Saying farewell to dear friends

This past week was a hard one.  I've been dreading it for months, and now it has come and gone.  While I've done my fair share of saying good goodbye to friends who have moved away, this week was rough as three of our dear family friends packed up and took our hearts with them.  All will be about 10 hours+ away, so this is feeling extra sad since we can't pop up for a weekend (though we'll probably try!)

Val and Matt, Katherine and Jesse, Danny and me, Cindi and Kurt, Andrea and Tim, Mary and Dan w/ Micha, Katie and Adam w/ Rylie.  (All other kids were asleep - see below.)

A few weeks ago, we had a final hoorah party to eat one last meal all together (there have been countless dinners, cookouts, and potlucks throughout the past 4 years).  It ended with a sharing time when of course I totally lost it and boo-hooed more than I actually said any words.  So much has changed over the course of the years in this group... we've exploded from just couples to MULTIPLE children, and the second round of kids has officially begun as of Saturday (Yaaay baby Harper!)  Husbands have survived PhDs and med school and crazy injuries and career changes and going back to school.  Wives have charged through graduate school, worked, experienced unique, heartbreaking and powerful journeys to motherhood, and started whole new careers as moms.

Here's all the kids in chronological order.  

To commemorate, I'll share a little bit about each family, in the order they moved....

Family #1

Adam, Katie, and Rylie 

They actually moved and got settled up north several weeks ago, but we hung on to the fact that we'd see them again for Adam's med school graduation.  They have been such great examples of trusting God through medical school, God's timing, and raising a young family.  Look how little Rylie was in this picture!  And how much she looks like Harper!

God's timing is amazing, and Katie gave birth to their second daughter THE MORNING OF GRADUATION.  It also happened to be their wedding anniversary.  And I think Adam's dad's birthday.  Wow, what a day!  It was so neat for them to be here so we could share in their joy and meet little Harper.  Of course, my camera was dead when we visited, so I only have this picture I stole from Facebook.  I will miss their whole family so much.

Family #2

Jesse, Katherine, and Ellis  

They were our official "gatherers" and wonderful examples of hospitality and generosity.  They hosted potlucks every week at their house during the summers and many other times for coffee, baby showers, and get togethers.  Katherine is my "quilting grandmother" and spent so much time with me teaching me things like applique and how to free motion quilt.  She also loves Spain like I do, which is just awesome.

here she is, rocking the Spain shirt as we watched La Furia Roja dominate the World Cup!

I am so sad we won't get to meet their second baby the moment he/she is born!  We will truly miss their intentional efforts to form and sustain our little community.

Family #3

Kurt, Cindi, Luke and Mae

Our families were destined to be friends when our dogs found their soul mate in each other.  Mac and Aslan have been BFF and will continue to be across the miles.  

I can't count the number of meals, games, and fun times we've shared with them.  We laugh so much when we're with them, and have so appreciated their loyal friendship.  It is so difficult for me to picture not being able to just call Cindi up to spend an afternoon together.  Ugh.  

Their last night in town they stayed in our guest room, and Kurt even unveiled a touching, funny photo tribute to Mac and Az complete with a heartfelt soundtrack.  The dogs stayed up basically all night in a final night of revelry including eating a rotisserie chicken we forgot to put up, tin foil, and baby wipes.  We said a tearful goodbye early in the morning and they were off.  The good news is that we've gone ahead and bethrothed Addison to Luke, so we're excited for the future of our families together and have a whole lifetime to look forward to!  

There you have it.  Three dear family friends, all gone in the span of a week.  Of course we have many wonderful friends still here for which I'm extremely grateful (I should do a tribute post to them, too!), and this will not be the end of these friendships.  

Still, saying goodbye is so hard.  I'm off to collect myself.