Goodbye for Now

Every so often in your life, you meet someone who just gets you and you know you will be friends forever. Both Jeremy and Talli are those friends to us. We were so sad when we heard that they would be moving to South Dakota! (Jen wrote a beautiful blog post titled Heavy Hearts that describes how we were all feeling. )

It was hard to imagine what it would be like without them. Jason and I were talking one night and tried to remember what it was like before they were here. We still have so many of the same wonderful friends that we did before. We had great laughs and great memories before them, but it still felt like a huge hole would be left in our lives and in our hearts. We tried to comfort ourselves with how easy it is to pick up the phone and how many trips and visits we would plan for the near future.

Tiffany had everyone to her house for a going away party the Saturday night before they moved. Everyone came out say goodbye and have "one last night of fun" all together.

Adam, Dave, Aaron, Jeremy, Jason, Jeff, Logan,?Empy?, Josh
Jamie, Misty, MeganEmily and AmyThe Poulsens and The LawrencesHaley and MeMegan and AshlynJosh, Jeff, Jason, Jeremy, Logan, Jeff

We had a fun night hanging out with our friends and reminiscing about good times. It reminded me of something Jason used to say. "These are the good old days" It's true. We are so lucky to have so many fun memories and such great friends. We said goodbye that night but new we had a few more days before they actually drove away.

The going away party just kept going. The kids squeezed in as many "last" sleepovers as they could over the next couple of days and we were all relieved when the Poulsens decided to stay "just one more day". We were not ready to really say goodbye. We gathered again for one more "one last night" at our house. More barbecue, swimming, hugs and laughs

Maryn and Abby

The tears came on and off through out the night. We knew it really was time for them to go...

Jason, Jeremy and JeffTalli and Me Emily and DaveGarrett and Drew, my seriously cute nephews!

Keenan, Drew, Zack, Austin, Garrett

Aaron, Jeff and JasonClara, Haley, PeytonLizaJayne and TiffanyJessica and Lauren

I love it when my girls remember they are the best of friends!

Austin, me, and Lauren

We swam until way after dark. (We are LOVING the solar heater on the pool!)

These boys are going to miss each other so much!! Austin, Garrett, Tyler, Zack, Drew and Wes in the back
Jen and Talli

Everyone stayed until the kids were beyond tired and one by one began to leave. It got quieter and emptier as each family left... Hugs, tears, promises to visit soon and more tears. We stood out in the driveway until the tail lights turned the corner. Ashlyn added to the drama crying, "Megan! Megan! I want Megan!" Ahh, yes, heavy hearts indeed.