Hello Dear Ones,
Here I am - blinking again - and another 4 months have passed!
The Lassiter 5 are wrapping up summer # 2 in the Pacific Northwest. I live for summers here. They’re unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The (sometimes too warm for my liking) summer days are sandwiched between cool mornings and evenings. The air is still. The sun is hot. Green is everywhere you look. The rain has disappeared for a solid 4 months and the never ending blooms bring fragrant aromas that require slow, deep inhales.
You might remember that upon arrival last summer, I found myself a new hobby: 20-something variations of flowers later, I had my own little garden by way of deck-rail planters. This summer, we are without those same deck-rails, but nonetheless, I do still have the planters. Once again, as if I knew what I was doing, 30-something variations of flowers later, our little garden containers are complete. It’s my happy place. The challenge of keeping everything alive, tending to them daily, excitedly finding new buds, protecting them from intruders, and pausing to take in all of the bright, beautiful colors - it makes me happy! One day my ‘pot garden’ will have a permanent home. But for now, they’re happy. We’re happy.
Just before school let out for summer, we bought a trailer! Yep. You read that right. I continue to be living “things I said I would never do” & so far, it’s working out well for us! We moved here in part to adventure, to explore all that the PNW had to offer. And it turns out, you can’t do that easily with a family of 5, a pet who thinks she’s human, and two adults unwilling to sleep on the hard ground. With no clue as to what we were getting ourselves into, we took a leap. It has been so fun! Well, okay, maybe not the long car rides with 3 growing girls getting on each other’s nerves (in turn, getting on our nerves!) and a dog crammed into the back of an F-150. But - we’re doing precisely what we moved here to do - we are adventuring! We are taking in this beautiful part of the country and creating memories we hope will live in our hearts forever. Some of my favorite moments this year include watching all of the girls run around someone else’s farm completely carefree. We’ve stayed at a goat farm, a berry farm just outside of Mt. Hood, out on the stunning Oregon coast, in a restaurant parking lot just outside of Mt. Rainier National Park and only a few times have we actually hooked up to water or electricity. I know, we’re going wild out here!
Over the summer, Isla got to spend 3 weeks in Oklahoma & loved every moment. She bounced around from family to friends and back to more family. I was afraid she wouldn’t want to come home to Portland. My prayer was asking the Lord to bless her time in Oklahoma and also make coming home easy for her. A few weeks in, it was clear the Lord was answering both of those prayers. Isla was having a wonderful time AND she was missing us. SHEW. You have no idea the relief I felt! I know the transition to Portland has been the hardest on her. We were so blessed to be able to send her off for the summer. But she missed us & was looking forward to coming home! I got to travel with Isla taking her to Oklahoma (her first flight!) & got to go pick her up. Both trips were far too short. I didn’t make all of the ‘rounds’ I had hoped, but I did get some pretty incredible quality time with family. I’m holding those moments close for another year until our tanks get filled again.
By mid-summer, Bryan, Harlo, & I had graduated from Parent Child Interactive Therapy (PCIT) - the therapy sessions to help Harlo and us pull out of the difficult season she had been experiencing since winter. I still can’t talk about how hard this season was without tearing up. But I am so incredibly grateful. The Lord did such a beautiful work healing Harlo in a way that most of you won’t ever fully understand, but I will forever do my best to share. In addition, He provided incredible insurance by way of my employer so that we could afford to get the tangible support we knew we needed. We met virtually with a therapist weekly, practiced our special time daily, and as the days went on from March to May…the life in our baby girl's eyes returned. Her spirit renewed. Her joy was radiant. Her rages had disappeared. And our parenting improved by leaps and bounds (well, so we hope!). If you’re navigating a challenging season with your baby or even if you find yourself wanting support for parenting your littles, I encourage you to look into PCIT. I wish we had this training when Isla was young. It was so helpful to our family. And most importantly: Pray. Pray for your babies. Prayer is powerful and prayer changes things.
Summer has now fully wrapped and all three girls are back in school. Harlo is in Kindergarten, Maven in First Grade, & Isla in Seventh Grade. We’re ready for the rhythm that back-to-school brings our family. I have found myself missing the rain…a friend recently told me that’s a sign that I am now a true Oregonian. I’ll take it. All 8 months of it - bring on the rain! Bryan & I are about to celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary in a few weeks - nearly impossible when you’re just 29 ;) We love our church and the community we’re growing into and with. We are both loving what we get to do for work. We’re still adjusting to settling into someplace completely new, but we wouldn’t change it for the world.
I keep telling you, but Oregon is lovely - you must come visit. We now have a space we can host you - if you’re up for a little dry camping! Thanks for following along on our adventures and this ordinary life we now live in Portland. It still doesn’t seem ordinary for us, I’m not sure it ever will.
Thank you Lord for your goodness over us!
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