Although there were days where we all felt this way:

We all came around to the idea of moving and planned how we wanted to spend our short time left in AZ.

Emma decided she wanted to have a tea party with some of her girl friends.  I can't emphasize enough how LITTLE I had to do with this planning.  I was swamped with moving things and while I wanted her to have a special time with friends I was also interested to see how she would do planning it all herself.  She amazed me!

She made invitations and handed them out.  I was totally unaware she informed all the girls to wear pretty dresses because "that is how you dress to tea parties". EXcuuuuse me?! :)  So they all came dressed in their Sunday best.  She picked her outfit. She set the table and planned the menu.  All I had to do was make the little sandwiches.  She took their orders & served the food.  There was a bit of craziness from the girls for a bit so we hosted an impromptu Barbie fashion show using our stair railing as a catwalk. :)

She had some of the sweetest friends.  She manages to find friends that are a pleasure to be around and come to play & I hardly notice they are there!  It's my prayer she finds another set of friends in our new area.  I hope the tea party will be something she looks back at with fond memories.  I think I might have a future party planner on my hands!

Wednesday was their last day of school so I was sure to take some pics.  Aidan was convinced his friends, especially his buddy Michael was moving to GA too.

He LOVED Miss Pammy!  Just so you know this IS the same teacher he told me had hair like Rapunzel after his first day of PreK.  As you can see with her DARK, SHORT hair he is either not observant...or perhaps has a great imagination!?!?!

Here's Emma's  2nd grade class.  Mrs. Hanks was actually her sub, but considering her "real" teacher was only there the first month, took maternity and then decided not to come back Mrs. Hanks was more her teacher than the "real" teacher.  She loved Mrs. Hanks and her sweet disposition.

*FYI the pic w/Mrs. Hanks is one of those where I [GASP] and wonder who that BIG girl is standing next to that teacher?!?!?!??! Where's my sweet little preschooler in her Gymboree denim turtle skirt with matching turtle pony tail holder and knee socks?!?!?

After school her friend Ashton's family invited her to go to a movie.  The movie actually canceled so they went bowling.  It was Emma's first time bowling so will hold a special memory in her heart.  Ashton and her family were such a sweet and caring family that we enjoyed having as neighbors.

While Emma was off bowling we got together one last time with the Mullins.  Our closest friends and neighbors in AZ.  God really blessed me with this friend.  Our kids were close in age and LOVED playing together.  She and I just "clicked".  Our friendship isn't anything I really expected to find in AZ making it even harder to leave.  Twice in my life I have had friends that strangers would ask if we were sisters...they were asking based on looks, but in both cases the girls were also 2 of my closest friends in the town I was living.

That final play date was bittersweet.  It was such a normal day for us.  Something we sometimes did 3-4 times a week.  Get together, sit at the end of the drive and watch the kids ride bikes, scooters, dig in the dirt, fight and climb trees.  So bitter knowing that at the end of the "typical" play date we would drag all our loot home to never return.  To never play as neighbors again.  The boys would not longer hang out and talk about transformers, power rangers, Mario, farting or poop as 4 year old little boys do.  Isaac & Ainsley would not again get to run up to each other to embrace excited to see one another to only minutes later be fighting like an old married couple.

Don't want to say I doubted God would provide a friend for me there, but I guess I did since I seemed so surprised by it. And his timing in it was the most amazing.  We had been in AZ 3 months before we first met.  Their house was the last house we went to trick or treating our first fall there.  We chatted briefly but it wasn't until several weeks later that we met up at Walmart.  It was such perfect timing.  It was around that time Matt & I hit a rough patch and having someone to visit with even about everyday things & to get me out of the house was such a help to my spirit.

It was so difficult to share the news with them that we were moving.  It was hard for the kids and hard on us.  But again in God's perfect timing her kiddos have a bit of a distraction b/c their newly retired grandma just moved into the neighborhood & we are able to sneak in extra play time while she was off school for winter break.

Still seems surreal that we won't see them for a very long time. A bit different that KS friends we left but might get to see when we travel home. It sure would be nice to retreat to the beautiful weather of AZ to see them again!! :)