Spring Has Sprung

 

Spring is here in Eagle Point and I am so excited about it.  I am still getting used to the fact that it still isn't freezing cold with snow on the ground.  That has been the best thing about moving away from Wyoming...is leaving the wind and snow behind.

 

Danni loves to be outside.  I hate that we don't have a nice yard anymore for her to explore so our front walkway will have to do.  There is this bush that has all these white flowers and Danni thinks they are great to munch on.  I have to keep on eye on her or she will bend down and bite off a flower like she is doing in the picture.  It is pretty funny....I just hope they are not poisonous. 

 

On our way home from Grandma's funeral Hailey got a bad stomach bug that had the worst puke and diarrhea.  Little Danni got it next and it was not fun at all.  Poor girl would puke all night and then we would have as my mom calls it "Code Liquid Brown" multiple times a day. 

 

She looks like some wild child in this picture.

 When I first walked by her I thought how did she manage to pee on her back...I soon discovered it wasn't pee.

 

We have spring break this week and a friend from church asked if I wanted to go up north to do some hiking and see some waterfalls.  The kids were excited.  So we packed a lunch and took off.  It was beautiful with temperatures in the 70's.  Oregon does have some beautiful things to see here.

 The boulders were huge.

 This was the only place they were allowed to wade in.  The other parts had too much rapids going on.

 Gabe on the edge...I was nervous the whole time.  He just told me to relax.  yeah right.

 

 Found this on my camera...Gabber selfie.

 

They have this huge rock that has been worn down that the kids could slide down.  They did that for a long time.  

 Gabe sliding on his feet down.

 Gabe in the woods. 

 Kids hiding behind the trees.

 Lexie on the rock slide. 

 Here comes Logan.

 These two added sand to every thing they consumed. 

 On top of the rock slide.

 Cool waterfall....it was too high up for my liking.

Where are the guard rails people?  I was a nervous wreck.

 

On the way home we stopped at this little ice cream shop in Shady Cove that was super cheap and you got a ton of ice cream.  After a hot day hiking this was the best ending.

 

 

 

 

 

Esquibels and Southwicks.

 

Soccer season is gearing up again.  Lexie has been waiting all winter for it to start again.  The girls loves soccer.  The league here is really nice and they are very professional.  I am excited for her to learn some great things this year.

 

 

 

This past week the kids had mustache day at school and Hailey wanted one also.  She wore that thing for 2 days and didn't want to wash it off.  She could pull off that mustache really well though.

 



Picture Catch Up

 

Boy has it been awhile.  I commend all those in the blogging world who stay with this day after day for so long.  I was doing a fabulous job and then the move happened.  This move has been a hard one for me.  I hate the place we are living in mainly because it is tiny and run down.  It smells and we haven't sold our house yet.  We have until August and then I worry if we haven't sold we will have to stay here even longer.  So I keep trying to pull myself out of my personal depression only to keep getting knocked back down.  I am determined to stay upright this time.  If anything maybe the blogging will be therapeutic for me.  We left our house with a partially finished basement and for 6 months no offers.  So Corey and I must invest our savings into finishing the basement in hopes we can get it back at closing.  Enough about my housing woes...one to the picture spew.  I wish I could say I had more pictures from 6 months since my last post but I don't.  I was so bummed to even pick up my camera.  So here is what was on my camera since we moved.  Hopefully it will get better.  And as a side note Hailey had her party at a pizza place and the pictures are on Corey's phone.  So I will have to post those later.

 

The saving grace for me here is the weather.  It is so nice and green.  Spring has arrived early with the trees in pink and white and it is truly beautiful.  I go on a walk everyday and just soak in that sun with no wind to fight against.  So this means lots of park days since there is one just 4 doors down from us.  Danni loves the park but I can only handle so long with her.  She wants to climb on everything and it wears me out chasing after her.

 

 She loves the swing...good thing Lexie pushes her.

 Nothing like a kick in the face when trying to snap the perfect picture.

 Lexie is such a great sister.  She always will watch her and play with her.

 Whiplash anyone?

 

This week has been spirit week here in Eagle Point and the kids always want to participate which is great.  Usually I am the mom who doesn't care that much and in the end is left totally up to them.  Well I was feeling a good mom moment yesterday and since today was crazy hair day I let both kids pick out some washout color for their hair.  Gabe has been begging me to dye his hair a color for about a year now and that will not happen on a permanent basis.  So lucky me they have these non permanent options to go to.

 

This was as crazy as Lexie wanted to go...I think she just looks cute.

Went for the red...I was almost positive he would have gone green or blue.

 I love this picture because I didn't tell them I was going to just keep clicking away.  I got some great shots doing this.  Now I know why some photographers just keep snapping.  Lexie's smile is perfect and then Gabe is all duh...

 

On February 6th my little chubber turned one.  I can't believe it has already been a year since her birth.  She is just so stinking cute and I think for good reason.  This girl has some serious attitude and she works it on everyone.  She is walking all over causing mayhem in her wake.

 Look of anticipation for that chocolate cupcake coming her way.

  Look of disappointment when she didn't like it that much.

 Presents are always nice.  She finally figured that out.

 We got her a bunch of board books.  She loves books.

 

I realized that Hailey will be going into Kindergarten next year and I have not really been over anything.  I don't want her going in being behind so I bucked up and we do "learning" everyday.  She loves it and won't let me forget it.  She learns with videos and songs and also the paper crafts and practicing writing her letters.  I think she will be a smarty pants but we shall see.  She is also my lefty.  She is the only one who got that from her Grandpa Esquibel.

Yesterday was hat day at school and Lexie told me she wanted to be in charge of her own hair.  I keep wanting control of doing it but I realize she is almost 9 and wants to do things by herself.  She did a pretty banged up job if I don't mind saying so.

 Hailey felt left out for all the school pictures so she asked what about me.  How could I resist such a cute little face.

 

I thought I would end with a picture of Danni walking.  Walking toward the future and a brighter hope in things to come.

Grandma Rollins

On March 12th my dear grandma Rollins passed away.  She was such a kind person and she welcomed everyone into her home with such love.  Corey was a great husband and drove with me and the kids 12 hours to Green River to the funeral.  I was so glad I went to say goodbye to my Grandma.  I am not a fan of funerals...I have such a hard time with them.  The times I have been I am haunted by them for months afterwards.  Even with the knowledge of the Gospel I sometimes have trouble with the unknown.  I had a great time seeing cousins I haven't seen in years.  And I had a memorable run with my brother Thor up horseshoe canyon that was horrible.  Thanks for the hard workout that relieved some stress.

I learned a little something about myself during the funeral.  As we were all sitting there, basically filling up the chapel because there are so many of us.  Grandma had 46 grandchildren and 130 great grandchildren with more to come.  All of these bodies were there because of the love and commitment of two people.  Those two being my Grandpa and Grandma Rollins.  It was overwhelming to think about.  And during the whole funeral and afterwards all I could think about was the memories I had of Grandma.  Of her coming to visit me growing up in NC.  How she would cook these great meals for us.  I remember going every Sunday to her house in Green River and playing with cousins.  I remember her white Christmas tree in the foyer.  We lived in their basement for a couple of months till we moved and I remember the whole layout and the fact my sister and I slept on a hide-a-bed.  I remember how she would whistle when she would work.  And man could my grandma whistle.  She loved music.  Not one memory was of how she looked or if she was thin or fat.  So that got me thinking as to why I have such a hard time worrying about how I look.  To whom does it matter?  Not to the people who love me.  My husband loves me no matter what.  My kids love me and the memories they have of me will be like my Grandma.  No judgement, just tender moments that will be with them forever.

I think we get so caught up with being perfect in everyone else eyes we forget about being just important to those who matter most.  I came across an old friend who I knew years ago who got into weights and body competitions.  She lost a ton of weight and put on muscle.  Nothing wrong with that in itself.  But then I noticed in pictures her clothing getting more and more revealing until she was basically wearing the tiniest bikini you could think of in front of tons of people getting her body judged.  And I almost felt sad for her that she chose to spend all her precious time on getting her outside perfect and forgetting about how much more important her inside was.  I wasn't judging, it just made me sad because I have been there.  I wanted to be that perfect 10 in front of everyone else.  But I realize that something like that won't matter when I am gray and wrinkled with tons of grandchildren surrounding me.  They won't remember or think about what I looked like in a swimsuit.  And at my funeral I want to be remembered for the food I cooked, the love I gave and the example I set for my posterity.  That is what this life is all about after all.