Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to all our friends before we moved was so hard! So we stretched it out big time and did a lot of "lasts."

That weekend before graduation, we had the last party at our house. We had so many parties, bbqs, dinners, etc. at our house over the years, and it really was hard to have the very last one. After everyone left, I have to admit that I cried knowing it was the last big shin-dig there with those friends. I'm trying to remember who all was there, but I think the list included the Allen's, Royce's, Gustafson's, Elison's, Burnett's, Teeple's, Haws', and the Rehl's. It was a really full house with lots of kids running around, and the adults trying to find a place to sit (James had decided to dismantle the dining room earlier that week in preparation for the move, so our options were limited.) I actually don't have any pictures from this, but wanted to document that it actually occurred. So if any of you reading this has pictures from this night, send them my way please!

On Tuesday, we all got babysitters and went out to dinner, with just our friends. I don't think we had ever laughed so hard before. I know that a lot of it was frayed nerves since most of us were moving the following week, but it really was a fun fun night. We went to Cap City Diner, which is located down by OSU. As we left, I think all the girls were either in tears, or just about to cry. It was so hard knowing this was the last time we'd all be together like that for some time. We are so grateful for all the friends that we made in Ohio!

Included in the picture above are Paul and Kandice Allen, James and me, Sarah and Dan Walton, Jamie and Mark Elison, Trevor and Kristi Burnett, Heather and Brandon Teeples, and Dave and Laurie Gustafson.

As hard as it was for me saying goodbye to my friends, I think it was even harder watching Tyler say goodbye to his friends. He was so lucky to have so many little boys in our ward that he loved to play with. I didn't manage to capture a picture of each goodbye, but here are a few:

Tyler and Ben Haws

I'll admit tears come to my eyes every time I see this picture. This was the first time I think Tyler understood he was really saying goodbye to his friends here and that we weren't coming back. After Ben left, he sat on my lap and cried for a long time because he finally got it.

Nathan Elison and Tyler on our last walk to their house. By this point in the week, I think Tyler was a little tired of saying goodbye and decided to pick a fight with Nathan over the bikes instead. Good thing we know that these two really loved each other since this picture does not show it!

Isaac Teeples, Sam Gustafson and Tyler on one of their last trips to feed the geese. We loved coming to this little pond with our friends and spent a lot of hours watching these boys play together. One of the things we miss the most from Ohio is the date-night swap that we did with these two families each weekend. The kids would all play at one house, while the other two sets of parents got to go out on a date. It was great for all involved!

5561 Seapine Road

We were so lucky, given the economic circumstances this summer, to sell our house pretty quickly. We didn't sell it for nearly the amount that we thought we would be able to, but were able to get out about what we had paid for it 4 years earlier. We closed on the house on June 17th, and rented back from the owners for a few weeks until we moved. This should have worked out great for all, but there was one big hiccup.

The buyers had an inspection done, and had done a walk-through of the house the day before the closing. We fixed a few things for them (nothing major) and thought all was fine. The closing went through without any problems. However, on June 21st the air conditioner went out and was deemed irreparable. We were very grateful we no longer owned this house! We spent a good chunk of the next week dealing with the new owners, the insurance company, air conditioning company, etc. It was a huge pain and it was so miserably hot! The insurance company refused to fix it, so we decided to live with it. The worst part of it all was that James' family was coming into town and stayed with us, so we felt bad that their accommodations were not more comfortable. And really, when I say hot, I mean hot. It was 90+ every day and very humid.

Since this blog serves as our family's scrapbook, I wanted to include some pictures of our house. We have so many good memories of this home and the time we spent in Columbus, Ohio.