Minter Gardens

After leaving Val and Dave's, we headed up to Aldergrove to spend the week with Cathi, Don and the littles - Patience, Jordyn and Nicky. All of the big kids are gone - Nathan is in Virginia at A School for the Coast Guard, Dylan is in Paris, France, with Lucille and her family, and Sean is at the Cadets summer camp on Vancouver island. It was very strange to have ALL of the boys gone!


The girls have grown a lot since we saw them last, and of course, the biggest change was in Nick. He turned 10 months while we were there. They are all adorable, and we really enjoyed our visit with them. It took me about 30 minutes to convince Nick that I was an acceptable adult, but we were great friends after that.



We arrived on Sunday, and Cathi and Don fixed a wonderful bar-b-que dinner in honor of Lee's birthday, along with a super-yummy pumpkin dessert! Lee was in heaven. We ate outside, as Aldergrove was enjoying the same wonderful, warm weather as the Richey's in Everson. And of course, we LOVE that!



On Monday afternoon, Cathi and Don took us to Minter Gardens for Lee's birthday. It was a wonderful garden, and we both felt that it rivaled Buchart Gardens. It was quite hot on Monday, so we all enjoyed the shady spots in the gardens. Patience and Jordyn stayed home with a sitter, but Nick came with us and strolled through the gardens.



Following are some pictures of the gardens, and of course, Nicky!


Here's the entrance to the gardens - all beautiful and blooming!


Here's another picture, and you can see the words Minter Garden spelled out in shrubs.

The hostas were just amazing! Minter Gardens has lots of water features, which really added to the feeling of the gardens.

This was quite amazing, too! It's a peacock, and his tail is spread out down a gentle slope, and is planted with flowers. We loved it!

The rose garden, along with shrub sculptures.

We loved the colors in this garden. It reminded us of the Indian garden in New Zealand, at Hamilton Gardens.

The Canadian maple leaf, in greenery!

Don, Cathi and Nick. They had on lots of sun screen!

A gentle waterfall - very peaceful.

Another water feature, and lots of water lillies.

If you make this picture bigger, you will see the water wall behind the plants. It made a wonderful sound, and created a cool, shady spot.

The water wall from another angle.

A photo opportunity.

A gentle waterfall, framed by hostas.

This pavillion was near the wedding spot. We loved all of the hanging baskets, which were blooming profusely!

Cute little church framed by trees.

Another photo opportunity!

Mother and daughter - I think I'm shrinking! : )

This little cottage is tucked away in the trees. It looked like Hansel and Gretel could have lived there.

Nick started getting fussy, so Don took him over to the lawn to play. When he heard us coming, he hoisted Nick up above the shrubs. Nick is enjoying Daddy's sunglasses!

Nick in his Hawaiian outfit.

Grandma and Nick, who is really interested in walking, and loves it when you hold his hands and walk with him.

Another beautiful picture!

Doesn't this look wonderfully restful? We LOVED our time at Minter Gardens.

Cathi and Don, enjoying a quiet moment.

A little closer up.

Don, Pat and Lee. This little table was in the pavillion with the hanging baskets.

And here's the Canadian flag, in flowers!

We had such a wonderful time at the gardens. We stopped half-way through for a picnic lunch, then continued to stroll around.

http://www.mintergardens.com/ go to their website for more information and many other wonderful pictures. We are both looking forward to visiting the gardens again, next year.

Thank you, Cathi and Don, for such a wonderful experience!