Sunday, February 12, 2012

She's HOME!!!

Feb. 9, 2012 at noon, we picked up Emily at the airport!  What a happy reunion!  We are so glad she is back with us safe and sound.  It has been a little crazy the past few weeks wondering what was going to happen.  Her host dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer last October and long story short it just became too stressful for them to have Emily's well being on their mind while they were dealing with the stresses of his illness. Thanks to the sweet families who offered their homes to her. We decided it would be better for everyone to have her come back home.  She has been a trooper through all of this and really wished she could have stayed until June like she had planned on, but sometimes life happens and choices aren't in your court. The good-byes were so hard - as you could imagine.  We have great hope that her friends will come visit one day!  They are all welcome any time!!

So her Portuguese is beautiful!  Hope she can keep up on it.  She is doing remarkably well with the transition.  She started back to school four days after she returned.  You go girl!  She jumped right in with both feet 5 or so weeks into this new semester. 

I decided at the last minute to do a make-over with her bedroom.  We had picked out new paint before Brazil was even a thought last spring and hoped to do her room last summer. I had 24 hours to pull the whole thing off and I did it! :) It was so much fun.  I felt like I was on one of those TV shows running around town looking for the right lamp, rugs, etc.  It was a blast and I was thinking about her the entire time. 

Let's see if blogger will cooperate while I try to upload some photos....

Our infamous neighborhood bridge.
 Here is our first glimpse of her coming off the plane!  
We could hardly stand it! 
Do you ever wonder how many random photos you have been 
captured in that belong to other people??? 

 Long, tight hug from dad.

 Miss Molly and her adorable sign and balloons...
she was very excited about this 
and had been talking about for weeks!

 Don't you just lover her Brazilian attire...in SLC in early Feb!? Awesome.



We drove to Lindsey's house to wait for Camber who was taking two tests! (Nailed them BTW) And what a fun reunion that was! 
Thanks Lindsey, for the yummy warm Cinnamon Rolls!
Cold milk and cinnamon rolls were on her long list of 
"what I can't wait to eat when I get home"


***
The Room Make-Over

Luckily I thought to snap a few photo of her room right before 
we started to pull down the old shelves and trim.

 It was too pink for her liking from the get go, but she patiently lived with it for several years. Thanks to Davis, for taking everything down and helping me rearrange all the furniture - 
several times until we got things just right.

Very soft creamy butter color was what she had chosen last spring. That great Porter Paint from our favorite paint store did the trick in just one sweet coat!  

So Before:



And After:

All grown-up and beautiful, just like she is :)

She loves Audrey Hepburn so I decided to give her a retro-glam look. I found that love seat at a garage sale last year here and we thought it would be fun to recover one day.  For now we just settled it into it's new residence and looks perfect! The furniture was a great find at Savvy Brothers Consignment here in town, which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! (Both the store and these pieces.) I found them last fall and decided they would be great in her room since her sister had to "borrow" her one and only dresser to take to her apartment. I found the curtains and rug at Lowes, and the lamp shade, bulletin board and cute little sign at TJ Maxx. The clock was in our backroom and I found the birdie pillow on clearance at Smith's Marketplace.





 In her room in Matao, she had family photo's strung up on floss hanging with tiny little clothespins -I decided to make copies of her sweet family and friends from Brazil and place them on her dresser.
 The taller dresser has a mirror that lifts up and 
compartments to hold jewelry :)

One last look...
I love it! It turned out so much better than I thought it 
would in such a short amount of time.  It has the feel of a 
little apartment in NYC in the 50's.  
Welcome Home Emily!!!

8 comments:

Lu said...

Well... The room is beautiful Leisa! And Emily, oh... I miss her sooooo much. I'm glad that she's in home again, happy and beautiful :')

The Jacklins said...

I LOVE IT!! The welcome home pictures are so sweet! You did a fantastic job on her room! Can't wait to see her...we're so glad she is home safe and sound!

Jenny said...

What a happy reunion! I bet that cozy room was nice after all the traveling...

Jake Lindsey Molly Owen said...

WE LOVE YOU, EM!!!

and we love your room too :) ...mom, I'm serious when I say--please do my house!...at least my living room?

xo

Joni Smith said...

Everything about this post is perfect.

Lindsay said...

How fun to have Emily back....I was about to cry seeing how excited you were to see her. I love it! Makes me excited to see Jason when he comes home from his mission. Lol...I"m crying! And the room is AMAZING.....want to be my decorator?

Kris said...

The picture of Mark hugging Emily almost brings tears to my eyes. Such delightful joy!
AND...her room...is wonderful? I want to know where you find all your extra time????
THEN...the trip to Delta. You are such a delightful person and I love reading the lovely insights you have. You make me want to go to Delta!

Scott Flinders said...

Wow! That room makeover is amazing. Glad to hear Emily made it back safe and sound.