~ Our Nessa ~

Our Nessa is coming to California for three weeks! She flew into Sacramento where three of her sister's live and will be bouncing back and fourth between them visiting for a little over a week... then, she comes to her mom and I for the remanding time. I have been getting her room ready and Diandra and I have been cleaning house. We are all so excited to see her!

After Rob and Nessa got married, she had to come back and stay with us for a couple of months due to some classes and credits she didn't want to lose. To make the transition easier on her we decided to paint the room so that she didn't feel like she was in a "boys" room with pirate decor. I wanted her to feel like it was her room. I asked her to pick out a color; she chose turquoise. I went to Wal-Mart and looked at every turquoise color swatch they had. While she was with Rob in Nebraska, we all had a part of the transformation of her room. When she had finally arrived, she hardly recognized it as she had seen the before and now the after. She loved it! We put photo's of her and Rob around the room, left picture frames empty so that she could fill them up with her own memories. When she found out Rob's leave for over seas came sooner than what we had anticipated, she left immediately to be with him. It was hard for these Newly weds to be apart during that time. I was blessed to have her here with us though, being that we all got to know each other on a more personal level. I have always thought about what my relationship would be like with my children's husband and wives. I would take mental notes about it and know what I would do and not do from watching other in-law relationships. I have told Rob over and over how I feel like Nessa is the best gift he could have given me.

I will never forget at one of our family dinner nights, our grand-daughter Natalie would always come home with us and spend the night. Nessa would spend some personal quality time getting to know her. I was working on a post for my blog and Nattie came up and hugged me whispering, "She's crazy about me!" I didn't know if I had heard that right, so I asked her, "What did you say?" She said it again beaming with a smile from ear to ear. I gave Nattie a squeeze and said, "She sure is honey!" I thought about that for a long time. Nessa had a quality about her that made you feel special when you walked away from her. It warmed my heart over! Shouldn't every child feel special when they walk away from you? Nessa is a gift that doesn't stop giving. Our family is truly blessed to have her in it!