Birthdays and Good Byes

This past week has been a busy one and a roller coaster full of emotions.

First of all I had my mandatory two day adjustment after coming home from a vacation. It used to be one but I've decided I need at least two days to get back into the swing of things. Before you know it, I'll have a week of vacation and a week of recovery. This week I wasn't able to have too much of that because I had a birthday party to get ready for and friends to help move.

Catherine's third birthday party was last Wednesday and for the second year in a row Renee and I planned for Catherine and Nolan to share a party. It just so happened that the park where we wanted to have the party wasn't available until last week. Not too big of a deal because the planned date would be two weeks from each of their birthdays. Little did we or they know that the move across the country that they had been processing and praying about for a few months would come to fruition and they would sell their house and pack up all their belongings – the very week we had planned the party. Needless to say I felt pretty silly calling Renee saying "Please take a break from sorting through all your possessions and help me decide what game we're going to play on Wednesday." Of course that's not what I said, but it felt like. For those of you who know Renee won't be surprised that she continually apologized for not being able to help as much as she would have liked. Because it's not like she had anything more important to do!!! J

The theme was Dora and Diego and we had it at a nearby park so the kids could pretty much play the whole time. Instead of a cake I made cupcakes.

Nothing fancy, but they tasted good and were easy for the kids to eat.

We played one little game that was supposed to be similar to a Dora adventure. Each kid got a map with a two places that included a little activity for them to do. The final task, after getting crayons from Dora's backpack, was to color their map and then turn it in to get a goodie bag. As I watched the kids play along I mentioned to my friend Kelly, "It was kind of stupid, but they seemed to like it." Without missing a beat she responded "well that's Dora for you – kind of stupid, but they like it!" Too true!!! Don't get me wrong…I love that my kids can count in Spanish because of Dora, but sometimes I just can't get over the fact that this 5/6/7 year old girl is constantly running through the jungle on her own, dodging crocodiles and climbing mountains – where the heck are her parents!! Seriously???

The kids had fun playing, eating pizza and just being silly. It was fun to see some friends that I hadn't touched base with all summer. We were so excited that Shannon and Jack and Cade were able to be there with us. Of course I didn't take many pictures but Shannon did so I'll have to steal some of hers!

I did have to include one picture of the birthday girl looking oh-so-sweet wearing her new headband made by Renee.

I love this picture of Ella, Mia and Catherine – it looks like they're having a little conversation.

Can you just picture it 10 plus years down the road as they're all giggling and talking about who the cute boys are??? I can picture it oh too clearly.
Jack, Mia and Catherine. Again, all three have such cute expressions.

Getting ready for the party was one way for me to avoid thinking about the major stuff going on all week – Renee and Jon getting ready to leave to live in San Jose, CA for nine months (less than that now, right? It's been a few days already!)! I have to admit that I was pretty sad last week as we tried to spend as much time with them as possible before we left (granted, I think most of the time Matt spent was packing stuff into their storage unit!). I know that nine months will go by quick, but I will definitely miss them for those nine months. Renee and I are both home with our kids so we see each other a lot through the week during Bible study, Moms groups and this year Nolan and Catherine were going to be in preschool together. Even though we'll continue to talk as much as possible, I'll miss the day to day life stuff we shared with each other. I'm used to having loved ones live far away. My family and many close friends live far enough away that we don't see each other every week or even every month. This move is hard for me because Renee and Jon are part of our local family, people who we share our lives with on a regular basis – I'm not used to having them far away!!!
So basically, even though I know they won't be gone long and I know they're coming back (PROMISE!), I am still sad to see them go. Enough sappiness – I'll try not to sound too pathetic!!!

wanted to have a little time with Mia and Nolan before they left so I watched them for a few hours one morning so Renee could continue with their packing. The kids had a blast playing together and I snapped a few shots since I knew it would be the last time before they moved.

We had a week of celebrating another year with our Catherine and we had a week of preparing for the big good bye to our dear friends. Looking back, I'm glad it all happened the way it did! The last time we would see them was church on Sunday and once again, a really sad moment was bookended with a really happy one because I got to watch my girls perform their worship dance and see the joy on their faces as they danced for Jesus. Again, perfect timing for me…not so perfect timing for Renee since she was the dance teacher and choreographer!

Since then we've only talked once, or twice…maybe more….thank goodness that we have unlimited long distance. They are enjoying exploring their new city and sleeping away all the stress and crazy emotion of the past weeks. If you want to stay updated on their California adventure, check her blog Hangin' with your Naybor.