"Laughter through Tears is my Favorite Emotion."

As most of you know, the kids and I spent four weeks in Colorado visiting family this summer. It was a wonderful and bittersweet trip. Sometimes so oddly normal to be *home* and other times, kinda tough, especially to be away from Ben for so long. It's his busy time of year at work. He was only able to get away for a single long weekend.

While in CO, I visited a dear friend from childhood battling Stage IV Renal cancer. She was my favorite friend through all the crazy adolescent antics. Always funny and incredibly beautiful, her advice on how to be a girl during the formative years of Elementary and Jr. High schools are priceless to both me and my heart. The few hours I had with her were both inspiring and heartbreaking. Sometimes the truth about our personal journey is hard to face. She seems to handle it with amazing grace, humor and remains beyond beautiful.

I also had the privilege of supporting my mother-in-law through Chemo and its aftermath as she fights breast cancer. She's pretty amazing and although cancer is my absolute least favorite thing, it afforded me time to be with her and get to know her on a different level which in and of itself was a gift. Time with people, when it's real, always is.

She's a strong and very real lady and able to see the humor in the awful and made me laugh many times. I kept thinking of that line in Steel Magnolias when Dolly Parton says, "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." We shared stories like old friends and a love for Simply Lemon lemonade. I saw her fight through pain in effort to take Charlotte to the American Girl Doll Store, where Molly the doll got her ears pierced and her hair did and thought what an illustration of leading by example. She also ate my food and said it was good. For the record though, the Chemo left her unable to taste food...so don't buy it. Next step for her is Radiation, which I hope brings an easier road.

It was fun for the kids to have time with her, and all the grandparents for that matter. We miss them all so much living up here. We had it good when a visit with them was just a phone call away. I'm pretty sure my kids miss the daily chocolate chip or M&M pancakes courtesy of Grandpa Ted, now that they're back to my oatmeal. (Whenever I make it I swear I hear them whispering in their best Tiny Tim voices, "More please.")

Eli continues to be the source of great humor and feist. He's a joy and a big fat handful of naughty. Just when I start to really worry about his behavior and begin Googling medical conditions for children, he cracks a funny or does something amazingly smart and sweet. He's a treasure and so beautiful with his big brown eyes. He starts preschool next week and is both excited and proud.

My favorite Eli story of late: I recently told Charlotte all the Colorado sun made her hair a bit red. To which she responded, "I noticed too and I've always wanted to be a red head!" I thought it was funny, since she's only seven. Then out of nowhere, Eli says, "Yeah, well my hair is turning GREEN (pronounced gween)," and then died laughing at his own joke. For the record his hair is not green and never will be unless he gets creative in his teen years.

Last week my first baby started 2nd Grade. Insert ugly cry. I don't mean to sound like a Hallmark commercial, but truly it goes by too fast with kids. I remember working so hard to stay pregnant, then helping her figure out how to drink from a bottle. Follow that with months of P/T getting her to crawl and walk. Now she has legs up to her armpits, is taller than most 4th graders and looked so sweet skipping to school in the rain.

For the first time ever she didn't carry her Little Mermaid or Cinderella backpack to school. She didn't say why, but I know it's because she feels too big to outwardly show her love for them. Instead she opted for a brightly colored Hanna Andersson backpack (a gift from her Auntie) and my favorite school supply ever: a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine lunch box. Just before school though she made me promise not give away her princess backpacks.

More ugly crying.

Followed by laughing.

Always.