For me, it was a definite time to look forward to, for the kids, it was looming over there heads and coming up too fast. We all love Allie and became quite fond of her in the 8 months she was here. But knowing for most of the time that she was here, that she was leaving at some point made it easy not to get too attached. Which sometimes made it harder to enjoy the time, because I was not attached. It often felt like Carlaya's friend had been here for months and not our child. It is always harder to care for another child than it is your own. So we've had our challenges, but overall it was a good experience. Her real mother or not, I did take care of Allie for 8 months and therefore she'll always have a special place in our hearts. She will be missed.
We had a "Going Away Party" for her the last day of school before spring break. We had a few kids from school and lots from our neighborhood. I think about 25 or so in all. Unfortunately the pictures are on my other camera which got left in UT during Easter. So as soon as I get it back, I'll post the pictures from her party as well as from Easter.
Just before leaving for Utah on Thursday last week, we got the email with her flight itinerary. She'd fly out Wednesday morning. So we had her for one last final weekend. She had a blast in Hurricane, UT with Jonathan's family and we also met up with my family in St. George to swim & go to lunch. All of her cousins & friends that knew her well, were sad to know this was the "last time" they'd see her. I debated sending her to school Monday & Tuesday, because they'd be starting new things she wouldn't be here to finish. But I knew she'd have more fun there then being stuck home with me- bored. ;)
So on Tuesday for her LAST SCHOOL DAY, I took in cookies to share and her wonderful teacher, Miss Bodholt had every kid give her a big hug and blow her lots of kisses. They spent the last 15 minutes of the day loving Allie to death and telling her how much they'd miss her. She loved every minute of it. Allie & Carlaya love to sleep in the hide-a-bed, so Tuesday night I decided to let them all stay up late, watch Chipmunks Squeakual (?), and have a sleep over. They needed to have a fun last night with Allie. Before the movie started, Carlaya was pretty glum & wrote this on the white board:
I had plans to have a casual family picture taken of the 5 of us. We don't have one single picture with our whole family including Allie. Unfortunately, with spring break & Easter, I forgot until about 11pm on Tuesday night! So, as I did with our previous 2 foster children (that came & went so fast I had no other choice) I grabbed Allie close and snapped the picture of us myself. Too bad it was 7am and I had bedhead and no makeup, and it couldn't be with the whole family.
Wednesday morning, I was up at 6:45 to pull on some sweats and get Allie up and ready to go. I took her down to the DFS building to meet the case worker that would fly with her to California. Her case worker is expecting her own baby in a few weeks and could no longer fly. When we pulled up I realized I was going to have to go in and take my own 2 kids with me. Only problem- we were all pretty much in pj's besides Allie and looked awful. Carlaya knew it would be chilly so she pulled on jeans before we left- with her NIGHTGOWN. We looked terrible! Anyway, the case worker was right in the front lobby which saved us from more embarrassment. She was ready to go right then. I wanted to take a picture of the kids one last time, and Allie wanted it to be in front of the vending machine. LOL Noah was grumpy and opted out.
I handed Allie her backpack and her luggage to the case worker. Allie began to walk away.....I said, Allie- can't I get a hug?! :) She was ready to go, excited but also a little nervous. She was unusually quiet. She hugged me and I gave her a kiss. I told her not to be nervous, her new mommy was waiting in CA and she'd be there soon. As she walked away, Carlaya burst into tears. Allie stopped and looked back, I had Carlaya run go give her one more big hug. Allie looked a little sad, but not too bad and she never cried. It was a good "handing-over". Once outside walking for our car, we saw Allie & her escort walking behind a fence to their car. Carlaya yelled one last time, "GOODBYE ALLIE!" through tears. I looked back to see Carlaya & Noah holding hands tightly. I think it was their quiet way of consoling each other.
Right before we got home, Carlaya said, "MOM!" I looked back to see her grinning from ear to ear. "When I get home from school today, I get to tell you EVERYTHING!" :) (She was already seeing the perks of not sharing her school, friends, and life with her sister.) She still misses Allie a lot and although it has been just over 24 hours, she has already emailed her once. We hope to visit Allie within the next year!
We'll always love & miss you Allie!
