Jaja - oh Jaja! - Departs

After a full three weeks together - from the road trip to Colorado, to moving into our new house, to seeing Jim off to South Africa for his first trip with his new job (wow, that was a lot of prepositions) - Jaja said good-bye and returned to Durham. What will we do without her around? We've all gotten so used to being close by during these months in Durham, sharing groceries and recipes and yard sale finds and walks and songs and swings at the park. (And Gemma really enjoyed having Jaja sleep in her bedroom in Colorado Springs!) It was wonderful to be together while settling into a new place, knowing that Mom can now picture our new home and town. But of course it is always hard to say good-bye, not knowing when we will see each other again!

*since Jim took the camera on his trip to Cape Town, we didn't get to take any pictures during the last half of Mom's stay. Just this one snapped before she headed off to the airport! Suffice to say, there was a lot of shopping and organizing and park-playing and even a bit of exploring around town (including another trip to Garden of the Gods for a picnic lunch).