A Bouquet for Mommy

This is the first bouquet of flowers picked for me by sweet Jonah.

Last week, Jonah had been out walking with Nanna, and when they returned Jonah ran to me with this most special gift.  My heart melted.

In our family, the gift of flowers are reserved for "non-occasions."  Meaning, I never expect them on any of the traditional, commercial holidays, but rather, am often surprised by bouquets throughout the year randomly.  I love it and it is one of my favorite ways that Jesse shows appreciation.  I think that all of my most lovely memories are also those which were unanticipated.

I have received a lot of flowers over the years, but this bouquet might be my favorite yet.

So in honor of Mother's Day, I wanted to share a story about our family that I treasure.  

Happy Mother's Day!

xoxo

Secret Trail

The Columbia Gorge is packed full of marvelous places to discover.  A friend recently told me about a Secret Trail that winds up the back side of the Mosier plateaus.  It is truly a gem of a hike during wildflower season.  

I took Jonah and Daisy with me a few weeks ago on a scouting mission.  We found the unmarked trail and immediately were delighted by the colors of balsam root, lupine, and indian paintbrush.  

Jonah's outfit happened to be color coordinated with the scenery.

Being outside is super fun for Jonah.  He gets pretty excited about hikes.  

"Hike, hike, hike" is a daily request.

There were fields of wildflowers in every direction.  And the hum of bees gathering pollen was so loud that I kept pausing to be certain I wasn't leading us right on top of a hive.

  

Jonah walked as far as he wanted, but we ended up turning around before seeing the trail end.

This morning when we got the "hike, hike, hike" request, we decided to try it again with the whole family...and a backpack.

This time the oak trees had leafed out and the lupine was in full glory.

Jesse lead the way (checking the trail for rattlesnakes).  We only saw one snake and it was a Northwestern Garter Snake.

The flowers were ridiculous.

   

And even more ridiculous was that we didn't encounter a single person during our entire hike...on a beautiful, windless day, during the weekend no-less, and over some of the most beautiful terrain I've ever experienced. Awesome!  

Almost there....

The view was just okay [wink, wink].

My two loves.

This was the best family shot....or perhaps the one that made me laugh the most.

After a little water break, we headed back down the hill.

I stopped to photograph a few flowering beauties.

Indian Paintbrush

 Lupine

Chocolate Lily

Balsam Root

Have a great weekend!