Farewell Summer

I can hardly believe that September is here and summer is over. In just a few weeks, the leaves will start changing here and I am so excited for fall! My excitement for Autumn helps dull the sadness of another summer ending. This was the ultimate summer of change for our family. Not long after summer began, came Adam's unexpected job offer and one of the hardest decisions I can ever remember making in my life. I was so torn about moving back "home" versus leaving what had become "home" to me. The weekend we were deliberating, we took the girls on one more trip to the coast to play at "Great America" and had a perfect day together. We sat by the edge of the wading pool at the splash park there discussing the choice in front of us and left there that day prepared to say goodbye, but with tears in our eyes. Then the whirlwind began...we had only five days for the girls to say their "goodbyes" before heading off to Utah for a pre-planned summer vacation that suddenly became permanent. We played with friends as much as we could between packing boxes and suitcases and then our new journey began. We spent a week in St. George with Adam's parents and then the girls and I spent a week up at Snowbird with my family while Adam headed back to Fresno to put in his last two weeks there. I flew back to Cali a week later and Adam and I spent one more wonderful weekend together in San Fransisco and then went back to work; Adam at his office and me at home packing the rest of the house up for our move. We worked hard that week but enjoyed our time together, just the two of us. Our lunch and dinner breaks each day were a real treat for us. Not often you get a week without the kids. It was a long time to be away from the girls and we missed them a lot. My mom took very good care of them and I am so grateful she was willing to take them that whole week so I could get things done at our old place. At last, all the packing and cleaning was done and we locked up our home in California for the last time. Adam drove the monstrous truck (that I am SO grateful all of our belongings fit into) and I drove Adam's car back. I had great intentions of listening to a couple books on tape during the long drive to Utah but Adam kept singing to me on the walkie talkie so I only got through one of them! Our first week in Utah involved a lot of tough transitions for all of us and a lot of tears for me (I am blaming a lot of the emotions of being pregnant; I'm not typically that emotional). I cried myself through the first week here but haven't cried since although my heart is still tender when I think back on our life in Fresno. Perhaps that is why I haven't written much or posted many pictures. That or possibly the fact that "down time" is apparently a thing of the past! Between our two families and all that is going on, I have very little time to do most of what I used to besides just keeping up with the girls; which is my number one focus at this time of life. I have oodles of pictures of all the fun we've been having, just haven't had any extra time to share them. Hopefully they will be coming soon. In short, saying farewell is bittersweet, whether it is to a place or to a season; hard to see something end, but looking forward to all the wonderful things that are ahead.