One of the hardest things about moving away from Walla Walla was leaving our friends. I have never in my life lived in one spot as long as I did in Walla Walla. It's where I graduated, met Jared, got married, had a baby, made a home. We left already looking forward to going back to visit. And we will. But it won't be what we imagined.
One of the families we grew close to during our time in Walla Walla was the St. Clairs. While we had known them for quite a while, we didn't begin getting to know each other until our little girls were on the way. For some reason we had always travelled in parallel groups rather than in the same. Ryann and Kayla brought us together and bind us still. Jared and I are still able to see a bit of Ryann growing up in watching Kayla and experience a bittersweet thrill at every little milestone we hear about her reaching.
This November, just a few weeks after Ryann's second birthday, the St. Clairs are coming for a week long visit. We cannot wait to see them again. We're already planning meals and zoo outings and museum trips. And we're so looking forward to having a toddler in the house again.
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An early Ryann-Kayla playdate. The very first one ended with Jason (Kayla's Daddy) in Jared's jeans.
Another story for another time. |
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| Taken during the small window in which Kayla outpaced Ryann in the motor skills department. |
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| Ryann's half-birthday party. |
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| Playdate at Southfork. |
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| Early standing adventures. |
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'The Girls' at Kayla's birthday party.
Ryann - 9 months, Kayla - 1 year, Chloe - 1 year, Natalie - 9 months |
After playing in the sprinkler, Ryann and Kayla taunted the dog.
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| First experience camping. |
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| Reading Winnie the Pooh is apparently a riot. |
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| On second thought, it's a very serious business. |
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| Sabbath school cracker break. |
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| Shopping cracker break. |
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| Time for a quiet one-on-one. |
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| Ryann and Kayla's last playdate. This was taken during the 'trash supper' the St. Clairs and Jared had to clean out our fridge while packing up for Lincoln. I was in Lincoln for training at the time. |
This made me cry and laugh! :) I miss that girly so much and I cry for her regularly. I hadn't seen that picture of Kayla and Ryann in the toy basket. I'm stealing it - I LOVE it! It's funny how you can know of someone for so long and not really bother to get to know them at all...and then something happens that draws you together - a very important common interest such as baby-having will do the trick, and it obviously worked with us! Experiencing a common loss (which I cannot even dare to claim I understand like you do) will strengthen that bond even more.
ReplyDeleteWe are looking forward to the visit SO much, and are so happy you're excited to have a toddler in the house again. It will be a bittersweet gathering, I think, but I assume, as I did with Ryann, you see Kayla as a second daughter. It will be a family reunion, and probably the best one I've ever attended.
Oh, one more thing: I like how Kayla has Ryann's pacifier in her mouth. She always was adept at finding those things. Good thing Ryann was good at sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been a joy to watch all the "girls" grow together. And I do peek in on how the others are continuing to grow and mature. It makes me cry softly wishing Ryann was still part of that group. But it isn't so. It isn't easy to watch the world go on while experiencing such a great loss. But I know it will and must happen even so. I'm so grateful for Mei living with us. She is a lifesaver to this grandma's heart. Sweetie.
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