Saying Good-bye is Hard

The time has finally come.  We have known about this for over a year.  Aly has planned her school and social life around this event.  But the time to say good-bye came a bit fast for this mom.  For the last two weeks, Aly and I have been thru every to-do list, cleaned out her closet, cleaned out the school supplies area, bought a laptop (with the help of her brother, Aaron), bought a pocketknife and practiced flipping it out and closing it without any mishaps, and finally...said good-bye to all her friends and family.  Aly is going to Tehuacan, Mexico (pronounced tay-WA-cahn) to teach English and have the experience of a lifetime.  For the first week, she is touring such places as the Palenque Ruins, boating down the Usumacinta River to some more ruins and frolicking in some massive waterfalls.  She will see both the Villahermosa Mexico Temple and the Tuxtla Guttierrez Mexico Temple, and I'm sure many other wonderful things.

Our family went to dinner for her last FHE.  (See previous post).  We had a wonderful time at Outback Steakhouse.  Brad, myself, Aaron, Savannah, Tyler, Jenny, Jade, Jacque, and our photographer for the evening - Amber - all enjoyed ourselves.

Wednesday evening we had a Mexican Farewell Party.  Aly had invited everyone thru FaceBook....where else could you get the word out so quickly.  We also let our family know about it.  She told me "maybe 10 people will show".  I planned for a few more and was very glad I did.  From 7:30 p.m. to midnight, we had family and friends come over and express their love for Aly.  We had a blast.  She had a blast....but saying good-bye was STILL hard! Sorry we didn't get pictures of everyone who came and expressed their support and love to Aly.

with cousin Leah, friends Coe, Britney, and Dani

Cousins Chantz and 1/2 of Clay...and another un-named friend!

Sisters Jenny and Savannah and almost sister Nicki

laptop guru - Aaron

Grammy giving a good hug!

Even in her PJ's - Jade is the cutest thing around!

This party NEVER ended!

With her YW's leader - Kelly Schaub - and friend Tara

Close friend Britney

Thursday morning, bright and early, we - Jacque, myself, Britney, and Justin - headed to the airport with Aly and her luggage, which was basically her life for the next 4 1/2 months.  Aly had condensed her famous, stylish wardrobe into one large suitcase.....and limited herself to 1 pair of heels...for the whole trip!!!  The below picture showed how many shoes she WANTED to take...we ended up taking 3 of those pairs!  For those who know Aly...THAT was a sacrifice.  I was impressed that we got all her clothes into one bag.  What was in the other bag?  The 2nd large suitcase was filled with school supplies the teachers were asked to bring.  The carry-on held her belongings that she would need while "touring" the first week she arrived.  One measly little carry-on...for a whole week.  We are talking basics.  We did it and had a few pounds to spare!  Of course, she had a back-pack with her lap-top and a few more necessary items of importance!

It was a VERY quiet ride back home after leaving her at the security gates.  No one wanted to say much....tears quite close to the surface. 

 I wish I would have taken a picture of all the love notes everyone sent.  She was touched and couldn't wait to open "just one".  She has the best family and friends!!