And the Seasons, They Go 'Round and 'Round

 "We're captive on a carousel of time" - Joni Mitchell

That was for you Aunt Marti. Everytime I think of / hear that song I think of you. It becomes so much clearer the older I get. We seem to go 'round and 'round in the Circle Game a little faster each year. 

Four years ago. Adam and I on top of Yosemite Falls. Not a care in the world. 

Two years ago. Caring way too much. 

Real life - right now. 

 

My how times have changed and keep changing.... 

Getting Closer...

One of the main reasons we went to Bend last friday was to check up on our HOUSE! It's getting closer and closer which is really exciting. We get weekly updates from our builder with pictures, but it is just not the same and seeing for ourselves. Plus, we needed to see it to make some decisions (like paint colors, etc...). 

In one of the bedrooms. 

Looking into the kitchen. The particle board on the sawhorses is supposed to represent the island. 

Looking from the kitchen into the living area. I LOVE this part about our house - the openness between the two and the huge windows looking onto the pine trees. 

From the living/dining area looking towards the kitchen/nook and the doorway to the hall that goes to two of the bedrooms. 

Our HUGE garage! Adam will be finishing off an office in the back there sometime this..... fall?!?

Our humble abode. 

Easter with Emma

Easter with Emma (or "Imma", as we should say) was so nice. She's such a delightful guest, and it's always nice to have family around on the holidays, since it's such a rarity these days.

We'll start things off at the beginning: Easter morning.

Wow, we're looking more alike these days.  Bed heads and all...

Assessing the loot. 

Didn't waste any time trying on Mimi's ballet dress that she sent.

 

The Easter Bunny also brought "purple" (or just blistex)

"this is boring" -Zeb

Scones, fruit, mimosas and coffee

Noella had a chocolate carrot for breakfast.

Bam! I found one!

Aligning the pink and purple colors together, where they belong.

Even Billy Idol goes on Easter egg hunts.

Walking off some of the sugar post brunch and egg hunt #1

Egg Hunt Round #2! Liam's house.

Emma's happy, Noella is all business emptying that Easter egg.

Noella and one of her best buds, Davina.

This is what the Dad's do while the hunt goes on....

A niece and her aunt.

A family half way put together. 

Smith Rock

Emma, the eldest cousin on my side - my first niece, is visiting us over Easter break. We couldn't be happier. Noella and Zeb are going to go through withdrawal when she leaves.

We needed to view our home in Bend, and originally she was going to tour Central Oregon Community College (COCC) - so a trip to Smith Rock was a must. We were so stoked about it, we even decided to ditch the college tour and push back our home walk-through appointment.

"I'm a mountain climber, mom" - Noella. 

That was Noella's chant the entire hike up and over Misery Ridge Trail. It's slightly ironic because, while she did climb up quite a bit of the steep hill, she was mostly on my back. As I was sweating and panting, pausing to take in the valley floor view, Noella would exclaim "I did it Mom!". No, Noella, I did it - thank you very much. We tricked Emma into doing this hike on Friday. I guess I should say "I". I tricked all of them. It started out as "let's just walk around a little bit", to "want to get a good view from the top?", to "well, we're already up here, let's just finish the trail". Now, I should also say that I had a humongous monkey on my back almost the entire time, so I did it to myself as well.

But, who are we kidding? I don't think we regretted it too much. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Future Pacific Northwester -Perhaps?

Noella stops for no one. 

"I'm climbin' that mountain, mom"

People would stop and make charming comments, like "someone's got a free ride". No, man, someone is paying for this for SURE!

Valley view

At the top!

Monkey Face Rock

It snowed later in the afternoon in Bend. Crazy weather! It was a fun trip. More pics and posts to come!