The Last 5 Years

In a way I've been dreading this post because I knew it was eventually coming. And since I'm not exactly sure when Keith is planning on dismantling the computer I figured today was as good a day as any to write down my feelings before this week gets hectic. As we've prepared to move I've had at least a thousand or so thoughts come and go about what I could write that could sum up the past five years in the life of my family.

A few days ago I sat at my kitchen window and watched my four kids gathering up and then destroying piles of leaves in my backyard and thought back to the first fall in our home. We were lucky back then to even have enough leaves falling off the gangly, tiny trees to accumulate into a pile. Rachael was 2 and Dustin was barely even crawling around. We were so happy to be able to buy our first home. It came at a very rough time in my life and I was excited to have a fresh start.

We moved in about 1 month before our current ward was created and it was nice not to feel out of place, there were many new additions to get to know. Our family has made such wonderful friendships and memories with the families in our neighborhood. It's the first time we've been in one place long enough to have more than just acquaintances. Keith and I are grateful for the callings we've been able to serve in and for those people we've met who have made lasting impressions on our lives.

Now here we are, 2 more children later and our little house isn't quite big enough for us anymore :( Hillary and Claire are now older than Rachael and Dustin were when we came here. We are so very blessed and recognize the hand of our Heavenly Father in guiding our family to it's new destination. We know we will love it just as much as we have loved this home, ward and neighborhood.

The most important lesson I think I've learned while being here is that our worldly worth and the possessions we accumulate in this life doesn't matter nearly as much as Satan would have us believe. This past month or so as we've prepared our kids for the move we tried to stress to them that it doesn't matter where we live and where we go.....we will be together and will always be a family. That's what is most important. I wish I could express the amount of love I feel for the 4 sweet spirits that have been entrusted to my care and the man who I am fortunate enough to get to spend eternity with. I am so excited for what's ahead!!!

On a lighter note, I want to thank all of those people in advance who are planning to spend their time this week in helping us out, whether it's cleaning, using their muscles moving or watching my kids. We couldn't do it without you! There still plenty for me to do so now, I'll sign off and hopefully I'll see you all next week on the flip side of moving!!