Our Feet Are Stained (Auf Weidersehen)

We've been asked to transfer to Edmonton for James' job and will be moving in a couple of days!  The last few months since we found out have been a bit of a roller coaster ride...and that ride ain't over yet.  When I first found out it was happening for sure (we had been waiting for news of a possible move), I was in shock for a few days, and then I kind of felt like the world came crashing down for a while.  Happily, I didn't keep feeling that way!  I'm getting more and more excited about the new changes coming up and I think we will be happy there.  I'm also aware that we will probably take some time to get used to everything new and that is okay too!

This is how I feel about the move now--new life and change are good and I can embrace this opportunity:

Our apple tree is bearing fruit this year!

This is a big improvement on how I felt about it initially!  The very same week we found out we were moving, I was backing out of the garage and smashed my side view mirror.  Every time I looked at it, I felt like I was that mirror--a bit smashed:

"There's a crack in everything...that's how the light gets in."

I even embraced it all with a haircut:

New hair, new life

 So for the last few months we've been saying goodbye to things and now we are saying goodbye to people.  This is when it gets really hard.  Here are some things and some of the many people we love who we will be saying goodbye to:

Georgie loved his singing class with Sarabeth.  He still remembers and sings a lot of those songs.  I love how he has a little repertoire of beautiful songs and nothing makes me happier than listening to him sing to himself as he goes about his day.

My trio sisters!  I will miss them so much.  We've been playing together now for 12 years.  So hard to believe.  We've put on some great programs over the years, but I think this last one was one of our best!

Karina Witbeck--amazing pianist, and Sarabeth Baldry--incredible cellist.  I love them both!
We actually went to eat lunch together a couple weeks after the recital to celebrate.  Nice to get together outside of rehearsal!

We will miss our friends the Bridges!  They are like family to us. 

Happily Grandpa and Nana will still come visit us.  They stayed with the boys while we went house-hunting for a week.  What a treasured time for the kids.  We felt so blessed and had no worries at all leaving the kids home.

I finished out my Strings in the School violin class.  This group was a lot of fun.  Such hard-working individuals.  It was a treat to have Owen and Tommy as students--they claim they will keep taking lessons but I'm not sure about that!

We might not walk to church as much...we sure have loved our ward and the friends we've made there.  They've been so good to us!

Owen loved choir this year.  He says he wants to join choir in his new school, but Tommy says he's done forever.  We'll see...

We will miss this beautiful bridge and the land all around it!  What a gorgeous place we have been living in!

Will and Ry will miss their band experience at GS Lakie.  They went on tour with 90 kids this year.  They put on quite a show--with a guitar choir and drum set as well as lead singers and the full band.  Quite thrilling!

We've loved the YMCA pool and having memberships there.  George was in a Little Scientist class and the four oldest boys did Swim Club this year.  Swimming keeps us happy!

I'll miss hanging out with this kid so much--but that would happen regardless of a move I guess.  He's been collecting many caterpillars and naming most of them George.  George I, George II, etc.

We will miss our next-door neighbours.  George and Colton hang out most days.  We've taken him on our morning adventures a lot and also they do all sorts of things outside--run the water down the gutter and float leaf boats in it, capture and care for caterpillars, ride bikes around the cul-de-sac, play dress-ups, and trade Pokemon cards, to name a few.

I got to go to a conference in Calgary and see Dr. Gordon Neufeld in the flesh!  It was very exciting and enjoyable for me.  It was fun to hang out with Mary-Rose and Nancy--two of the amazing women who have shaped my life here in Southern Alberta.

Crystal and I traveled up together and got tons of chatting time--uninterrupted by children or housework or anything else.  It was a true retreat, and I loved spending all that great time with her.  I will miss her incredibly.

I've loved playing in the Lethbridge Symphony orchestra for all these years.  This was our final big concert, and then I got to be a part of a smaller group that put on Peter and the Wolf for about 6500 school children (over a course of 7 concerts).  I love Peter and the Wolf and it was so fabulous to get that opportunity.

The roster

My Last recital with my private studio--many of these students I have taught for 10-12 years!

We said goodbye to our friend Cheryl Neufeld (no relation to Gordon) this week.  She has been a big part of the boys' lives through the hockey league she runs in Coaldale.

Aunt Janice and Uncle Dwayne have made it possible for James and I to attend the temple WAY more than we ever could have otherwise.  We will miss them and the fun times we have had at their home over the years.

We will miss being able to zip out to Waterton whenever we feel like it.  Its been so wonderful to be near mountains.  We took the boys on a 3 day camp this past weekend.  We hiked to Lower Rowe Lake--a first for us.  It was incredibly beautiful.  I loved the steep slanting meadows that the trail cut through, and how there was a combination of wooded paths through the forest and big open vistas where we had incredible views.  We were a little nervous on the way up because we saw a lot of bear droppings--but we made so much noise we hardly saw any wildlife--just caterpillars and butterflies mostly.  

So long, farewell, Auf weidersehen, goodbye!  Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you...