a few of my favorites

The past week was absolutely glorious. I'm not sure how to condense it down into a finish-in-a-sitting post. There were just so many lovely little moments, great lines by the Heasel, sweet "pease & 'kues" from the Sheasel, an anthropologie trip with my sister, golfing with Jerm. And I suppose to anyone outside my family, these moments mean nothing. But to me, to have Jeremy, Shara, the Heasel, & the Sheasel here was euphoric. I could spend a few hours typing everything we did, but honestly, it wasn't really what we did that I loved so much: it was the people I was doing it with.

 (I got quite the collection of family photos, but I'll let Shara share the really good ones. Here's a preview)

Heasel time: He has been talking about this trip to Oregon for months, mostly because the mode of transportation bringing them here was a plane, but I like to think part of it was me. During my stint at that horrible desk job, going to lunch at Shara's & seeing my niece & nephew was what kept me going. In fact, I have a confession: there were times my (unofficial) half hour lunch stretched into two hours. I just couldn't tear myself away from those two cuties! This time, he visited me. For seven blissful days it was normal to have my little nephew run across the breezeway first thing in the morning (that is, if he wasn't at our place sleeping under the coffee table, i.e. his "tent") for some marshmallow cereal or baby bagels.  My supply of sour gummy worms was diminished significantly. Heasel & Sheasel both fell in love with Riley, though She adamantly called him "Ty". They played in the creek together & fought with swords. He discovered the wonder of a slice of marionberry pie. My basket of children's books, (literally the only toys we have in our apartment) were much used--we read "Kermit the Hermit" a half dozen times as a prequel to going crabbing. Heasel learned how to golf, drive a boat, bait & pull a crab trap, eat salmon, & how cold the Pacific is. He told his mom, "You can go home. I'm going to stay here in our new house." He will go home & he will be fine in a day or two. He will still love his mother (as he should, that wonderful women*) & he will probably forget most of his trip to Oregon. But being half-Dotterer, with a fantastic memory, he'll remember parts of it. And he will want to come back, I just know it.

 (look at his feet off the ground, cracks me up)

(Isn't she just the epitome of sweetness? A little sand on her lip, a charming grin, & melt-your-heart eyes)

Sheasel time:
It's only been three months since I've been married, but I was in San Diego six months before that. The Sheasel is only twice that old. I was a little worried she wouldn't remember me. To have my nieces & nephews not know me is by far the hardest thing about moving 2,000 miles from home. But I needn't have worried. From the moment I met them at the zoo, she was the little Sheasel I loved so dearly, if a little more grown up. It was a job to keep track of her! Always on the move, walking around "as if she owned the place," just like her mama did years & years ago. She found my shoes & scarves & draped herself in them. I accepted that my neat arrangement of glass bottles & owls was going to be in disarray for a week. She played in the fountain, ran through the grass barefoot, smelled the flowers, waded in the ocean, chased seagulls, loved on Riley & Buck the Dog, endeared herself to Darwin. I already miss her chirpy, "Hi!", little hipswingin', pigeon-toed walk, her blond bob, little grin, & even her aggressive arm patting when she's tired. Sigh. Come see us again soon, my niecy, before you get too grown up.

feeding Buck the Dog straw--he loved it!

The parents:
And of course it was great to have my sister (& her husband) here: My sisters are the people that get me most. We are four of a kind after all. So for seven days, I pretended it was normal to have them living across the breezeway & we ate nearly every meal together, cooked together, wedged ourselves into one small economy car, talked creative & mundane, shopped, & were sisters again without all those bothersome miles between us.