In January I got the bug to go visit "my girls". But I had surgery scheduled to remove my gallbladder on Feb 20, and had to wait until after that to plan. The surgery went great, my recovery has been amazing, and so I booked tickets, and here I am, heading home after five delightful and very busy days. A note: the upgraded wifi that is now available on flights, at least American, is wonderful. For the first time ever, I pulled out my laptop and I'm getting all sorts of work done on the flight. I even received a phone call! (The caller had an iPhone; I doubt I would have received a call from an android, but I can't keep up with technology. Maybe it would go through on wifi).
The weather in Spokane was much cooler than Tucson (which has been experiencing temps in the 90's and even some 100+ days - we have been able to swim in our pool). I took my silk long underwear, and was glad I did. Pretty cool overnight. Some days were beautiful, but Tuesday it rained all day. You'll see pictures of the spring flowers below.
Highlights of the visit:
When I first arrived, the girls wanted to read. So of course I found all the Bible books we like. Rinleigh's favorite is The Beginner's Gospel Story Bible. Elodie loves to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". I've added a couple different links of a very cute video, but I'm not sure if they'll work.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1B5VBj3K6p/
file:///C:/Users/jakim/Downloads/Mimi%20reading%20to%20girls%20while%20Elodie%20sings.mp4
I got to read to the girls a lot in the few days I was there. In addition to reading the various Bible books, I had brought a "read-aloud" with me, "The Adventures of a South Pole Pig". I found it on a reading list and checked it out of the library. Rinleigh is used to listening to long stories on her Yoto, but this is the first read-aloud she had experienced. I mostly read it when we were in the car, and she really enjoyed it. Even Elodie liked it - a couple times she picked up the book, brought it to me and said, "read".
On that note, Elodie has blossomed as a talker since I saw her in December. She loves to say, "Tank you, Mimi" (which sounds like "ginko" to me - it took me a while to catch on). And she's completely potty-trained. Very impressive.
The girls said Rinleigh had played with an Etch a Sketch and loved it, so I got her one as a present. This is her first naptime creation.
I went on several walks while I was here. Rebekah and I walked almost every day with the kids, and then I did a couple on my own with Beau, the dog. I love the hills in their neighborhood, something I don't have in my own neighborhood. Here are my flower pictures:
On Sunday, Rebekah took pictures of me with the girls. I love having those pictures so I can update the ones on my wall. Of course, the girls were being silly, which is normal...
The most "exciting" thing that happened was Tuesday, when we came home from a busy morning. I looked in the bathroom and it took a minute to process what had happened. I finally figured out that the shelf with all their hanging clothes had broken, and everything was on the floor.
The picture below is less than 24 hours later. Thanks to a local friend, Jonathan, who came and put the shelf and hanger back up. I found out Rebekah had hung it herself four years ago. I was impressed that she had done that and it lasted four years. Jonathan is a handyman so he made sure it’s in the studs. He said he even did a pull-up on it. It should stay for a while.
And that was my trip. We loaded the kids, picked up Rinleigh from school, and took me to the airport. It was a quick trip, but a joy to see the girls.