West Coast Part 2

CALIFORNIA; Part 2 of Our Adventure

TUESDAY

"Open up your Golden Gate, California, Here I Come!" is a line in one of my favorite childhood songs  because my Grandpa Beeson used to sing it to us whenever we would come to visit...well, that's exactly how I felt driving to Cali on Tuesday--it was a little like going home.  Cam and I rented a car (and we got a sweet ride--brand new Ford Escape with leather seats!) and drove from Williams, Oregon to Windsor, California.  The trip took us about 6-6 1/2 hours and to be honest we didn't count the exact minutes.  We had a very good and uneventful drive except for the last 30 miles or so when we drove through windy hairpin turns that we both were feeling a little quesy after. But, we pressed on and made it to Windsor at 3:17 pm their local time and the only reason I know 3:17 is because of the GPS :) We had a great night just hanging out with my family....

I am not going to go day by day for the Cali trip because it was a big blur to be honest and instead I am going to highlight some of the events...

1.  We brought the stinking wind with us to Cali--the first few days it was cool and windy.  Not cool. No pun intended...

2. My family arrived a little at a time so it was always an adventure because new people showed up daily.

3.  Cam got his very first pedicure in Cali--he was a good sport about it and only did it because we needed someone to fill an appointment slot...I will for the record say though that my cousin Jr. also did it so Cam wasn't the only boy...neither got polish. 

4. I got to visit the Urgent Care while we were there because I had some serious pain in my left arm and after conferring with my Auntie Sue we decided to check it out.  It was nothing serious thank goodness and the doctor said it was like tennis elbow where my ulnar nerve was pissed off and it made my hand tingle...

5. Sarah and Chris's Vow renewal happened on Saturday...pictures to follow.

6.  They have a heated pool that Cam spent some serious time in...he played 3 Flys Up-Palmer Style.  Pictures Below :)

7. Cam had "In and Out" Burger for the first time--he wasn't super impressed but ate it twice anyway!

8. We got to go to my Grandma and Grandpa Beeson's grave, which was really important for me because that was the first time I got to go back since their funerals.

9. We played some Ladder Golf the last day (Cam had built the set when we first got there). 

10. My cousin Sarah's daughter Caitlin had us laughing almost the entire time we were there...the things she says are a hoot!  Here's an example...Cam has a birthmark on his side that is red and he has always had it--to be honest I forget about it unless I think about it...so Cam and Caitlin were going to go swimming and Cam pulls his shirt off...Caitlin sees his birthmark and says "OH MY GOSH--WHAT IS THAT?!"  I explain that it is his birthmark and it doesn't hurt...she replies back "That must be a difficult challenge to live with"....what 7 year old says stuff like that!?  HAHAHAHA--I'm sitting here laughing as I type this just remembering all the stuff she said! 

Well that sums up our trip in a very small nut shell but I do have some pictures to add that will help explain some of the points :)

                          This is at the vineyard/Winery where the vow renewal was...sooo pretty!

                                                                  My Daddy and I....

                                                 Cam and I with our favorite Susie Auntie

                                                       Second Prettiest Cousin and I...

                                            Cam and I with my Auntie Sue and Uncle Frank :)

                                           One of the funniest pictures from the vow renewal!

                                                   3 Flys Up--Palmer Style Action Shot
I have so many more pictures from the vow renewal, but I don't want to make you guys read and look all afternoon so I will let it be with what I have posted...if I need another laundry break I might make another post with just pictures...we will see!  Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip--we had a blast!

J

West Coast Part 1

OREGON; Part 1 of Our Adventure.

We began our journey last week to the West Coast and our first stop was Williams, Oregon.  In order to get there we flew from Wichita to Denver, Denver to Portland, and then Portland to Medford.  Once we arrived in Medford, Cam's Grandma Sondra and her husband Mike picked us up at the airport.  When we were driving back to their house we stopped in a town called Jacksonville and ate some lunch and looked around.  From there we drove to their house in Williams.  The first night we took a tour of their place (which was beautiful--I didn't realize how many moutains there were out there) and talked :).

FRIDAY
The Waterfall Adventure...we drove up North a little ways and checked out some cool waterfalls...in order to see the waterfalls we hiked on several different trails.

                                 Here is one of the waterfalls we found--Cam took this picture :)

           Here is an awesome picture of Cam and his Grandma Sondra on one of the trails we hiked...

Checking out another spot along the trail...

We spent the majority of that afternoon checking out waterfalls and then headed back home. We spent that evening at home just hanging out eating dinner and catching up on stories :)  If I remember right, this is also the first night we started watching the hummingbird wars.  It was something we did everyday; in the late afternoon we would all go out back and sit together while watching the hummingbirds.  I can't speak for Cam but I know it was one of my favorite memories from the trip because we all sat together and watched and sometimes we talked, but we were just enjoying each other's company.  I found a quote during the trip that stuck with me and it fits perfectly in this situation...

"Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration.  The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation."

  I was able to use my "creeper" lens as my family calls it (because it zooms a long way and I can creep :) and get some pretty awesome pictures of the hummingbirds.  This is one of my favorite pictures....

SATURDAY

We woke up on Saturday morning and went to the Farmers Market in Grants Pass.  It was sooooo neat!  I had never been to a Farmers Market before and the one that they have in Grants Pass was awesome because it had a food section and then an arts and craft section.  We ended up getting lots of organic home grown local food like spinach, lettuce, strawberries, and even some local beer.  The arts and craft section had so many different vendors that all had something different to look at!  We spent a few hours at the market then checked out Grants Pass.  We went to an art gallery and a glass blowing shop--so cool!  I wish I could learn how to do that--the worker there did give us a quick tour so we saw how to make a small piece! 

That afternoon we went and ate lunch on the river at a little shop/restaurant.  We tried to look for osprey because Grandma Sondra told us that it was a spectacular sight if we could watch one--but they were shy and I think we saw one bird the entire time we ate lunch.   After that we headed back home to watch our hummingbird wars :) 

SUNDAY/MONDAY 

I decided to combine both of these days together in one because it was easier for me to type it up...these last two days we hung out around the house and got to play a little outside.  Grandma Sondra and Mike have a creek on their property and we went and played in it a little--everyone crossed through it (but I did not--didn't have the right shoes--go figure :) all three of them said it was freezing--brrrrr!  So I did feel the water with my hands though--they were right!  Cam, Grandma Sondra, Mike, and two of their puppers explored for a while :) We also got to play in the dirt a little bit and we helped Grandma Sondra plant some tomato plants by the side of their house.  We also got to help fill a sink hole that Mike had found in one of their pastures.  That was too much fun because we used the truck to load up rocks and sand and their puppers wanted to be right in the middle of it all so we spent most of the time laughing while we filled it :) Cam also made sure he made his Grandma Sondra some tomato plants because she has a fabulous garden that she tends to every year and the weather was finally starting to warm up enough she could start to work in it.  In between all the fun and playing we also took time out for food, and puppy snuggles, and even more catching up on stories and showing Grandma Sondra pictures on Facebook--she got to see some of Cam's off roading pictures!  It doesn't sound like two days worth but the time went sooooo fast!   

 I feel like I'm leaving half of our trip out because I condensed it all into a few paragraphs, but we truly had a fantastic time and plan on going out again--hopefully for longer next time!  We just want to thank Grandma Sondra and Mike again for having us out there and for all the adventures and laughter...

J and C      

  

TUESDAY

Travel Day--This is going to be my transition spot and I will finish up on California; Part 2

Passport Please...

Holy Moly!  It is almost June already and I feel like time is just FLYING by!  I hope this post finds everyone doing well and enjoying life!  Cam and I got back from our Oregon/ Cali adventure late last night, but as promised I wanted to share our exciting news....I will make another post  for our trip in just a few minutes!  :)

Drum roll please!  .....We are going to go to FRANCE FOR THREE MONTHS! We are so excited about this amazing opportunity!  Cam was selected at work to go and support the A-380 program over there!  He will be able to get some hands on experience and be the go between person when problems arise.  And I get to tag along and take Europe by storm! We were so excited to tell our families and they were just as excited for us--we need a travel calendar because we will be having lots of visitors (can't wait!) We are all so proud of Cam even though he is a little modest :) He won't brag about it himself so I will--he is pretty awesome and his co-workers and supervisors agree by picking him for this opportunity!

Well I could write about everything I want to see and do and experience but my laundry from our last trip is calling my name so I am going to go take care of some stuff then blog about our latest trip! Hope you all have a great day! 

J

Fishing Adventure

So I know I just posted a few minutes ago, but while I was going through the pictures I uploaded I found some of when Cam and I went fishing with his parents a few weeks ago and wanted to share some of those too!  Cam caught the biggest fish that day!  It was a boss! 

                                                                It was a little over 6 lbs!

                                                                 Cam and his Daddy

                                              Cam learning a thing or two from the pros....

We were able to fish out on some property that belongs to some family friends of his parents and it was beautiful out there--

I wanted leave you with one more picture...

Hope you have a great rest of the week! 

J

Another Week, Another Adventure!

Dear Grandma,
            GUESS WHAT? I just finished up my spring semester and ended up with a solid 4.0 GPA!  And the best part is that I got a 100% on my Physics 2 Final!  It is definitely hanging on my fridge right now! This past week has included some of my favorite things; good grades, time with family (more on that in a minute--BABY SHOWER!), and new shoes (for the trip--new shoes help keep the airplane in the air--fact. :) )  We also traded in my car for the exact same thing I had but this one has all wheel drive, leather seats, a moonroof, and BUTT WARMERS!!! :) I can't tell you how happy my bum was to hear that news! :)
               The last week and a half has been hectic (but GREAT!) and studying for finals basically took up the last fews days and before that we had a baby shower for Baby Momma and Tom!  I am currently uploading pictures as I type this so as soon as I can I will load a few! 
               The baby shower was this past Saturday, which was the 5th of May.  We had it at our church in Fellowship Hall and were able to decorate it with a spring/bird theme with lots of pink and glitter-Tom's favorite!  We were so so so excited with how the shower turned out.  The shower was also the grand reveal of Baby Girl's name which I will introduce with pictures as I made name banners for both her first and middle names!  Tom and Shayna are loved by many as evidenced by the amount of goodies they got-- Shayna literally opened presents for over an hour!  We are all so thankful though that people were so generous and giving.  Some of my personal favorites were the carseat they got along with the jogging stroller that the carseat fits into!  I was able to try out the carseat and stroller last night when I was over at their house--Baby Momma and I put the stroller together ourselves and it is preetttttyyyy nice!  I kept laughing though cause I love carseats for some reason (maybe because I think of them as an accesory?)  so I kept playing with it and practicing carrying around baby girl--Shayna probably thought I had lost it!  Oh well--I will be all ready for when she comes--experience carrying the car seat and all!  The pictures are still loading so I am going to move on, but will come back and add pictures in a little bit!
 Here they are!...
                                                          First things first--her name!.......

Her name is going to be EMMALYN BRINLEY....

Me and my Momma

                                                                   My bro bro and I

And one more!

   Baby Momma cutting into the cake--it was so cute!  It said "The newest chick hatching soon: Emmalyn"



In other adventure news--we leave a week from today to go on our West Coast excursion!  I am getting so excited!  I even considered starting to pack and then realized having two suitcases (one for me one for Cam) would probably take up the whole extra room we have which is where Cam gets ready in the morning so I figured it might be better to wait a few more days--so maybe by Monday I will be packed! :) I am also trying to start making some lists of what all we need to bring like clothes, shoes, real clothes besides sweatpants, charging cords for all our electronics, etc.  There are also a few more things we probably need to get so I am making a list for that stuff too!  Lists everywhere!  Anyways, we can't wait to see everyone and have lots of fun!  Love you guys!

I also promised in my last post that I would be making a big announcement about another adventure we are going on, but it will have to wait another week or so because we decided we wanted to tell our family on the West Coast in person to see their faces so as soon as our families all know I will post it here!  It's worth the wait I promise!

Generally I don't enjoy writing, but on this blog I feel like I could go on forever,which lucky for you guys-- I won't.  But I will finish it up for today because the laundry is calling my name and I am hoping to get a run in!  Check back in the next week or so because I will try to post some pics from our trip as I take them and make the big announcement!

Love you Grandma,

Jenny Marie