The Goodbyes

The goodbye part of moving is so hard. It's hard to close a chapter of your life, say goodbye to the places and people you loved, and step away from the familiar. It's also SO MUCH WORK.

Here we are in the last hours of cleaning out our old house smiling on the outside but exhausted and questioning our life choices on the inside haha! The kids spent the last hour on the front porch keeping the little boys safe and entertained while we finished up the last bit inside. Lionel was so exhausted he crashed right on Conrad's lap.

But we did it! We got all of our stuff moved into our garage, the house cleaned out, and closed! The next step of the moving plan was to stay in the vacant rental house Michael's parents own for a week until we could close on our Iowa house and move. BUT, we found out the night before we were supposed to move the house wasn't going to be safe for us to stay in. Enter improvising...

My parents hosted us one night, but they live so far from the friends and things the kids were wanting to do. Plus, we're loud and a lot to handle! The next night we already had plans for a campout in a friend's backyard with a parade the next morning. That was a fun night! 

But, not having a home base was rough! The little boys were losing it from a lack of routine. Poor Walter kept asking when we were going to "his bed." Plus, Hailey was really struggling too. We were ready to cut our time in Utah short, have Eliza and Michael skip FSY and Deaf Symposium, and start heading to Iowa early. But then our sweet friends the Lee's begged us to come stay with them for the week. They had a big basement with plenty of space, a kennel in the barn for Hailey, and wouldn't be put out by hosting 9 people because they're just amazing like that. 

So we moved in with them for the next six nights. They not only hosted us, but made our last week in Utah joyful. They were so kind and accommodating and patient (even when Walter hit a biting phase and kept biting their poor daughter just a bit younger than him). The older kids had an incredible time with their friends the whole week. Thank you Lees! We will never forget your kindness to us that week! 

Soon it was time to load our things from the garage into the moving truck. The ward showed up BIG TIME and we knocked this out in under two hours. Amazing! 

Then squeeze in dinners, friends, and last goodbyes. I didn't take nearly enough pictures.  I think subconsciously it was just too hard. I will say, the one beautiful thing about moving, is it's a bit like attending your own funeral. So many people share heartfelt things with you, and it's very touching! 

Pulling out of the Lee's driveway and off to Iowa was SO hard and sad. But goodbyes are like ripping off a Bandaid, it's best done quickly. We tried not to dwell in the sadness as we drove and instead started looking ahead to our new adventure. 

This chapter in Utah was a great one! But the Lord was calling us on to the next chapter...