Jason and Lisa’s Wedding

   Jason and Lisa

      

 

The Beaumont Siblings: Jenni, Jason, Shelly, and Scotty

Park time with Grandma

I love Oregon Parks!

Lined with beautiful trees with a lot of green grass to play on . . . plus, a playground.

 

  

As always, the swings were one of the favorite things to play on.

 

Natalie tried the monkey bars with Grandma!

      

 

    This was Maejae’s first time going in a tunnel at the park.  She was a little shy at first and wasn’t sure what to think.  But, as you can see, she warmed up quite quickly and started to tease Natalie and play peek-a-boo with Grandma.  Of course, she also ran away from Mommy as I was trying to get her out of the tunnel so we could go on the slides!

 

The first time we went to the park, we stayed on the kiddy slide.  But, Natalie really wanted to try the “big, big, big red slide”!  So, we took her on it the next time we went and she loved it!  Of course, Maejae got jealous, so Grandma helped her climb the slide.

Another first . . . the merry-go-round.  I think we all got pretty dizzy!

Crazy Canucks

Oregon was awesome!  We got to spend some time with my Crazy Canuck relatives.  We never get to see them, because they live in Eastern Canada and . . . well, let’s just say we like to stick to the good ol’ USA.

* Auntie K *

This is my Auntie K, and I love my Auntie K!  We’ve always called her Auntie K, and she’s always been the sweetest Auntie anyone could ask for!  Her name is actually Kathy, and she’s married to a professional comedian.  Therefore, they travel quite a bit (he is currently doing comedy on Princess Cruises).  But, Auntie K was able to make it to Oregon for my brother’s wedding, and spent an entire week playing at Grandma’s house.

Natalie and Maejae LOVED Auntie K so much.  I’m incredibly grateful for her being so willing to help with the girls while I was out doing bridesmaid things with Lisa (my new, fabulous sis-in-law).  They built forts, read books, played crafts, played with toys, got lots of tickles, and even enjoyed being thrown into a pillow on the chair!

  

 

* Uncle Leo and Aunt Kathleen *

    

These two are hilarious!  I truly believe this is where the ol’ saying “crazy canucks” comes from.  For one, Uncle Leo says “eh” about 50 millions times in 1 day!  Yep – that’s right.  He says “eh” so often, that I doubt he even realizes he’s saying it.  For another, these two joke around constantly!  It was so fun to be with them again, and to have my girls play with them.  Aunt Kathleen helped with the girls so much while we were there as well.  She was a busy woman!  But, she never complained, and the girls loved her to pieces.  I think Natalie’s favorite was playing this game because Aunt Kathleen would give her high 5’s when they got a match.  Natalie still talks about this game (Brown Bear, Brown Bear) with her Canadian relatives and her Canadian Grandma!  Crazy Canucks . . .

Then there’s Uncle Leo’s personality.  Natalie usually takes a little time to warm up to people she’s never met, especially after waking up from her nap.  But, somehow, Uncle Leo snuck right in there and became one of Natalie’s favorites.  She woke up from her nap to 2 new strangers in Grandma’s house.  But, she looked at Uncle Leo, he said “hi”, and she reached her arms out to him.  He then cuddled with her until she woke up, and she still stayed with him.  AMAZING!  But, that’s my Uncle Leo!

I’ll always love my Uncle Leo.  When things happened with my brother, he wrote every one of us a letter.  I still have my letter, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have it till the day I die.  He truly cares about our family, and understands what we have gone through, and what we have had to endure.  I just wish we lived closer so I could really spend time with him and his family.  But, again – they live in Eastern Canada.  Darn!

All I can say to sum this up is that I have awesome relatives . . . even if they do say “eh” a lot, and are classified as Crazy Canucks! 

She’s gonna be a Girlie Girl . . .

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Natalie now has her very own Hair Blower, Curling Iron, Mirror, Makeup Kit, etc.

Of course, it is all fake (except the mirror) – but still . . . She is obviously going to be a real Girlie Girl.

Grandma and Mike’s Oregon Garden

Natalie: “I want a garden just like my Grandma’s when I grow up . . .”

        

 

Grandma grows a lot of produce in her Garden (all started from seed packs), including pumpkins, tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, corn, squash, strawberries, rhubarb, herbs, etc.

  

 

 

Every evening, we would go out to Grandma and Mike’s garden to tend to the garden chores.  This included watering with my Uncle Scotty.  Digging new holes with my very own yellow shovel.  Checking for ripe and ready to pick fruits and veggies.

And, learning how to pull my own onions from the Garden!

 

To keep the garden healthy and growing, my Grandma and Mike have their very own Compost Piles!  They don’t throw very much stuff away, or send anything down the garbage disposal.  Instead, they throw everything in the compost pile.  Each evening, Mike turns the compost with a pitch fork to make sure the food is breaking down and decomposing.  When one pile has broken down into nothing but mulch, they use some of it to fertilize the garden.  And, just to add a side-note of Grandma and Mike’s serious compost efforts:

* Every weekend, Grandma and Mike take a trip to the local Starbucks Coffee shop to pick up a few bags of USED Coffee Grounds!  When they get home, they put this in their compost pile to reduce waste from Starbucks, and help their compost efforts.

Now that’s some serious COMPOST commitment!

My favorite part of working in the garden:

Spending time with Grandma and Enjoying all the delicious fresh fruit and veggies!

“Someday I’m gonna grow up tall, tall, tall, like my Grandma – and then I’ll have a Garden too.  Ok, Mommy?”