Our beautiful daughter just brought to my attention the fact that I haven't posted anything on my blog since we visited Mt. St. Helens.

Yup, she's right.

I could plead exhaustion or overwhelming demands on my time or I could even tell a white lie and say our internet connection was down - but, alas, none of these are true. (Well, the exhaustion is almost true - and the overwhelming demands on my time is almost true too - and actually, our internet connection has been sporadically down over the last few days also - but none of these things have really stopped me from writing.)

The truth of the matter is that I was abducted by aliens and just returned from a very quick trip to the planet Boing-Boing. :O}

We had such a wonderful time at Mt. St. Helens, and getting away for a couple of days was rejuvenating. Since returning, we've been plunged into life as we know it - work, elder care, NCIS binge fests, laundry, etc. Seems like time passes so quickly with everything we do, but when I think of our babies being away, the time just crawls along - and Papa and I keep talking about what we'll do with our babies when they come back. Our little Belle will turn 3 while they're traveling, so we'll never see 2-year-old Belle again - we'll see 3-year-old Belle when she comes back. And Alex lost a front top tooth. We saw a picture of his sweet face with a gap in the front, but we haven't been able to be with him when any of his teeth have fallen out. That's still a hope in the back of our minds.

It's been 3 very long, lonely days since we've had contact with our sweet little cookie crumblers. When I spoke to little Asher, he said, "Mama, PLEASE can you come meet us? We're staying at a motel - and it has a POOL! Oh, please come NOW." I told him that I really, really wanted to be with him, but we had to stay here to take care of Grandma and Grandpa. He said, "Papa could stay with them. PLEASE come, Mama. Oh, Mama, I love you soooooo much."

That sweet little voice. It made me cry because he was pleading with me, and I couldn't say "OK! I'm leaving right now, and I'll see you as soon as I can get there!" I always want to say yes to our babies. The older I get, the more my priorities keep shifting toward our wonderful grandchildren (although they've been about as shifted as they could be toward our grandchildren ever since they were born.)

Being Mama is what I want to be for the rest of my life - and God willing, I want to do it close to our grandchildren. I think being Mama and Papa has been one of the greatest gifts we've ever received. And being separated from our babies is one of the hardest adjustments we've ever had to make. Everything we do or see or experience is filtered through our grandchildren. (Oh, Alex would just love this! And Asher would squeal and jump up and down if he could see this! And Belle would pick up this baby and hug her if she were here. Everything is seen through our Mama and Papa eyes.)

On Sunday, Emily and Elias came to visit. It's the first time I've seen Elias - I've seen pictures, of course, but not the actual E-Man in person. He is so adorable. Completely white hair, big blue eyes, chubby little legs - he reminds me of Alex when he was that age (although Alex had reddish blond hair, his big blue eyes and chubby little legs are the same). Papa and I would take Alex out on the back deck, one of us at one end of the deck, and the other one at the other end - and we'd count, "1 - 2- 3 - GO!!!" and Alex would run from Papa at one end of the deck to Mama at the other end, his chubby little legs just racing along - and his giggle floating through the air while he raced into our arms. It was so much fun!!

And now we await the return of the Super Trio! Alex - Asher - Belle. Superheroes to Papa and Mama. Always and Forever.

Mt. St. Helens

Well, my friends, yesterday was so beautiful at Mt. St. Helens. We went up to Johnston Ridge Observatory, and the mountain performed so beautifully - steam poofing out at various intervals, sun shining, idyllic temperature. Oh, it was a truly brilliant day! Grandchildren would have had a blast.

The one thing that puzzled us was that other than seeing one deer crossing the road in front of us (a very young, handsome deer), 2 ants, a couple of crows and a few swallows, there was no wildlife anywhere (perhaps they went to the Grand Floral Parade in Portland). No chipmunks. No elk. No camels. No hawks. No horses. No snakes (happily). No elephants. Nothing. Where was all the wildlife?

[Papa just interjected that the wildlife we did see were t-o-u-r-i-s-t-s. He's right, of course. We did see a few tourists - one Australian couple in particular. Very friendly wildlife, I must say!]

Actually, I think I know where the chipmunks went; they moved to Battle Ground into our side yard. They're everywhere. They moved in last week. Never saw them before last week, but now they seem to have made themselves at home on our side deck and in the wisteria. I think they like it there. Can't wait to see if grandchildren approve of the new occupants of our wisteria.

[Papa just interjected (again) that there is some debate as to whether they are chipmunks or golden mantled ground squirrels. Regarding this debate, I believe I come down on the side of chipmunks, and so does Uncle Bill; however, Papa is still holding out for golden mantled ground squirrels - and they're not telling, so the debate rages on.] Oh, how I wish Alex, Asher and Isabelle could be here with us. It would be so exciting to search for chipmunks with them. Will mid-July ever come?

Oh, boy, the chipmunk debate has just been settled. It IS a chipmunk, not a ground squirrel. The official title of this little critter is Yellow-Pine Chipmunk. And he's a real cutie! [as long as they don't come inside (Papa just said that).]

Alex - Asher - Isabelle

Three joys of my life.

Has Alex lost his front tooth yet? Is Asher playing super heroes? Is Belle still sleeping with mommy and daddy? Do they think of Papa and Mama and wish we could be together?

These are the questions that rule the morning. In a little while, my Sweetheart Papa and I will leave for a Mt. St. Helens weekend, but throughout all the fun we'll have and the beautiful scenery and new experiences, questions about our three beautiful grandchildren will be winding their way around and through everything we do, the pictures we take, the conversations we have... everything evolves around our loving, intelligent, sensitive Alex; our smart, rough and tumble on the outside, so loving and gentle on the inside, Asher; and our beautiful, brilliant, dramatic Isabelle. Do we ever have an hour go by that they're not part of our conversation? Maybe some day, but not so far.

And so we'll get things ready for our trip, pack our suitcases, change the beds for Uncle Bill, Jake, and Robbyn who are coming to stay with Grandma and Grandpa, get Grandma settled before we leave, gas up the car, and get on the road...and all through every item packed, cleaning the kitchen, remembering the camera - throughout everything, our grandchildren run, laugh, and sing - memories of sweet voices, whispered special secrets, and pictures of their beautiful faces drift in and out and around and through our minds and thoughts.

And so we'll get on the road and much of our conversation will be about Alex's tooth hanging by a thread, Asher racing to hug us when they arrived at our house a week ago and yelling "Let's play Wii Mama!!!!", and Isabelle showing us her pretty hair and saying something that makes our eyes widen and our sense of wonder explode. We never know what Isabelle is going to say, but we always know it's going to be something that amazes us.

And now it's time to be off getting ready for our big adventure to Mt St Helens and surrounding area. Papa has wanted to go to Johnston Ridge for so long, and we just never seemed able to get there, this will be a very special weekend for Papa (and for me because we get to spend the entire weekend together with no responsibilities), and I'm so grateful to Uncle Bill and Robbyn for taking care of Grandma and Grandpa so that we're able to get away.

Now, we're off!