And The Beat Goes On

We tried to put as much as we could into our quick trip out West.  The area is so beautiful...the air so clean and fresh.  The trees have this cool mossy covering on all the limbs. The smell of cedar was always in the air.  We visited a park not too far from the kid's home that had a fun playground for the Grandkids and also rose gardens that were just beginning to come into bloom.  The view was great of downtown Portland.

We had Amy's sister and her kids. The cousins had a ton of fun all weekend!

Here's just a small sampling! We met up with Amy's parents and her brother and his family on Friday at the beach. (Canon beach I believe)..I was very excited to see the ocean again. The wind was chilling but that didn't stop us from playing in the sand and surf!

This is Haystack Rock. A beautiful rock formation that really defines this beach area.

The kiddos gathered shells.

Played in the water and nearly froze!

Let the sand get in their toes!

Posed for YaYa when asked! It was just a great time to hear the surf and the seagulls and even with the cool wind and damp, it was still warmer than home! Saturday was the real reason for this trip. Taylor got Baptized on Saturday afternoon. He was really excited.  We baptize when the children turn 8. Because we baptize by immersion, I had a towel made for Taylor with his baptismal date on it. He loved it! Here are the pics of that day.

The family gathered together.

I thought Taylor looked adorable in his sweater vest...he had matching socks..too cute. Only don't tell him I said he was "cute"....He's too old for cute!

Congrats Taylor! We so glad we could be there for your birthday and baptism and to see your new home and where you live now.  We sure miss you guys and hopefully we'll get back soon. There's still so much to see and enjoy! Thanks for all the fun and all the "blog moments"....and especially for the wonderful memories.

What I Did On My Easter Vacation

We boarded our plane on Wednesday and bid farewell to Cleveland....

And Chicago..

Took a flying leap over the mountains! Whenever I've flown over the plains and mountains and find myself on the other end of our beautiful country, I always think of the pioneers who took months to make this trip. They put up with cold, heat , starvation and all kinds of trials. We just had to put up with the security lines and squished seating to get across the terrain in 4hrs! A miracle. We should be so grateful to live in our day.

We visited many beautiful spots in Portland, Oregon..or as my 4yr old Granddaughter says: "I live in Oregon, Portland". This is Multinomah Falls.  So amazing!

It was a beautiful day to hike up to that bridge!

And the view from up there was very cool too!

But this is the reason for our visit...My son Craig, his wife Amy and my Grandkiddos: Sophie (on Amy's lap), Taylor, and Katie. We had alot of fun and I have so many pics to share. I will have to do a few posts to get some more in. For now, I'm happy to be home, but we miss you guys!

Jack, Craig, and Taylor.

My handsome hubby and me!

Hello Deer

Some visitors showed up this afternoon...They were very interested in my raspberry stalks...I was very interested in seeing them leave! (I took these shots from my livingroom window, hence the grainy screen!) One other thing that has left is yesterday's snow!  The other thing leaving is Jack and I! For a few days anyway....We're heading out to see our Son and his family in Oregon. So I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and I'll be back next week with some pics...Of course I will take pics, are you kidding? I'm a proud YaYa and there are 3 wonderful Grandkiddos just waiting to be hugged! I'll just "leave" it at that!

UNCLE!!

Hello from Whispering Pines....Today's message is: I GIVE UP MOTHER NATURE! YOU WIN! If you remember the post from Saturday with sunny skies, warmer temps, and no white stuff, I was a smiley YaYa. Sometime, very early this morning, the snow came down...very fast. About an inch an hour.  We woke up to this winter wonderland.  I wouldn't care, if it WAS winter!  But the whole country and some of my friends across the Pond are also experiencing weird, bad, cold, windy, rainy, stormy, no power, strangle holds from Mother Nature...so who am I to complain? I had today off  so about 8am I trudged all over and took, what I sure hope, are the last snow pics for this time of year.  Considering last year at this time it was in the 80's, I'm guessing we earned this one!

Hanging branch with very wet snow over the power lines...well, that scared me just a little!

Public bath is closed for the day.

This little guy was so hoping for a quick dip!

Backyard.

 Side yard with creek.

Next door neighbor's kiddo treehouse.

Another treehouse!

The fish windchime...

He looks stunned!

The Creepy Woods have never looked so lovely. It was very quiet except for a woodpecker making himself known.

Nothing like a shot of color in this white landscape.

If you want to sit for a bit, this chair is all soft and comfy!

Or if you need to head home, just follow the tracks to the exit between the pines...I was so hoping the snow would take the hint, but I just looked out the window and it's snowing again...sigh....

Another Word For Sunshine

The sun did shine today!  The temps were in the mid 40's and I might be so bold to say it was maybe 50de.!  It was super nice. Even the crocus decided to open.  I have to enjoy them quickly..snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and next week....but I'm going to focus on the crocus for now!

So what's another word for sunshine? Well, it has to be these two little monkeys who came and stayed the afternoon with us.

We ate a quick lunch and then hiked up to the Creepy Woods.

Addy found her stick and her hiking groove.

Lexi took the high road!

We came back and played around in the yard...well, we actually cleaned up the doggy doo-doo but I made it a game by seeing who could find the most....Hey, they liked it...and the yard is all tidy now! Then Addy put on  her thinking cap and we decided chalk drawing was a good idea.

Her sister got up close and personal with her drawings! Good job Lexi Loo!

Bubble blowing is always a favorite too. After spending as much time as we could in the sun we headed indoors to make some Easter egg cookies.

Lexi got the hang of the cake decorator to add more frosting yumminess.

They took these to their other Grandmother's house.  Gina was keeping them overnight since my Son and his wife were at a wedding out of town.  It was a fun afternoon.

Eddy was exhausted!

Me? I just loved the sun on my face and the real sunshine of two sweet Grandkiddos for the day!

Spring Has Not Sprung

Today is the first day of Spring! Alleluia!  However, someone forgot to give Mother Nature the memo. Coming home from work this was the temp outside my car:

Looking out the front door, this was my scenery:

It was snowing fast and furious and the cold air was blowing fiercely! Even with that evidence that Winter weather was going to hang on for a bit, the signs of Spring are still around the Pines. Signs like these:

Crocus that come up even through snow.

Daffodils that are just ready to burst.

Lilac bushes with tiny buds.

Sedum that is fresh and green.

Azaleas showing off some color before blooming.

Beautiful, sweet, yummy strawberries picked fresh today....NOT! They're from Florida and my coworker Shay had bought them from another coworker's kiddo who was selling them as a fund raiser. I didn't know about it, or I would have bought some too! So pretty and they do look like Spring to me!

Even with all the signs pointing to a seasonal change, these dead leaves hang on until new ones can replace them.  The wind is blowing and the snow is falling but I do know that Winter has played out for a bit.