Good bye Cleveland

We can't believe the time is here. It is moving week and I'm so sad to go. We have LOVED living here. Our neighborhood is gorgeous right now and our purple tree in front of the house is in full bloom. (pictures to come soon.) We had our first beautiful home here, Nathan was born here, Maddie and Bella started preschool here, we were in the Kirtland stake, and mostly we made wonderful friends. I will miss a lot things about Cleveland and Shaker Heights.

Our last month or so has been a busy one getting ready for the move. We've done a lot of house things to get our inspections done. It has seemed never ending and I will be grateful not to have some kind of worker at our house 24/7. We made a weekend trip up to see our dear friends the Roos' in Michigan and it was the best weekend. Our kids were in heaven because even after 2 years of living away from them we still talk about Addie daily. I loved catching up with Tobey and even having a few moments of kid free shopping! It was just great to spend time together and feel like we had a litte time with some "family." Thanks Roos fam for letting us take over your house and for taking great care of us!

Last week I went to Cheesecake factory for one more girls' night out with some of my friends from the ward. It made me so grateful for the wonderful women I've gotten to know while we've lived here. I've looked up to their examples and have appreciated the countless amounts of service they have given me and my family. I always knew there were friends just a phone call away. While living away from family is hard, it is a blessing to make dear friends along the journey. Thanks for organizing that Sarah. It was so sweet of you. I will miss you girls so much and am COUNTING on you frequenting the temple!!

My wonderful friend Cathy also hosted a "See You Soon" party for Maddie, Bella, Emmy, and Charlee- all the little girls who will be moving in the next couple months. It was absolutely darling from the frames and friendship bracelets to every detail in the decorating and food. Truly picture perfect. It makes me teary even just thinking about leaving these wonderful people. Thank you Cathy. That meant a lot to all of us.

We also had one last barbeque with our Kirksville "family", The Gowdy's and Moss's. I will truly miss living closeby these girls. I've been incredibly grateful for their friendship and adore them. I've watched them as amazing mothers, wives and women, and as they've gone through various trials. As we've all spent time together I've learned from their examples and advice, and depended on their friendship. It was so nice to have these girls who I feel so comfortable sharing my thoughts and feelings with, and who just understand what we're going through in a way that other people can't. I love you girls and your families and am already looking forward to our reunions ahead.

Last night our realtor took us out to eat at an amazing chinese restaurant with some other friends of ours that she has worked with. We feel so blessed to have had this great lady in our lives and are grateful still that things have worked out so well with our house from the day we bought it to tuesday when we'll officially sign it away. Sure we've had plenty of "moments" when we thought, "Another thing is broken??" but overall it was such a blessing to live here.

So after all these "last" get togethers the only thing left to do is finish packing, let the girls finish preschool this week and load up that truck. It is time to get into moving mode and embrace the chaos, the change, and the next stop along this medical journey. Columbus here we come...

Dance Recital

I've been teaching a little dance class for the girls and their friends every thursday at our house. It has been really fun and we always looked forward to it. It was fun to watch all the little girls get excited about dancing and they really got better and better. Their attention spans got longer as the weeks went on and by the end I thought it was a definite success. We celebrated with a little "recital" in our living room. We made the girls all tu tus and Maddie and Bella were super excited to put sparkles in their hair and wear make up. All the families came over and we showed off some of the things we've learned all year. The girls did great and I will really miss having this little class each week. I grew to love all these girls and Maddie and Bella couldn't wait to dance around with their friends every thursday!

Maddie


Bella




Having snacks after the show.



All the girls- minus Emmy, who was out of town.

Easter Egg Hunt

The YW in the ward had a camp fundraiser and had a pancake breakfast and egg hunt before easter. The kids loved it. Here are a few of the girls' friends.

Maddie and Bella absolutely adore Ashlyn. She has been in their preschool class with them too and they have had tons of playdates together. Whenever we talk about moving they are always most worried about not living close to Ashlyn. She is a darling little girl and we're grateful she has been a great friend to the girls.

Showing off their eggs!


Nathan caught on pretty quick that there were treats inside the eggs. He is getting a sweet tooth already. Oops.


We forgot to take pictures on Easter but we had our own little egg hunt and loved watching conference. We even made our traditional conference soup and loved it. We always miss our families at conference time and on holidays but we had beautiful weather and watching conference always gives us a bit of "home". I love family traditions, holidays, and conference so it was a great weekend.