goodbye, family....hello, december!

Liza and Buddy were on the road by 8:30 yesterday morning and made it home safely.  Liza never leaves anything behind.  My organization skills come as a result of me losing my head if it were not attached.  She remembers everything and loses nothing.  However, they left Rapunzel's little Barbie shoes (which we all thought were in Aylabelle's purse, but apparently, she'd removed them and left them in the living room) and as I looked for them, I saw the booster seat and tray at the other end of the dining table.  Oops.  So, I'll be making a little trip to the post office today.

Here's two last pix of our visit...

This was just before we said our good-byes.  I kind of love this little girl.

This was Doug's goodbye pic.  He said goodnight and goodbye together on Monday night. I think he kind of loves her too.  Actually, I don't think I've ever seen him so fascinated by any other human being.

The house seemed so quiet after they left.  We get so comfortable together, so quickly.  I just can't believe how much it hurts after they leave. I always imagined being nearby grandparents because my own grandparents were never near, but I don't imagine that will ever happen with Liza or Dale.  Maybe the babes will stick closer to home... but that's a little further down the road.  That was also something that hit me yesterday morning.  Grace will be 17 in a few weeks.  I was only sixteen when I met Doug.  CRAZY! Time's moving much too quickly!

Carol called around 9 to ask what time they were leaving and once she heard that they had already left, she suggested a morning Sonic Run.  HAPPINESS!  I said yes, yes, yes!  It was good to get out and get busy doing something.  So, we did our errands, picked up a few things at the grocery store and gabbed until lunch time.  She had lunch plans with her kids, so I came home and got busy wrapping the packages that were waiting on my doorstep.  I LOVE AMAZON!

When the kids came in from school, everyone was going in different directions.  Grace didn't even come home.  She had Bella rehearsals until 7.  The girls had YW activities.  Quayd had YM.  Doug had church meetings.  We have so many leftovers that Doug asked me to not cook dinner.  I was happy to oblige!  And no sooner than he said that, Denise texted and asked me to go to dinner since I was going to be alone anyway.   Dinner was a perfect way to keep my brain busy and off the fact that Liza is now six hours away again.  I missed her already, even though we texted throughout the day!

This schedule!  It's crazy how involved everyone is.  I was thinking about our Christmas tradition of the Circle of Light.  Last year, we only ate dinner at home three times during the 12 days of Christmas because we were only all home three times.  So, this year, I'm retiring that tradition from 12 days to just Christmas Eve.  It's always been my favorite tradition, but we need to be home to do it!  Life is so different this second time around raising children... much busier world this generation than it was last time around.

This year, after ten years of Christmas/holiday blogging, I'm late getting started.  I will begin doing some Christmas blogging, but this year, I'm obviously not beginning on the first.  I'm only going to do twelve days of Christmas and they will be random throughout the month. I've shared everything tradition and holiday thought over the years, and everyone can look on Pinterest on their own, so I'll post some holiday posts, and keep up with my own personal journaling, as well.

Life is good... crazy, busy and very very good!