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Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Countdown Begins

Since the majority of you all know, I will make it short and sweet.
We are moving back to Michigan, Coldwater to be exact.

Mike is currently in his last class and finishing up his remaining papers. I am closing out my time at work and the house is starting to get packed up. We will departing Seattle on the 5th of August and making a two week journey back across the country with key stops at Glacier National Park, Minneapolis and St. Louis.
It is amazing to think that our three years here is Seattle is over. I am still amazed how this place has grown on me and how sad I am to let it all go. Although we feel we need to be in Michigan near family it does not make the saying goodbye any easier. We have both grown to love the city, the culture and the diversity it holds and the friends that we have made here. These people have been through three of our toughest years with us. They have watched us grown as individuals, a couple and parents. They have struggled with us and held us up when we could no longer stand on our own. They have truly become our family here and saying goodbye will be one of the hardest things I have ever done. I am really scared to do so.
So why are we going? We still ask ourselves this often. If it were just Mike and I we probably wouldn't, but as parents we feel it is a sacrifice we have to make for the boys. We want then to know their family, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. And yet we know that this is the only life they have ever known. We will not only being saying goodbye but helping them to do so also. Another tough job ahead.
Although there is light at the end of the 3,000 mile tunnel I am sure there will be many times that we feel in the dark, cold and alone. I am sure there will be many tears as we drive away from the mountains we love and as we struggle to embrace all the change. There will be culture shock as we move back to the Midwest and small town living. We will reacclimate to a place that we left three years ago. We will return to this familiar place yet are such different people we are unsure of what that will mean. We anticipate the difficulty of navigating life and remaining true to the beliefs that have become so clear to us in our time here.
Mike said it well recently. It is like being on a really good weekend retreat. You come back so full of life and energy so excited to tell everyone all about the experience. Then you just can't explain it. They don't understand the impact it has been. They just don't get it because they were not there doing it with you. It is like that, only it has been a three year retreat.
And that feels big.

Me Too, Woody!

Buzz and Woody. Good Buddies!
Game time. Checkers!
"Me too, Woody!"
"No, only two."
Buzz and Woody. Good Buddies!
Playtime. Seesaw!
"Me, too Woody!"
"No, only two."
Poor Jessie.
"Hey Jessie." "Want to play?"
"Yay!" Play ball.
Big swing. Big hit.
"Run Buzz!" "Run Jessie!"
Going. Going. Got it!
Good play! Good buddies!