Early June Oregon Trip

At the beginning of June, we made another trip to Oregon - this time the main objective was to celebrate my grandma's birthday, but as is usual, we crammed a lot more in!

First, we drove a bit farther south than our final destination to meet my nephew Stephen in Corvallis. We got to see his apartment that he's been living in this school year, we did a drive-by of the duplex that he will be moving into for the next school year, and then he gave us a grand tour of his college campus. It was so great getting to see all the places where he has been spending so much of his time. And, wow, the OSU campus is BEAUTIFUL! And this was actually the first time we'd seen Stephen in his regular AFROTC uniform, as the other times we'd seen him only in his dress uniform (for parades and such). We were actually a bit shocked when he opened the door of his apartment in uniform - I'm still getting used to the idea of my nephew being a soldier!

In front of the running track that Stephen often uses for physical training.

 

The picture below shows the veranda where Stephen often has Air Force meetings with his group. Such a beautiful setting!

Below is the McAlexander Fieldhouse on campus where Stephen takes most of his Air Force courses and does his Leadership Laboratory.

We weren't allowed to go into any of the meeting and classrooms (because of potential government information in there!), but Stephen did take us to the back of the building where we could see the AFROTC gym where some of the cadets were training.

The next day we had my Grandma's birthday party. I wanted to make the party special for my grandma, so we invited all the little cousins and their mamas, stepped up the decor this year, and had a lovely spring luncheon in the new pavilion at my grandma's nursing home.

After the kids woke up from naps, we took a little walk around the farm. Uncle Paul had a calf penned up close to the house, so that was a fun treat for the kids to see.

My other aunt (my mom's sister Judi) invited us over to her farm about a half-hour away, so we headed over there for the evening. She was watching my cousin John's boys for the weekend. I hadn't been out there in years, but it's where I spent most of my vacations as a kid so I was especially excited to show my old stomping grounds to my kiddos. :) When we arrived, the boys hadn't done their evening chores at their house yet (just down the road), so we went along with them and I fell in love with John and Kelly's place. It's perfect! A few acres right in the middle of wheat fields, with a creek bordering one side. Kelly has created her own business, selling eggs, goat milk and produce from her large garden. It was so fun to watch her boys show off their place and animals to my kids. They were so sweet and kind to my "citified" children. :)

Afterward, we headed back to Aunt Judi's for a marshmallow roast. It was such a lovely evening and so much fun! Uncle Jim came in from working (farmers work looong hours!) just in time for some visiting before we headed back to Uncle Paul's with three very tired kiddos.

 The following day we headed home after one last quick visit with Grandma. It was definitely one of our best and most memorable trips to Oregon yet! :)