OT, pics of me & DH with son before leaving for college

Thanks so much Kristie!  Good to see you on the board.

 I'm the one that cried when they went to kindergarten, their last official day of high school, and college.  My oldest went to a college under 2 hours away-which was close enough to be far away.  I teared up on the way home as did my hubby.  Though i knew this is her journey and this is something she must do and experience it didn;t make it any easier.  Then we ended up moving from one coast to the next and she stayed-that WAS HARD!!!!  Knowing she's in NH and I'm here in OR-kills me, but each day is better.  With my second daughter she stayed close to home and then decided to move in with friends that all go to the same college.  I think that was worse for me.  i wanted to tell her what a huge mistake that was-but she's a typical middle child-will do anything!!!  LOL!!!  Now wtih my twin boys that are 16 I have some time-but ultimately know that in 2 years they will be gone-so I'm preparing myself now.  Boys are different that's for sure!!! I will say though my relationship with my oldest has changed and we talk almost every day and she's always calling me for some silly recipe.  I don't think my boys will do that, they may call once a month, but I'm expecting that.
You have a beautiful family and this is just a journey that most parents go through and when they come home for vacation they WILL be different.  That was another hurdle for me.  They grow up when they go away to college-hahahaha!!!  Enjoy every moment you can.  Personally me I think I'm dreading marriage-then they really are gone so to speak....
Keep on smiling!!!

Yikes, I never even thought ahead about marriage.  It helps me to know I'm not the only one that is emotional with this part of the journey.  I know we all have to deal with it in our own way. My DH makes it seem so easy.  I appreciate you sharing. 

You guys look great...you are beautiful as always :)

My oldest leaves for her freshman year at college in a week.  I confess it's bothering me more than I thought it would.  She's been working all summer away as a camp counselor...she comes home for 4 days and then is off to college.  Time goes by so quickly...I swear she was just a baby

sigh........

You are so sweet....

I hope the move is easier than you think it will be.  I think it's going to take me some time to get used to Kyle being gone to ISU.  We are only 40 minutes away, but I know he's not going to be calling everyday or coming home every weekend and I wouldn't want him to.

He's going to have the time of his life and he's going to grow up into a man in the next 4 years (and probably add a few more years to get his Masters.)

PM me if you want to talk.

Hugs,
Kristi

Kristi, those are WONDERFUL pics of such a great looking family.  Letting go is very hard.  However, my son sorta had this revolving door at my house...moved out, back in, then out, then back.  This happened till he got married, 12 years ago, and I now have a gorgeous grandaughter living around the corner from me.  Best of luck to all of you on this new chapter in your lives. 

It's great that you have a granddaughter close by.  So many people have family across the country.

I was thinking today that I was so thankful to be 113 pounds lighter when we dropped Kyle off at the Frat house.  I didn't feel like an embarrassment to him.

Thanks for taking the time to share. It helps!
Kristi

Hi Krist,

What a great looking family you have.    You look awesome.  Hubby and I were empty nester and went out and adopted two little one!!!  LOL.

Thanks Wendy.  What a wonderful thing to do to adopt.  It takes special people to do that!

I have a Therapy dog named Gracie and we go to an elementary school twice a week. The first grade students read to Gracie. We start back up on Thursday and I can't wait to volunteer again. It's so fun to see the students progress over the school year with their reading abilities.  They also develop a close bond to Gracie and she loves them.