Take a Breath

We packed a year and a half of visiting into a week. It was mayhem. I didn't even want to sleep. It was terrible - and there was this foreboding that hung over every moment - the knowledge that we wouldn't be staying and the sense of not wanting to go that made it all so bittersweet. Again we fell back in with some as if we had never left. With others it was sort of a "getting to know you" period all over again. For the most part, it was just home. The beauty of the hills and river of my mountain home. I miss it so terribly. I loved the leaves falling as you drove by, the crispness of the morning and evening air. It was almost too much to take in, and yet I wanted to take it all in so long and deep that I could be away for a while again and not feel it lacking. We all know that this is not possible.
We had parties, cook-outs, late night card games, pranking, walks, and endless moments of laughter. There are so many pictures here. I need some time to process it all. I am enjoying this week with my family again before making that endless trek back to Texas. A journey you don't want to make feels twice as long.