Life crawled to a standstill in anticipation of our move from the desert. That’s one reason I haven’t posted in a while. Then life sped up to a crazy fast pace as we packed up and moved to the Pacific Northwest. That’s another reason I haven’t posted in a while.

We counted down the days, shared tearful goodbyes with those we love, and savored last moments with our friends as we packed up every last corner of our Arizona desert casa.

I drove over to Tempe on the summer solstice to meet Stephen and sign the closing documents. It was the second hottest day of the month at a high of 116. My car even overheated. The house sale closed on June 30th, and now we are renters again.

Jon flew in from Indiana to help with the move, and we are greatly indebted to him for making the move smooth, bearable, and exciting for the kids. He and 9 other friends helped load our Penske truck on a Sunday while the kids had one last play time with the Floreses. We had planned to move on Tuesday, June 28th, but had so much help that we were ready to go a day early.

Early Monday morning, I grabbed McDonald’s breakfast for the kids and drove them to the Goodmans’ for one last playtime together. I have many memories of Connie, but I think I’ll always remember her in the golden morning light cutting up pancakes and sausage for my babies. Grandmothering them.

My best friend from MOMS club, Kristy, had loaned me an air mattress, so I had to stop off and return it that morning. Though it was a mundane errand , it gave us one last friendship moment together. Our goodbye was full of tears, hugs, love and happy memories.

Jon and Stephen sweated in the relentless heat as they loaded every scrap of our life into the 26 foot truck, Stephen’s Vibe, and my Rendezvous. They even cleaned the house one final time. I scribbled notes of instruction to the new owners and left a “Welcome Home” sign to greet them.

Before leaving Sarival Village, I had gotten to talk with each of our neighbors to tell them our moving plans. On our final exit, we stopped off at the Floreses house one last goodbye.

Then we grabbed the kids, hugged Connie and David goodbye, and met the Horkavys at Denny’s for a farewell brunch. My mind was spinning, and I couldn’t really process much since it was all happening a day ahead of schedule. We shared one last meal, one last Pastor Ryan speech, one last picture, one last hug, and then we left the Valley. The Horkavys had been the first ones to greet us nearly 7 years ago when we came to Phoenix, and they were the last ones to say goodbye.