Monday, September 21, 2015

Heather is Home!

Somehow, I have yet to mention the big news of this month:

MY SISTER IS HOME!

You may recall that Heather has been singing at Tokyo Disney (and being generally awesome in Japan) for the last year and a half:

Looking beautiful as always!

And, the last time I saw her was on her home leave about a year ago, for E.J.'s baptism:

She had bangs and the kids were just babies. Times have changed!

Needless to say, I've missed her immensely. I mean, I made my peace with it because from the looks of the pictures she would post on Facebook, she has been just killing it in Japan. She ate amazing food, saw incredible things, and even took a little vaca to Thailand. It looked like the experience of a lifetime, and from the sound of it, looks were not at all deceiving.

Heather and her boyfriend Sergio at the Itsukushima Shrine

In Thailand, which looks just hideous.

But now she is home! The kids and I went down to St. Petersburg last weekend and were there for her arrival. Ellie talked about it quite a bit before the big day, and she and I worked together to make a welcome home sign for Heather.

I glued the "Welcome home" and Ellie colored/glued the rest! She was so excited to show Aunt Heather her picture!

VIDEO: Ellie can't wait to see Aunt Heather!

My dad's front window, all decked out for Heather's return!

Heather got in the evening of September 12th and it was just so good to see her. I know that the transition back to life at home in the U.S. is a tough one for her, and I can understand that to an extent: I know what it's like to leave the coolest place you've ever lived, by choice, with no guarantee you'll be able to go back and no real certainty about what the future holds. Heck, it's nearly three years later and I still can't let myself think too hard about New York City without feeling a pretty substantial heartache. I don't envy the place she's in right now, though I hope we've been keeping her busy enough to soften the blow a little bit.

As soon as Heather got home, we had to share some wine and talk as long as her poor, tired, travel-weary self could manage!

Ellie is so excited to have Aunt Heather back!

E.J. is excited to finally get to know this Auntie he's been hearing so much about!

I hope she'll be able to settle in and feel back at home soon, because we sure are happy to have her back. We missed you, Heather!

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