely dessert on the way back. She enjoyed it immensely.
I really wanted Zoya to get an idea of all the great things to see and do in our area, so that first summer and autumn we went on a lot of day trips. On 31 August, we drove out to Anacortes and explored much of Washington Park.
When the holiday season rolled around that year, I hoped that the division I work in would have a really big and elegant Christmas Party. It was definitely big, but not very elegant. It was held in the recently finished Qwest Stadium (where the Seattle Seahawks play football).
2004
2005
For our summer vacation of 2005, we decided to venture down to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. However, since it is located fairly close to Nevada and Las Vegas, we decided that we would drop by there to say hello to the family as we passed through.
While in Arizona, we had booked a full package through the Grand Canyon Railway. We stayed overnight and then caught their antique steam driven train to the canyon rim. We took a bus tour along much of the rim and then after exploring a little on our own and then eating lunch at the resort on the rim, we rode the train back to our hotel (and were held up at gunpoint by some masked bandits on the way). It was a great adventure.
In the summer of 2005 we had purchased some wooden patio furniture and it was a nice hot summer, so we ate many meals out on our balcony that year.
New Year's Eve 2005 was the first year that we began a new tradition where we would go out to eat at a nice restaurant and then return home to enjoy the holiday at home. During and even after the Soviet era in Russia, the traditions associated with Christmas had been moved to New Years, so for our family it is really a second Christmas.
2006
The summer vacation of 2006 was a road trip that made a big loop through Lake Tahoe, California (for close to a week), then a run down to my mom's house north of Las Vegas for a couple of days and then we headed up north to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons for several days. It was quite a trip.
An annual semi-tradition is the Easter Sunday brunch at Salty's restaurant on Alki Beach.It seems that the group of people attending has slowly shrunk over the years.
2007
Each year (on Catholic Easter) we have a little tradition where some friends get together for Sunday brunch at Salty's on Alki, in West Seattle.
The Skagit Valley in northwestern Washington state has a tulip festival every spring. The first time we tried to visit the festival, the weather was horrible and the only tulips we saw were the ones the flower shops.
July 4th fell on a Wednesday this year and that turned out to our advantage as we headed down to Mount Rainier National Park for our usual auto tour. The difference was that the park was practically deserted. Traffic was so light that many people just stopped their car in the middle of the road to take a picture... and they did not block anybody behind them because there was nobody behind them. There were no lines, no crowds or anything else that would normally degrade a park visit. It was a fabulous visit.
On August 20th, Zoya took the oath of US citizenship in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Tukwila, Washington. It was something that we had been working on for almost a year and it was a very proud moment for both of us.
We made a last minute decision to go whale watching during the Labor Day weekend. One 1 September we drove up to Bellingham, Washington and took a ferry to Friday Harbor and after a quick breakfast we headed out to the Puget Sound to watch orcas. It was a lot of fun and something entirely new for Zoya.
On 8 September we took another day trip, but this one was to Seattle to explore a bit. Our first stop was the Japanese Gardens in the Washington Park Arboretum. Then we headed to the Olympic Sculpture Park and then after a stroll down the waterfront, we ate lunch/dinner at the Pike Place Market and ended the trip with strolling through the upper level of the market.
For 2007, my birthday fell on a Monday and we really don't like going out on 'school' nights. So we made reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Seattle for a Saturday night. We had a fantastic server by the name of Bill and he took this picture of us.
This was my first Christmas party with this particular department. It is a large department with many teams so they needed a fairly large venue, but they wanted to find a place that had "pizzazz" as well. They decided on having the party at the top of the Space Needle, and I must admit that it was a smashing success. Zoya and I had a great time (and made over $50,000 at the phony casino by playing blackjack).
2008
Zoya took about two and a half weeks off from work to return to Russia this year. It was her first trip back since she started working and a lot had happened to her friends and relatives over the past two years. The trip was great for her and everyone she had left behind there, but I missed her terribly and I was so happy to have her back. The victory parade (held on Victory day... 9 May... to commemorate the allied victory against Nazi Germany) was particularly special this year as her nephew, Alexander was a cadet in the military academy and this was his first year on parade.
For the July 4th weekend of 2008, we decided to do something different. We spent the extended holiday weekend on Vancouver Island, and explored Victoria and the surrounding area. Of course that included a trip to the Butchart Gardens and probably one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen.
2009
The big news of 2009 was Zoya's pregnancy with the twins. It all culminated in late July when we had a record setting heatwave that put her into labor. She was in the hospital for a week while the doctors got her labor under control, but on the morning of the seventh day in the hospital, her water broke and she went into active labor. The girls were born about 2:30 PM on 6 August, but it was not until the next day that Zoya got to hold them... because they were in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where they were being stabilized. After all, they were born almost eight weeks early.
We spent a lot of time at the hospital in the weeks after the girls birth. After the first week, they had both stabilized and we could hold them for more than just a couple of minutes at a time. We practiced "Kangaroo Care" in which a parent holds a baby to their chest in direct skin to skin contact. Since the girls were on monitors, we could see how it directly improved their condition while we held them.
On 19 August, the NICU at the UW Medical Center got swamped with new patients and the girls' incubators got moved into the same cubicle. This was a great opportunity for us as it allowed mom and girls to all get together for a reunion.
By the end of the first week in September, Alexandra and Sophia were no longer inside enclosed incubators and they were regulating their temperature through the use of clothes just like the rest of us.
5 October was an important day for the girls as it was the day of their first walk. We simply checked the mail and made a lap through our condo complex, but it was an important milestone and we picked a fabulous autumn day in which to do it.
In November 2009, Zoya's friend Lusine came out to stay with us for a couple of weeks and help out with the twins. She was eager and willing to learn about caring from the girls the very moment she came in the door, and she proved to be very helpful. That help was greatly appreciated, especially after I returned to work.
Thanksgiving 2009 was the first Thanksgiving for the Bauer twins. We did invite a few people to come over, but in all cases it turned out that they already had plans and we really did not push that hard as we were looking forward to a nice quiet holiday with just the (new) family. I still prepared the full meal (as can be seen in the photographs above), but for the girls it was pretty much just another day. However, mom and dad were able to squeeze in a few extra moments of much needed rest.
One week before "conventional" Christmas (we observe Christmas on 25 December and 7 January), we decided to break our own rules about the girls' quarantine during the flu season, and we brought them in for professional photographs. The pictures turned out well and the girls did not get sick, so the gamble paid off. However, it was a challenging day, because it was very hot in the studio and while we were trying to shoot, Sophia was very unhappy. I had to keep walking her around (which usually makes her happy) or to let her suck on my finger until the photographer counted to three and then I had to pull my finger out so that the photographer could get the picture before Sophia started crying again. Strangely enough, after we were done with the photo shoot and were sitting around waiting to look at the pictures, Sophia was not only calm... but smiling.
2010
We had always looked forward to the time where we could take the girls to interesting places that they would enjoy. By the Labor Day weekend, we figured that the girls were ready and though the weather was not fabulous for humans, we figured that it would be a good day to see the animals at the Woodland Park Zoo. It turns out that the girls were much more interested in the people and general surroundings than the animals themselves. However, to be fair, there was almost no place that we could park the stroller where the girls could see anything without a bazillion other people standing in the way and after a while w just got tired of holding them up all the time.
We originally wanted to get family portraits done each year around the time of the girls' birthday, but that got derailed somewhat as Zoya was in the hospital with pancreatitis the first time around. So we decided to just delay the pictures a bit. We took advantage of the extra free time that came with the Labor Day weekend and went in for some family portraits.
For the girls' second Christmas, we wanted to get more studio portraits. However, this time around, they were much less cooperative. However, we were able to get a few decent pictures out of the entire shoot.
2011
At the end of May, Zoya took the girls to visit our relations in Saint Petersberg, Russia. The trip had its challenges, but overall it was a good experience for everyone involved. They returned home in early June.
My mom and sister came to visit us for the girls' second birthday. We try to get formal portraits each year around that time, so we included the entire family in this year's session.
We finally got around to taking the girls to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery while the salmon were running. We picked an afternoon on our way home from work and there was almost nobody else there. There was a small four year old boy who was visiting the hatchery with his father. The girls immediately made friends with him, but the funny thing is that he saw how big they were and assumed that they were about his own age, so he tried talking to them (asking for their names and ages, etc.) and except for their names (they were both "Sasha"), they had no idea what he was talking about. The poor kid must have been pretty confused. In any event, they all had a lot of fun.
The girls have always loved music. It started in the womb and in fact, it was one of the things we would use to calm them down when they got too active (and would keep Zoya awake). We decided to take advantage of the kid's series of performances at the Seattle Symphony, and finally took the girls to their first performance. It was not really a symphony, but rather an introduction to music and singing. Either way, the girls generally enjoyed the entire experience.
At the end of December, we made a fourth attempt to get the holiday photos, and apparently the fourth time was the charm. However, when they created our disc with the photos, they included the photos that there were taken (and we rejected) back in November. With some creative editing on my part, I was able to salvage some of them. I have included all of them here (the originals and the edited and cropped versions).
Apparently, the trick to good holiday portraits is to have them taken after the holidays. On our fourth attempt to get holiday photos for the year, we finally succeeded (mostly) in getting the girls to cooperate.
2012
We had taken the girls out to restaurants before, and it generally worked out well. With that in mind, we decided to take them with us when we went out to dinner on Valentine's Day this year. It worked out for a little while, but even before our food came out, the girls could not (would not) sit in the booth and it just got worse. So once we got our food, we immediately put it into take out boxes and carted the food and family back home for dinner. The good news is that it was probably the second or third time that we offered the girls some Chinese food, but this time around they really seemed to enjoy it. They are still asking for "Chinese Spaghetti" (chow mein).