Rachel is home!!! We’ve been anticipating her return for weeks. Our texts have mostly consisted of, “See you soon!” and “Only one more paper/final before you come home!” And a few, “Don’t Panic, the semester is almost over!” Or even, “Yikes, almost a sophomore!!”

We spent most of Friday getting things ready for Rachel’s return – moving David out of Rachel’s room, cleaning out dressers, going through old clothes, taking apart the bunk bed, and cleaning the house. At some point during the day, Tim got a cell phone update on Rachel’s flight, saying the flight wasn’t due until 10 pm. We had expected her at 9 pm, so this was quite a delay. Still, we didn’t think much of it as it seems airlines are free to change itineraries without permission these days. We had a lovely dinner with our nephew Timothy, his wife Sunny, and baby John. Around 8:30 pm I decided to input Rachel’s flight in my phone flight tracker. At that point the info said her flight was coming in 8 minutes early and would be there at 8:37.

WHAT??!! I hurried to check it again, tried to find the notification that said she wasn’t due until 10 pm, and had a moment of panic. Just as we were rushing to grab shoes, say a hasty goodbye to Tim and Sunny, I got a text from Rachel saying she had landed.

UH OH! We’re a good 45 minutes (when there’s NO TRAFFIC) from the airport. Time to hustle!! David and Sarah jumped into the car with me while Tim stayed home to finish putting together the bed we had bought that afternoon to put in Rachel room. Poor Rachel had to wait for us – no glory for the returning college student!

Now, I should say, to our credit Tim managed to secure Rachel a first class seat on her flight from Dallas to Seattle. Hee hee! Surprise!! Yay for frequent flier miles!! So, although she FELT like we had forgotten her, we were just given wrong info. LOL. And, her dad spoiled her with a surprise First Class seat for the long flight home. A warm cloth to wash hands, a lovely meal, ice cream served in a glass bowl, and room to stretch out. Luxuries these days!

Many hugs and kisses and excited greetings!!

Saturday was our first full day together. Rachel’s friend Jenny came over for a visit. Daniel took the girls driving – time for Rachel to start learning how to drive a stick shift.

Love these three!

Daniel takes Rachel off for a drive.

Look closely at that window!

Later that evening the three younger kids went off to the Homeschool dance. Rachel stayed home and worked with Tim. They planted tomato plants and some lettuce for me, and even surprised me with three window boxes full of flowers. They had a lovely time while the rest of us kicked up our heels and did a little swing dancing.

Looking sharp!

Beautiful Sarah!!

Okay, the kids danced, I worked behind the scenes in the kitchen and helped with the cleaning.

David is a good dancer.

By the end of the evening, Daniel was done swing dancing and decided to pull out a board game. Gotta love a resourceful kid who knows how to make the most of a good party.

Teaching Alex how to play DC Comics.

I think they ended up with a full table of people playing DC Comics, including the wonderful caterer, Duncan Cross. None of them seemed to mind that they had to use a phone as a light for the table while the room was dim for the dance crowd.

It was a great party!
So glad to have Rachel home!

Here’s to the beginning of a great summer!
Project 365 – Day 136
Kathy

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