a couple more things

Jessie told me the other day about telling Janey she should go put on her new pants.  They are khaki green cargo capris.  Janey told her she couldn't wear them until gramma got there because they were just like gramma's beach pants and she wanted to match when we went to the beach.  Cannot believe I didn't get a shot of us together in our matching beach pants.

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All three girls sleep in the same room now so they can use Breanne's old room as a toy room.  Breanne always lets me sleep in her bed when I visit.  This time, they all thought it was a good idea for me to sleep in Breanne's bed in their room so we could have a sleepover.  They pulled out their princess couches and we all shared the room.

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I woke up at 5:45 a.m. yesterday morning--Utah time--and knew it was too early to get up to start the drive home so I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.  That doesn't usually work for me, so after tossing about for half an hour, I got up and thought I quietly dressed.  I picked up my bag and my purse and carefully stepped over Breanne sleeping on the floor next to her bed.

And then I saw Cailin's eyes slowly open and look right at me.  I paused, hoping she would snuggle herself into her blanket and drift back to sleep.  Her eyes closed, I sighed and continued out of their room and down the stairs.  See, I had this idea that if I hug and kiss them and tell them goodnight at night, I won't have to say goodbye in the morning when I leave and they'll wake up happy and ready for a new day, even if gramma has gone home.  It probably usually goes like that.

I'd still like to hang on to that no-goodbyes dream of mine.  But as I got to the bottom of the stairs yesterday morning, I heard a sweet little voice, calling out, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommmmy?  It's time for Gwamma to go home.  Mommy--"

My heart broke and my tears began.  I was just that close to getting out with no tears on my face.  Or at least not very many because we'll be back together, camping in 20 days.  But I had to go back up, gather her in my arms, hold her close, and quietly weep as we headed downstairs.

We sat together on the couch while Jr and Joe collected their things.  I did the dishes from the yummy meal Jessie and Cory cooked the night before.  Jr set up Cailin with a game of Angry Birds on an iPad.  She was calm and happy to have screen time with no sisters there to 'help' her, so I kissed the top of her head goodbye and she smiled, even while playing the game, and we left.

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I'd like to write that she played for over an hour, letting her family get much-needed rest, but I think she had everybody awake in the house about ten minutes after we left.  Sorry for the early start guys.  Probably should have gotten up the first time I woke up--might have been easier on everybody. 

And then twelve hours later, we were home.