Homecoming

A few weeks ago, Ella spent 4 whole days with her Gamma and Papa, 3 hours away in Youngstown. Oh, how I missed my sweet, spirited, dramatic little Ella Bella. And how much I loved the time with her dear sissy Kate.

Kate and I drew a sidewalk chalk 'welcome home' message as we waited for Ella and her daddy to return.





And Kate Kate was absolutely thrilled to see her big sister pull in the driveway.She pointed, smiled ear to ear, ran in place. She immediately ran up to Ella and hugged her. Meaning she ran up to Ella, stopped, and slowly ducked down just a tiny bit to wrap her arms around Ella .... low enough for Ella to be able to tuck Kate's shoulders under her own armpit and squeeze tight. Both of them smiled, eyes closed tight, saying "awwwwwww," as they've heard me say a thousand times, whenever they hug each other.





But the even sweeter part is that for the next hour or so, whenever Kate looked up and realized that her sister was, in fact, back home, she'd run over to Ella and hug her again, as if she was surprised to see her still standing there.

The two of them played and loved on each other the rest of the day.



And their daddy and I loved watching them.

What a happy homecoming. And what a very grateful life.