Cousin Olivia and Emma Jae
Our final days in the States were spent in Colorado with my family. Kevin actually flew out of Wichita the day after Easter, so Emma and I were on our own. From Sharon's, we drove three hours to Lianne's in south Denver. We stayed one night and spent the whole next day with her, running around together. Her kids were in school, but we got to see them for a little bit before and after. I loved my time with my sister, but it wasn't enough. I had dinner plans with some high school friends that evening, so I felt like our time was cut short. We left Denver and drove north to Frederick, where my classmate Sara lives. Another classmate, Craig, who lives in Boulder, met us and we had a few hours together that evening. After warming up to them, Emma played with Sara's two young kids while Craig, Sara, her husband, and I reminisced. I laughed a lot with them and it was a fun evening. It was so good to be with people who were a part of my childhood and adolescence. The older I get, the more I lose touch with that era of my life, but I realize there's a lot of good from those days. It was fun to be reminded.
We stayed at my sister Lori's house in Ft. Collins for the last few nights. Her daughter Olivia is ten months younger than Emma, but the older they get, the less I notice their age difference. The first morning we were there we went to visit a friend of Lori's. He's a professional photographer and he took Emma's 4-year old photos. I was a little apprehensive because Emma's not a big fan of men, strangers, or having her photo taken. Fortunately, Clayton was able to revert to the maturity level of a 4-year old and he and Emma laughed a ton together while he talked about poopy pants. It was a successful morning. My sister Jane came over that evening and we made homemade pizzas together, another fun time with sisters that I like to do more of if I could. The day before we flew out, I had the girls for the morning. We drove fifteen minutes down to Loveland because I wanted to pick up a few clothes for a friend at an outlet store. We ended up going into Barnes N' Noble to play in the children's section. Unknowingly, we arrived just in time for Story Hour. Emma and Olivia sat quietly and listened very carefully to the stories. I loved being able to share that time with them. It's not very often that I get to spend time alone with nieces or nephews. After the stories, we went to the bakery in the back of the store and ordered two giant muffins for the three of us to share. The girls giggled and played and seemed to have such a great time together. We drove back to Ft. Collins and went to the Vitamin Cottage, one of my favorite stores in the world. I bought fresh whipped almond butter, dark chocolate covered almonds, dates rolled in oat flour (great snack for Emma), and some of the best honey I've ever had! After lunch, I left Olivia with her mom for a nap and drove over to Windsor to visit my sister Chris. (Three sisters live within fifteen minutes of each other.) Chris and I were far enough apart in age that we never lived in the same house, but she lived close to home and I used to babysit for her younger kids when I was in high school. From the time I was little, she's called me "Sandi Sue". "Sue" isn't my middle name but it's kind of neat because she's the only one who ever calls me that. We hung out at her house for a few hours and then her two younger boys came home, the ones I used to babysit. One had already graduated high school and the other one was preparing to graduate (and did) in May. Am I really old enough that the kids I used to babysit are now graduating high school?? Wow. Emma and I returned to Lori's house for dinner, just in time to eat Chinese with their family. Dustin had gone to P.F. Chang's for takeout and it tasted awesome! I've never been a huge fan of Chinese food, but the last few times I've had it, I have loved it! The desserts he picked up were ridiculously huge, but we had no problem making some dents! The chocolate cake was incredible. Wish I would have packed some in my suitcase!!
Before I knew it, I was packing my bags for our return trip to Brazil. The time always seems to fly by and it's never enough, but on the flipside, I found myself really longing to return to my home, my Brazil home. Several times during our weeks in the States, Emma asked me when we'd be going home, meaning our house, in little Horizontina, in a foreign (to me) country. She knows Brazil to be home more than the country she was born in. It's understandable, and yet not. She was excited when I told her we'd be leaving the next day to return home. If I'm honest, I was pretty excited, too!
