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My mother, father, brother and I (shown with my grandson, Isaiah) were all born in Canada. Mom comes from a family of 9 kids and she has a twin brother named Leo. Dad comes from a family of 8. We have a family site on Myfamily.com under the name of Saumure (my mother's side of the family).
When I came to the U.S. in 1968, I spoke very little English, as I was raised primarily in a French speaking household. I picked it up very quickly. My brother who was only four at the time was teased about his French, so he stopped speaking it. Our family enjoyed living an outdoor lifestyle. Much of my youth was spent camping and riding motorcycles. I was a girl scout, and my Mom was a volunteer with my group. Eddie was busy riding motorcycles whenever possible. Mom worked during the day and Dad worked at night.
On September 17th, 1981, shortly after the birth of my son Jason, I received a phone call from my brother's school telling me that Eddie had been in a bad accident. He was hit by a car while on his motorcycle. He was in very bad shape and had not been wearing a helmet. He was in a coma for 9 weeks and was hospitalized for many months. His injury was a severe contusion of the brain and brain stem damage (motor functions). The doctors gave him a poor prognosis. He lived despite the doctor's negative projection. He is not a vegetable as they said he would be. He does not walk or talk, and needs to be tended to as a child, but you can see he is aware. It has been 23 years since his accident and he is mostly confined to bed as the years have taken their toll on his muscles and bones. But he is still as aware as ever. My son who was 2 months old at the time, was raised in nursing homes in the early years as Eddie was in convalescent centers until May 1987 when we brought him home.
Mom worked in electronics and Dad worked as an aircraft instrument technician. Dad retired after 33 years with Sperry/Honeywell. Mom stopped working to be full time custodian of Eddie when we brought him home in 87. I worked at as a bus driver at age 18, then had Jason. When I returned to work, I worked as a shuttle driver for LAX airport. Then in Nov of 1985, I got a job making microfiche, a microfilm type product for a service bureau. I stayed with that job until our whole family moved to Bend in September 1992. In 2002, we moved to our current location which you can see on our Ranch page, and we are still settling in.
I took on the position of groundskeeper for Eddie's property and aid to my parents in my brother's upkeep from 1992 on. I have held a few short term positions, but I am now full time at home.
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Jason and Gina were legally married on March 31, 2003, but
the official wedding took place June 21 on the ranch and was our first big event on the farm. Jason moved his family to Scottsdale Arizona so that he could attend school. In October of 2004, Gina and Isaiah moved back to Bend. I now care for my grandson, Isaiah, much of the time - which is a delight! Jason has decided to remain in Arizona to finish his schooling. He eventually would like to open his own custom chopper bike shop.
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Jason recently came home for the 2004 Christmas holidays and spent time with his son Isaiah, who got to experience his first time playing in snow. He also shared the experience of his first cognitive Christmas as well. They had tons of fun riding in sleds and making snowballs, and just being father and son. At 2 years old, he was able to enjoy this winter playing in the snow.
Isaiah loves the llamas and goats. He is still wary of their size and insists on being held while in their pen, but he loves talking to the critters through the fence. He is learning all their names and calls to them daily. He also plays with my 10 year old Aussie/Chow dog, BearBear. I acquired an electric golf maintenance vehicle recently, and we ride around the compound all the time. Sometimes we see deer and rabbits on our rides. We've even seen a coyote cross our pasture during the afternoon.
I am a beginning spinner and I crochet. I currently have 3 wardrobe boxes stuffed with both processed and unprocessed fiber. I have some kiviut (musk ox) and silk too, but I want to get much better at spinning before I tackle those fibers. I am also an avid crafter. I do needlepoint (when my arthritis allows) and I like to do woodwork. I make routered name signs. I also like to paint birdhouses and ceramics. I usually give them out as gifts.
This site is primarily to show our family the ranch and its construction, and the animals. The surviving relatives of my parents (who will never make it down here) will finally be able to see what we are talking about when we say we are "working the ranch".
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