A lot has happened since I blogged last. First of all, I GRADUATED with a degree in Finance.
More importantly, our girls came for 6 and half weeks this summer and returned home a couple weeks ago. Seeing Alona again was great, we missed her so much. In 2008, I wrote a note to her that said, "I'll think about you everyday and hope things are going well for you." After she left I wondered if I would actually live up to that statement. In retrospect, I definitely did. Even if it was just for a couple minutes, she crossed my mind everyday.
Alona has definitely grown up a little. Not so much in her looks, but her attitude. She has gotten a little more sassy. My sister and I are outspoken, opinionated, and slightly stubborn people so we welcome that in our house. But it was a little shocking at first coming from our little angel! Her happy and loving demeonor were still the same and after about 2 minutes it was like she had never left.
I fell in love with Ella just as I had falling in love Alona the summer before. Her personality was definitely different then Alona's though. My dad said it best when he told our facilitator, "Ella is a somewhat complicated girl, but we overcame those challenges and fell in love with her." She was at times extremely moody and stubborn. She is also VERY critical of herself and seems to lack confidence. At the same time though, she is SUCH a deep thinker, extremely smart, 100% aware of her surroundings, thankful, compassionate (once you break down her shell), and hilarious. She yearned so much for love and support. There were so many times when I wished I could communicate better with her...I had so much I wanted to tell her!
I miss them.
We went to Disneyland with the girls. It was SO much fun. One of the best moments in my life. Ella couldn't believe she was staying in a hotel. She was hyperventilating as we went up to our room. We did both parks, Disneyland and California Adventure, in 2 days. One day, we went from 7 am to 11 pm. We also visited my grandparents in Arizona and watched my sister play in a volleyball tournamant down there, it was 110 degrees out... we were basically in the pool or AC the whole time. SO HOT.
We had a tearful goodbye, as always. Alona was extremely emotional at the airport this year, which made it harder on us as well. She's very attached to our family and even started to call my parents "mom" and "dad."
I'll write about some specific memmories of the girls in my next blog.
