Oh gosh where to begin....

Well it has been a wild, fun and utterly exhausting several weeks.  I reread my last post and I realized it shared all of our struggles the last few months but few of the blessings that made the last few months in PA a blessing and even harder to leave.    So many people blessed us with farewell wishes, parties, special gifts, extra love during some very difficult days and tons of emotional and physical support.  People loved on our kids in ways we could have never imagined and on our last day of packing Jenn watched our kids for many hours while we packed the pod, Josh helped Shawn tie bikes on top of our stuff, and Kelly and Adam bought us dinner and fed our kids.  On our final morning at Paxton Steve stopped by with two of the most thoughtful gifts for your kids.  These are just a few examples of the beauty and loved that surrounded us during our final weeks in PA and here are a few pictures of the blessings we received.

 Saying Good-bye to dear dear friends

Final farewell dinner with an amazing group of women minus dear Hannah who was sick.  This book club and these women blessed my life in so many ways over the four years in PA.Thank you all and you are already  missed!

 One of those dear friends who has blessed our families life in so many ways and who blessed us beyond measure on our final evening of packing.  

Mr. Steve and the kids holding their farewell gifts an engraved hammer and an engraved rolling pin.  Our kids adored Steve and I believe the feeling was mutual.  Steve is the head of  maintenance at Paxton and a dear family friend for years.  We lived in the apartment that he and his family lived in for years.  He has 3 nearly grown children and he is a sensitive loving soul that makes everything in life fun so no wonder the kids followed him around and talked about him all the time.  Leaving Paxton has left a small hole in our kids lives that only Mr. Steve could fill.  We love you Steve and miss you very much!  Symeon shows everyone in Denver his hammer. 

Giving Miss Cathy our last chocolate gift.  We have exchanged a considerable amount of chocolate with Cathy over the past four years.  She and her husband are dear friends that have loved me for many years and have embraced Symeon and Marin as their own always remembering important dates, attending their birthday parties, giving thoughtful gifts and offering love and support wherever it was needed.  We miss them both so much and we feel so blessed to know them.  

So although this is only a small glimpse of the love we received during our final weeks at Paxton it is obvious that some very difficult weeks were surrounded by some really great weeks and we were surrounded by some really great people who loved on us an supported us during a hard time in our families life.  To all of you mentioned and to all of you who are not mentioned in this post but blessed us in so many ways a deep deep thank you for making the last four years and the last few weeks a blessed and wonderful time in our lives.  You are all loved and missed!