OUR TIME WITH HAYLIE

Mon at 4:30 am Haylie and Garn and I bid a teary good-bye to Mandy and Jon and the other 3 kids. It is so sad to say good-bye to them. I'm glad I'll have a week to spend with them in Aug when I fly Haylie home.

We all went back to bed and got up about 4 hrs. later. Haylie said she was used to reaching out in bed and touching someone since they all slept together in the same room but when she awoke later that morning and reached out, there was no one there. She said it felt different for her..... We got up and stripped the beds and did laundry from Cherry Hill and all the motorhome bedding and rugs and towels. I had 7 loads! Then we vacumned the house (upstairs and down) and the motorhome and washed windows and walls. We moved the recumbant bike from the back deck ( after scrubbing it down) and put it in the extra bedroom. Haylie was a trooper and worked right along beside me all day! When it came time to go to bed she got on her pjs, brushed her teeth, washed up, read her book, said her prayers and hopped into bed, ( this time alone) and went right to sleep!

The next morning she got up, made her bed, bathed, got dressed, and waited for me to get her breakfast. She probably would have gotten her own breakfast but I insisted on doing it. She is so compliant that Garn was wondering what the difference was. Well......duh 1 child compared to 4 in a cramped space makes a WORLD of difference! Plus the fact that Haylie is getting some one on one I think would make any child happy. But I really believe Haylie wants to please us and is eager to show her pleasant personality. Whatever reason, she is polite and a joy to have around!

Today she accompanied me to my racquetball games and cheered me on and then hit the ball around awhile. She's pretty good! Next week I'm giving her a racquet and ball of her own to play with. Tonight we're watching Wipe-out, one of our favorite shows. In less than 2 weeks we'll fly to Seattle to visit Marin and JR and Collin and spend a few days before heading back to Texas. What a whirlwind summer this has been and I've loved every minute of it. She can't stop talking about Marin and Collin and is so excited to see where they live! Of course, I can hardly wait myself! This Fri we're having a bar b que at Misty's for my birthday. She and Dan are the BEST cooks around and we always have a great time with them. Sat. we're going to Raging Waters with them and Austin and Devan. Sun I speak in Sac Mtg ( I'm not too excited about that at all) All in all it's a good life.