Goodbye to Arizona

Saying goodbye is always the hardest part of moving for me.  I've been surprised about how many close friends we've made.  We were only in Arizona for 13 months, but made some friends who will be always be dear to us and we'll keep in touch with no matter where we live.

Dallin's 3rd grade class had a little farewell for him on his last day of school.  They all signed a stuffed animal for him, gave him balloons and had cupcakes.  He is really going to miss them, especially his friend Tyler.

 My friends Marsa & Stacey had a little farewell open house for us the weekend before we moved.  It was great to be able to all hang out one more time.  I sure love these girls; we had a "cooking club" at least once a month where we tried everything from cake pops to Thanksgiving dinner.

 Me, Julianne and Chelsea.

Awesome girls who always inspired me to be my best.

They boys hanging out at the farewell party, which was complete with rootbeer floats.

Ethan & Gavin's friends who came to say goodbye.

Logan is always wanting to be part of the big kids.

We went to pizza one night with our friends the Johnston's then went to their house after for a bonfire and s'mores.  Our families have had such fun times together, from boat parades to yogurt dates to superbowl parties.  We'll miss you!

 Stacey, Kallie, Logan and I at the bonfire.

Stacey is a great friend and I'll miss her, but know she'll keep in touch with her hilarious texts and pictures.   Another sweet, sweet girl!

 The Teeples and Johnston kiddies, one last hug.

 Another family who had us over for dinner before we left was the Baer's.  We love their family so much too!  With five boys, Julianne and I related so much.  What an awesome family!

We were able to spend some time at the park with some of our favorite friends before we left:  The Pospisil's and the Park's.  My boys always loved getting together with them.

 Tad's cousin Jim and his wife Laurence moved to Gilbert about 6 months before we moved and we were able to get together a couple of times.  We went for dinner and yogurt with them just before we moved too.  We loved having family close and spending time with them.  

 Tad and his cousin Jim.

They have such fond memories of growing up together that they really enjoyed hanging out and reminiscing.

 We of course had to say goodbye to Glenna.

She was like our Arizona grandma.  She LOVED my boys and they loved her!

We'll miss you!

Last but not least, saying goodbye to our amazing neighbors, the Parks, was hard too.  Danika has been such a great friend.  I know we'll always be friends but it's hard to not be able to see each other and hang out.  She is an awesome gal and one of the sweetest people I've ever met.  She was always the first one to help me and made our move go smoothly as she lined up meals for us for over a week while we were getting packed up and such.  

 The Parks and the Teeples kids. 

 We enjoyed BBQ's and playdates with them and I know we'll miss them.

Moving Day (from Ethan & Gavin's window).

After a couple of days of boxing, our house looked like this.

We loved living in Arizona and are SO thankful for the opportunity we had to live there.  We're grateful for the people who have touched our lives and who have taught us.  We loved our ward and hope the best to everyone.  Arizona will always have a special place in our hearts as we head to our next adventure.

(wipe tears now)