What We've Been Up To...

Good bye Dad

Home sweet sandy home...

One big giant sandbox!

but you gotta run to stay warm!

Or snuggle close, that works too!

Well, all kinds of happenin's around these parts. A couple of weeks ago the boys and I headed home to the coast for a visit. The trip had two main objectives, other than the obvious of visiting my Mom and Grandparents, taxes and laying my father to rest. All objectives were accomplished, yay! My Grandparents, mother, two sisters, Isaac, Eli and I all walked out to the river bank and sent my Dad on his way to the ocean, and said the goodbyes he wouldn't allow us to say before he died. It was one of those rare days where the weather was nicer in town, at the beach, and it rained and hailed on us, which was fitting since I don't think I've been to a funeral that wasn't rained on. I was glad we were all able to be there, together, missing only my aunts to round out the family of women who have all been so hurt by him, yet still loved him to the end. Dad had that effect.
While at the coast, it was great to see Mom and Girma and Girpa, and my sisters. Eli rolled over for the first real time at Girma's! We squeezed in a quick trip to the beach, but since it was Eli's first and he's pretty small for understanding that you take the Oregon coast any way you can get it, we decided to spare him the freezing winds after about ten minutes. Its always so nice to be home, and I cherish these times more and more as slowly my family tears up roots and leaves the small town where I grew up.
Me and the boys had a day and a half at home before hitting the road again for a visit to Trav's hometown. Again it was nice to visit family, and let everyone meet and cuddle Eli. It was just for a weekend though, which always feels like such a quick, rushed trip.
At home, I've been as busy as always with diaper orders and getting my tiny Etsy.com shop up and running. Of course, Isaac and Eli are keeping me busier than anything else, mostly because they are so much fun its hard to tear myself away! :)
We found our travel trailer, so we've got most of the things we need now for outfitting our "skoolie" and so now we've got to start designing the blueprints, so to speak. The yard is looking pretty full with the flatbed trailer, the travel trailer, the school bus, and Trav's coworker's truck that's been parked in our yard for years. But, he sold that truck, so down one! Hee hee.
Well, anyhow, sorry to bore with the long rambling post. Good night all!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

Well, It Didn't Last...

Winter came to visit for a couple of days, then left again, then came back for a teaser a couple of nights ago. Now its just rainy and balmy. Yuck. And speaking of yuck, once again we've been invaded by illness, Isaac has had a fever the past few days, which is another way of saying that Isaac has been extremely clingy the past few days. Add to that, my baby swing broke, so Elias only sleeps I'm "wearing" him in the carrier or sleeping next to him in bed, and my own struggles with a cold, it has been an incredibly trying and exhausting few days. Oh ya, and Travis has been gone most of the time too. He's been skiing, sweat-lodging, and helping our friends paint the interior of their house. So, I have not gotten much done, I'm truly amazed at the extent of filth you learn to live with under these circumstances as it piles up in my house. Top all of that off with this crazy customer I just can't make happy with diapers (why doesn't she just buy from someone else?) and I'm wondering how much longer I have before the white van with padded walls shows up for me. I'm actually looking forward to the scattering of my Dad's ashes this weekend as a vacation (Thanks, Dad) rather than dreading it as a difficult, sad time. At least I get to see family, have some brain-rest while aunts entertain the monkeys, and sleep to the sound of the ocean! Speaking of sleep, if I can shut out the sound of poor stuffed-up Isaac's snoring, that's what I'm going to do now too!