Where the Heart Is

I had a hard adjustment coming back from Vegas this time. I had missed Ty terribly and so that part of being home was great...but then I was missing my family like crazy. I was wondering why in the world we'd decided to move to the very northwest corner of the U.S., so many hours from very fun cousins and siblings and grandparents. I was home, but I was homesick for my family. It took me several days and some tears and prayers. I think the prayers totally worked because I have had several things remind me the past few weeks just how much I LOVE where I live. Here are two of the big reasons *I won't blame you a bit if it makes you want to put your house on the market and start looking for homes and a new life on the Kitsap Peninsula...I know of a few homes for sale*:

Blackberries.

They grow wild here. Many people think they are a nuisance. I guess I would too if they were taking over my yard. But they're not so I am free to love, love, love them. There are tons of bushes at the bottom of my street amidst the trees. We have picked a huge bowl full of blackberries three times since we got back. One was the night we returned so that Tyler the Great could make us some dutch oven blackberry cobbler. Oh my. The next was so that we could have some to munch. The kids love them. We give Max a bowl while we're picking, but only about 5 make them in. The rest go straight to the belly. Kelly pops them as fast as she can, no bowl pretense necessary. Not super clean right off the bush like that, but my kids are still alive. Today I picked a bowl full for this purpose:

Blackberry Freezer Jam

So fast and easy. I invited a few friends over to teach them how *they opted for strawberry, so I scored a few jars of that as well* and within about an hour we were all done. Now we get to enjoy the fruits of our labors *pun totally intended* for quite some time. That is, if I can refrain from giving too many away like I did last year, which I probably won't. So we'll enjoy it for a few months. :)

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Water. Beautiful, little bodies of water everywhere. Water and gorgeous trees.

Ty had a surprise for us when we got home from our trip. There, in our family room, was a huge, inflatable kayak! What?! We'd talked about getting a kayak someday. Turns out this sweet lady at work had two kayaks she'd never even opened sitting in her garage and asked Tyler if he wanted them. Umm...yeah! I thought at first that maybe it was kind of cheesy to have inflatable kayaks. But apparantly they are well-known and well-used around these parts. Plus it's pretty awesome for storage in our humble abode. And PERFECT for our little family. We took our trusty kayaks out on their maiden voyage last week for Family Home Evening. Our nearest lake is a 2-minute drive - Island Lake. It was beautiful, peaceful, and a super fun way to hang with my fam! Plus seeing these lakes from the middle instead of the shore is pretty amazing.

Tonight Ty got home from work, we chilled for a bit, had dinner, then packed the kayaks into the car and headed to a different lake - Wildcat Lake. About a 15-minute drive from home. Pure beauty. No pictures of tonight's kayak adventure, but suffice it to say that it was even a little more beautiful than the last. The sun was just setting, the lake was still, the Olympic mountains were towering in the distance. Ahhhh. We have a new love.

These little people love it too. Kelly can't go 5 minutes without serenading me from the back of the boat; I love it. I would periodically ask if she was okay back there and got an "Uh-Huh!" everytime. Not so cute when I write it, but you'd just have to hear the way it sounds in her little voice. Love her. Max really wanted to try kissing between kayaks tonight, but I forgot. I just now remembered. Next time. Both kiddos love to play in the shallow area of the lake at the end of each trip. That's probably their favorite part right now, but they do get a kick out of putting on the life jackets and paddling out.

Here they are hangin' by a tree while Dad straps the kayaks to the roof of the car...both looking and smiling at the same time. It's a miracle!

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I am so happy to be HOME.