Joy: A feeling of great pleasure and happiness

Last weekend, my dad and baby sister flew up from San Diego. Maeci is twelve years younger than me, and lives one thousand two hundred and forty-eight miles away, but oh. my. goodness. how I love her! She is considerate, kind, humble, patient, positive, tender, brilliant, beautiful, hilarious, and so much fun to be with. She fills me in on all the important things- like snap-chat, and that facebook is no longer cool, and that it's embarrassing to have a crush on someone who is younger than you. She kept saying, "I can't believe you actually live in the forest."

My dad was meant to be a grandpa. London followed him around all weekend, knowing that he would give her whatever she asked for if she said "Um, Popi?" in just the right tone of voice. 

At London's soccer game.

At Thomasson Farm's Pumpkin Patch.

We drove to Enumclaw, which is this tiny town thirty minutes from me, with the most picturesque farms and quaint, colonial-style homes. Each home sits on acres and acres of rolling green hills, all against the backdrop of an evergreen forest. There, at Thomasson Farm, we picked pumpkins, jumped in a pit of corn kernels, and the girls enjoyed a petting zoo.

"We're going on a walk, we're going on a walk..."

I miss my family. It's harder than I thought it would be to be more than just a car-ride from their open doors. And so they fly to see me---okay, it's mostly just to see London and Elle--- every few weeks. And I get to show them my forest, and they play with my red-headed angels, and, in turn, they leave me utterly full of joy.  

Stay this little.

The picture we used for her invitation!

Elle is currently following London around my house, an apple slice in one hand, a puppy in the other, and saying in the cheeriest voice you've ever heard, "HI! HI! HI!" -----She has now dropped the puppy and replaced it with a kitty, and is bouncing up and down, hugging the kitty with all her baby-strength, and laughing. And this is my one-year-old baby.

My dad and baby sister, Maeci, and Kyle's mom all came for Elle's first birthday. It was an ice cream social, and I loved the way it turned out!

Setting up...

The finished product.

Ice cream play-dough. It was a hit!

I love my sweet, affectionate, absolutely bubbly, baby girl. Kyle made this video for me for her birthday, and I cried/laughed my way through it! This is who she is, and I just watch in wonder.

Because Nana is so special...

For an entire hour after we dropped my mom off at the airport, London sobbed, "But I really, really, really miss Nana! And I really want her to come back now! I am so upset!" And all my reassurings that we would see her again at Christmastime did nothing to console that three-year-old broken heart.

My mother turned the big 50 last weekend, and spent her birthday here! It was her first time visiting us since we moved in February and her first trip ever to Seattle. 

Before my mother flew in, I was an absolute stress-case. I re-dusted and re-polished every surface of my house, fluffed all the towels, and organized my spices. Even as a grown up, I crave the approval of the woman I aspire to be. 

My mom's flight got in just after London's bedtime. I was going to leave her at home with Kyle and Elle, but London told me she could stay up late and drive to the airport with me. She said, "I want to come wis you because Nana is so special." She tried her very hardest, but as we pulled off the Sea-Tac exit, Taylor Swift songs from the back seat became the light snore of sweet London.

The whole drive home, my mom and I kept saying, "I can't believe you/I are/am actually here! It feels like a dream!" 

The next morning, we walked the reserve along Lake Wilderness, mostly because it's my favorite thing about living here.

We drove to Downtown Seattle on Saturday to show her the Seattle Center, which includes the Space Needle, Science Center, and the International Fountain.

And London had her first soccer game!

She watched London tap and leap at dance class, and we celebrated her birthday at the Black Diamond Bakery and the Nutty Squirrel Gelato. 

Of course the activities were fun, but what I loved the very most was my mom in my kitchen. She has this grace about her, while she is cooking, that is seriously fascinating. Maybe in twenty years or so, I'll figure out how she does it!

And then there was London, who wanted to be in my mom's arms for the entire weekend. I laughed as they spent hours pretending that London's stuffed animals were talking to one another... "This is Marie, and she is my Dad! And my name is Pickles. Pickles is my first name, and Pongo is my last name!" She even insisted on cuddling in Nana's twin bed to fall asleep at night. London loves her Nana. But I think I love her even more.

"Wilson!"

I like Canada. Canada is like that neighbor on Home Improvement, Wilson, who everyone knows is really nice, but we have absolutely zero information about. Kyle, me, and the girls drove to Canada last weekend to visit Taryn and her beau, OJ. He lives in a fancy downtown apartment in Vancouver, and was kind enough to welcome all of us into his home.

Our first planned activity was a botanical garden on the campus of the University of Vancouver. Taryn and I were giddy as we arrived, certain we would spend our afternoon "oooh-ing" and "oh my gosh-ing" at a plethora of blooming flowers. We even payed extra for a canopy walk--- an aerial view to satisfy two girls who grew up in a floral shop!

Much to our amusement, the botanical garden was actually a forest of trees, and the canopy walk, a suspended tree house. The ropes holding the narrow canopy walkway were so unsteady that we could barely stand on them. Our bodies were whipped from side to side, and we flailed like rag dolls, dizzy from motion sickness, and hysterically laughing. Thirty minutes later, the canopy walk finally ended on solid ground. Not a flower in sight. Oh Groupon... a 5 star review? At least Taryn was there to see the humor in an impossible situation and find absolute enjoyment with me!

We walked the trendy streets, dined in the posh eateries, and shopped the farmer's  market on the water. Our final afternoon was spent at the beach, which is lined with rows and rows of perfectly placed---- logs??? London played in the sand while Elle ate it, and the grown-ups basked in the final rays of a northern summer.

 It was wonderful.

Three.

For two short hours, on one short day, 364 days in the making, I get to shower my sweet London with a birthday party. There is something really special about birthdays, in my opinion. It's a day set apart from all the rest, where as a mother, I can reflect on that blessed little girl God gave to me. This year, she was very clear: she wanted a fairy birthday.

We chose a clearing in a patch of trees by the lake, and set up tiny tables and chairs for her fairy friends to sit in.

I made each little boy and girl a head wreath made from wildflowers, and ordered fairy wings in all the colors of her party.

I cut stencils of tiny butterflies, filled them inside clear balloons, and tied the ends with pink tulle.

The tables were decorated with blush pink roses and wildflowers, and tiny pink crystals. London and her friends dined on pink mother-goose popcorn, ants on a log, fruit wands, sparkling strawberry-lemon punch, pixie stix, and funfetti fairy cupcakes.

London opened her presents, and the kids pranced around in the trees blowing bubble guns.

Sometimes, me and Kyle each pick one of her cheeks and we kiss it a thousand times, and London laughs and laughs. Once she settles down, she'll say, "Guys, thank you for my kisses!" When she does something naughty, London sends herself to time out, and returns after settling down, crying, "I'm sorry for not making good choices, Mom. I always want you." [ALWAYS is her way of saying "really" or "a whole lot"... I always love you, I'm always hungry, I always want to cuddle with you, etc.] She is thoughtful, graceful, particular, friendly, and jovial. She has a stutter that comes and goes every couple of weeks. London woke up the other morning and announced she "probably wanted spinach and broccoli for breakfast". I am in constant wonder of her growing mind and her desire to understand the world. I am in love with her tender spirit and her goodness. My baby girl is a 3-year-old.