Isn't she cute? She looks like her brother Aidan. This is Lilliana, my sister Marion's baby girl. She has 3 kids all together.


I got this cute pic as an email, and than got a lovely letter from my bro (he nevers writes) and so yesterday was a "homesick" day. It hasn't passed yet. God, I miss my family and miss Oregon. I miss them so much that certain songs, certain weather temps, certain smells carried across the wind, even certain foods make me want to cry. Pathetic perhaps, but gosh! They're all like my best, best friends; my cheerleaders; my mentors; my team mates; and my loving critics. Not going to Oregon this next summer is going to be tough, very tough. My desire to be there is not just for me, but for my kids too. I grew up surrounded by family and I want my kids to be surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles too. There just always seemed to be someone to play with. My brother Jon talks about taking Noah rock climbing at Smith, and I want to cry. God! Noah would love it! Liorah likes to take them kayaking, and they LOVE that! In the summer there are so many lakes and rivers to swim in, plus if you're numb to freezing water-the ocean is great for wave jumping. So many trails to hike that even I who have lived there all my functional life have not hiked them all. (Course mom had to take 6-7 kids everywhere, would you go hiking every weekend?) The seasons on the coast are great, especially when mom and dad rent a cabin for the weekend. Most of the times though we just went for the entire day, everyone but mom falling asleep on the drive back home; exhausted from running in the sand, looking for creatures in the tide pools, trying to catch crab off the dock, or darting in between the big rocks on the jetty. Numerous camping possibilities in the summer, so many places to go that you do not have to be around people if you do not want to be. Visiting Seattle and going to the Edmonds Beach when the tide is out and looking for unusual creatures under rocks; visiting downtown and seeing all its neat places (like Pike Market, the Science Center, the music Museum, and THE Folk Festival!); sitting around talking to cousins and Aunts. Oh, of course, riding the ferry!

I am tearful now, because I miss it all.
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PS
Okay, okay. I know that there is nothing so special about Oregon that North Dakota can not offer the same. I know that this is where the other side of kids' family lives and that they are just as important and special too. I KNOW this. I know this.

I am not saying that my family is a priority over any one else's, I am just saying that I miss them immensely, and those in OR (mine family and not my family) they miss the kids too.