It's ten months later. Much later than I intended. So much has happened. Here's a brief timeline.
May: In high gear for Caitlyn and Chris's June 28th wedding. Finding respite care for my mother-in-law, Martha Park, while we are in Las Vegas June 9-12 for George's graduation from Weapons School (Erin's husband). Planning on things for one of our first initial Dennis & Maxine Park Family Reunion, the two of us, our five children and sweethearts and our 9 grandchildren.
June: Respite Care at the Royal Columbian, Martha stays for a week, gets sick there. The day we go to bring her home, she's too sick to come home and we have her transported to the hospital. She has pneumonia and urinary track infection and stays in the hospital for 6 days. She is too weak to come home. We make arrangements for an assisted living place called Richland Gardens.
For the wedding, we decide to get new living room carpet and to replace the torn vinyl in the kitchen. BAD IDEA, but lovely results. We make arrangements to do this while we are in Las Vegas, with Kellen's help. The wedding is lovely. It is a lovely affair, we love Chris's family, everyone helps and friends came and did so much for me. They absolutely saved my life, at least what was left of my sanity. I will be forever grateful for their assistance, their love and friendship. Chris and Caitlyn are married in a Civil Ceremony in the decorated Cultural Hall of our Church building at 4 in the afternoon. We have a light dinner for the wedding guests, who were just close family and some extended family, followed by the reception at 7 pm. The wedding was on a Tuesday, so Wednesday and Thursday, all of us hang out, jump in the big Bouncing house thing we rented for the grandkids in the back yard, play games, play in the water (I think) and then go to Portland for the Ira & Nina Brown Family Reunion in Portland.
July: 1st through 4th - The Brown Family Reunion. On Saturday we all had arranged to go to John Incredible Pizza. It was perfect for the estimated 65 of us. Great for the great-children, grandchildren, and the rest of us. It was a wonderful time to be there and see everyone.
4th: The Park clan headed home for one more day together, except for Steve and his family, they headed back home. We had a 2nd birthday party for Haydn, saw the Fireworks and came home exhausted, but happy. The following day, our family left and we were alone, Dennis, Kellen and I. But not for long, Dennis and I headed to Utah at the end of the week to bring the wedding presents to Caitlyn and Chris. Stayed for a few days in a hotel for our own little vacation and headed back home.
August: Kellen is engaged to Angle Sloan. We are thrilled and now we eagerly plan another wedding in November. Dennis's only uncle on his father's side passes away and at the last minute, decide we need to go and grieve with our Park family side.
September: Dennis surprises me with an early anniversary present. We spend 10 days in the land of my father, NE Minnesota on Ojibwa land. We spend the first night in Hayward, Wisconsin, the birthplace of my grandmother and some of her family at the Lac Courte Oreilles casino. My grandmother's grandfather was a chief there, as was his father and his father before him. We visit grave sites of ancestors, talk with most gifted Indian genealogist there is, view some of her records of my ancestors and we are overwhelmed with reverence at having walked where they walked. I get a chance to rice on Nett Lake. My attempts are pitiful, but it is the experience I'm after, not the money a good rice crop can bring in. Dennis gets to fish on Lake Superior out of Duluth with my brothers and Dad. We love it! I spend a week in Portland for my Mother's birthday and help with the moving. My mother, my sister Amy and family (Shane, Phoebe and Morgan - 2 dogs) and Jeanine are moving into a larger home. Mom's health not good as her kidneys are failing, Phoebe's CF is having a bigger impact on quality of life and it just makes sense to bear these burdens together.
October: working on Kellen and Angel's wedding. Love their colors - light mocha, chocolate brown, and red. They have decided to be married in Portland, Oregon temple on November 22, 2011 or 11/22/11! Their reception to be on December 17th at the Country Gentlemen in their banquet hall. My father, Ira Brown, decides to accept our invitation to join us for the winter, as he wasn't able to get utilities into the little place he is building.
November: we've got housing arranged in Portland (renting a house in Tualatin) and Dennis arranges for the girls (Erin, Lauren and Caitlyn) to fly up for the wedding. Steve and Bekki stay with us at the home which is a vacation rental. Wedding is sweet and wonderful. Angel's father died when she was 18 and it was just her Mom (Meg) and her brother there. It was good to have the family there. We had a Wedding Luncheon at the Oswego Grill and Shauna made a gorgeous and delicious cake.
This is no longer brief. I'll catch up some more a little later. I'll add some pictures too! I got to cover the best of the highlights so far. Did I mention that I still feel like a nutcase after last year's events? Well, I do and it was a grand adventure, a roller coaster ride with thrills and spills, but that's the way it is around here. Nothing is ordinary!
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