Our recent reintroduction to the Pacific Northwest has left us wondering, “What happened to winter?” While our friends back in UT get buried in snow (although this winter has been fairly mild for them as well), Mo and I have enjoyed many a walk on a 50 degree January day this year.

“Love, it snowed last night!” Andy whispered to me this morning before his walk to the bus station.

“That’s nice…” I mumbled, rolling over, hoping Mo (and therefor I) would sleep for another hour or more.

When we finally did get up, there it was! Barely a dusting, but the snow was still there. However little the snow, Vancouver and Portland always respond to it as a near emergency. NPR listed the bus delays and school closures. There were definitely less people at yoga and certainly less kids in child-care.

Outside of the YMCA, Mo let go of my hand and bee-lined it for the grassy area to stomp and dance in the wet white stuff. She tentatively reached out to touch it with a finger, and, realizing it didn’t hurt, then grabbed a handful and stuffed it in her mouth. Thankfully, I was able to convince her not to do the same with the grey snow by the car.

So, here’s March. In like a lion. Well, by Portland standards anyway. We certainly pray she goes out like a lamb, because everything continues to move along with our home purchase! If we stay on track, we’ll be closing the beginning of April. The home inspection today didn’t reveal anything catastrophic. In fact, the inspector congratulated us on such a good find! The blessings just keep coming.

Mo stayed with our good friend Abbie during the inspection. I’m sure our toddler would have been a huge help (read: absolutely no help at all), but we decided she would have more fun at Abbie’s house. She most certainly did! Check out her super cute mani/pedi!

There’s just something about nail polish that makes her look so grown up! She happily pointed it out to the checkers at Costco this evening, and then promptly asked them all for a sticker (emphatic pointing at the top of her hand is her made-up sign for sticker). She doesn’t quite understand that’s a Fred Meyer thing.

Abbie has twin 10 month olds (whom Mo adores) and chickens. At this point, Mo might love the chickens even more than the babies. Abbie let her collect eggs a couple weeks ago, and the chickens quickly became her new obsession. God willing, we’ll have enough room to have some of our own pretty soon!

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind another day or two of snow here in March. Maybe then I won’t feel like we cheated winter. Just as long as it comes soon. April is a completely different story. Moving would be much easier with a lamb than a lion.