The Beinlichs' 2002 Holiday Letter

Page 3

In the midst of house negotiations and waiting for closing, we managed to take a couple of trips to visit family and friends.  In May, we went to Phoenix to visit friends, and then to Utah to help Sharon’s grandparents organize a garage sale and prepare for their upcoming move.  They moved to Spokane in November.

In June, we traveled to Florida for Brian’s niece Kristen’s wedding.  We had a great time seeing Brian’s mother, brother, and his family, and meeting our new in-laws.  Mason was the hit of the party, dancing with all of the bridesmaids!

Sharon has continued her participation in the Master Gardener program by serving as the volunteer coordinator for the Hillsboro Saturday Market, and providing telephone consultation to local gardeners.  Despite moving in relatively late in the growing season, we did manage to plant a small garden (after pulling waist-high weeds!) with tomatoes, peppers, basil, parsley, and a few other things.  Sharon has also spent a lot of time preserving the bounty from our new farm—quite a switch from our old house, where we really couldn’t grow any food at all.  All in all, we’ve preserved blueberries, cherries, huckleberries, plums, apples, pears, grapes, pumpkin, basil, and peppers.  Yum!

And of course we can’t forget about Mason!  He turned 3 in February, and his development continues to fascinate and amaze us.  In addition to doing everything we do, he spent the early part of the year in Gymboree activity and music classes, and the fall in swim and gymnastics classes.  He continues to have regular sessions with his playgroup friends Turner and Abby (and her baby sister Lindsey), including a summer trip to the beach, outings to the local fire station, the pumpkin patch, and much more.  He also spends time with his cousin Sean and his cousins Kaitlin and Christopher.  Of course, Mason loves the new farm, too.  There is much more room for him to run around and explore here, and he’s really had a blast.  Of course, he likes having his own room, too!

In addition to learning to drive the tractor, Brian continues to stay busy with volunteer activities.  He’s still OCVA’s treasurer and webmaster, and is also treasurer of Alternatives to Growth Oregon (AGO) now.  The Friends of North Plains continue to participate in the North Plains land-use process.  He and James prepared several long documents and testified at state land-use hearings in April and June.  He’s still doing sound for Fez Fatale, who is currently working on another CD.  In July, he began doing computer consulting for a nearby nursery, New Leaf Greenhouse, and will shortly be starting projects with two new clients.  He enjoys keeping his hands in the technical arena, and it sure helps the finances!

 1   2   3   4 

Last updated: 12/20/2002.

Home     Guest Book      Contact Us