Bitter but mostly sweet

Yesterday the Jorgensens came to visit us.  Emma was slightly manic waiting for them.  She told Mark that he had to wait in the backyard.  He was holding vigil in the front yard and every time Emma saw him move, she thought it was the Jorgensens arriving. 

I told Emma to calm down.

Much to Emma's relief, they arrived and we were all overjoyed.  It was SO good to see them.  They are our familiars; definitely more family than family friends.  We visited and Braeden and Leif disappeared to go talk about boy things and Emma and Freja disappeared to go talk about girl things and Mark and the little girls hit the backyard.  Soon Emma and Freja were sitting at the piano, singing beautiful harmony and making me happy and sad at the same time.

Because what kind of barbaric parents separate their daughter from Freja?

I only took one picture.  In the evening we drove to the Mt. Timpanogos temple.  Here is a handsome group sitting on a bench:

Braeden, Leif, Mark and Britta

They stayed the night with us and I got up and made a big breakfast before our kids left for school.  Unlike my mother and sisters, that is not typical behavior for me.  We had honored guests though...

Seeing the looks on Braeden and Emma's faces when they hugged everyone good-bye was hard.   It's hard to have sad kids. 

When the Jorgensens left, there were more hugs and tears.  It was hard to say good-bye to them when we left Washington, but this was worse because back then, we knew we'd be seeing them in a few weeks.

I'll say it again, moving is not for sissies.

There's a melancholy pall over our house.  It's nice to have such wonderful friends though.  Even though it makes us sad to be separated, I'm grateful for the Jorgensens.

Also, we're watching Cormac and Azure in a little while and my parents and grandma are coming later today.  We'll rally for those happy events!