We had to say goodbye to 3 wonderful families this summer. It was really, really sad and hard for all of us in different ways. The first families to leave were the Johnson's and the Smith's. We decided to throw a party for them so we could have some time to spend together before they left. We had a pretty good turnout!
The kids had a blast playing in the yard.
I didn't take too many pictures, so most of these are the ones that Shaunté sent me. This is me with Krystal and Rich Amundsen.
And here's Nolin Maurer, Chris, Matt Smith, and Matt's two friends.
And last but not least is our wonderful bishopric. Matt left and it was just Chris and Dan for a while until they were both released in June.
It's hard to write about how these sweet families leaving has affected our family. I'll start with the Johnson's. Kayce and her family moved here the same time we did in 2012 from Ohio. She's from Utah and her husband, Jason, is a plastic surgeon who finished up his fellowship this past spring. It was time for them to move on, so they moved to Las Vegas. Their kids, Kasyn, Teig, and Dax were such good kids. I think what hurt the most is that Aaron lost Dax and I lost Kayce. Kayce was always up for a good chat. She could talk my ear off and she would also listen whenever I needed it. She is a great example of a patient mother who adores her kids and I will truly miss her friendship.
The Smith family was hard on us in it's own way. Matt quickly became Chris's best friend out here. The Smith family moved here 1 year before we did and Matt was a dental student at Temple University. He was a year ahead of Chris and he mentored Chris in so many ways, preparing him for what he was about to face his next year of school. But their friendship stayed pretty much at school and occasionally a chat at a church function. But then Matt was called to serve in the bishopric and Chris was able to spend countless hours with Matt. It was so good for Chris to have a friend he could open up to and chat with about life and all sorts of other things. It really hurt my heart to see Chris so sad after his friend moved away. And it hurt my heart even more to watch my boys lose more friends. Carter is a year older than Matthew, Mason is a year older than Aaron, and Bently is young but super fun. My boys loved the Smith boys and it was heartbreaking to watch them go! Shaunté was a good friend and I will miss seeing her and knowing that someone "gets it."
We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that people leaving is just life. A year ago we lost the Florek family and some others. The longer we are here, the closer we become to these families who are placed in similar situations to us. We are all so different, but we're often able to bond because we just understand what life is like being so far away from family, young children, school, etc. And next year it will be our turn to be the ones leaving! One thing I know for sure is that these friends we have made, while they may not be our best friends and the friends we would travel with and spend long weekends visiting, they will be our friends for life.
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