Homecoming

Eli has a girlfriend now.  It's been a few months and I'm getting more used to it but it still feels a little weird to me. It seemed to come out of nowhere.  I wasn't expecting it at all.  We went to trek and he was talking to all the girls his age so it didn't seem odd to me and then the last day Piper overheard him ask Abi on a date.  And then suddenly they were dating.  It was not on my radar at all.  The more I see them together and the more I get to know Abi the more it makes sense but it surprised all of the rest of us.  Abi is great and so sweet.  She loves to cook and run and she makes Eli happy.  

I was kind of irritable about him dating at first, and I'm not exactly sure why.  I think maybe I was feeling a little possessive, if I'm being honest.  I didn't have the same feelings with Will or Isaac so I was surprised by my response.  Maybe because after the other two boys left it was just the girls and Eli and he became my buddy.  I really loved having him to myself the last year (except I didn't really have him to myself because I shared him with the girls and Mike).  I enjoyed having him home with us and now he isn't home that much.  I miss him.  But, also, Abi brings out a great side to him that I have seen glimpses of but haven't really seen a lot of and it's wonderful to see that she has such a positive effect on him.  

It's both really great to see your kids change and grow and have experiences without you and also, a little uncomfortable.  

Anyway, the subject of the photos and the title of the post is Homecoming.  They went with Abi's friends and asked me to take photos before dinner.  It was actually really cold that day and started to rain on us but we got a few pictures.