Saying Goodbye to Minnesota

We are all (with the exception of Coleman) really getting sentimental and sad around here. While we are excited for the new adventure that the Lord has for us, we are sad at the same time to be leaving here. You really start to grow "roots" in a place that you've lived for 7 years. That's no small amount of time. While there are plenty of things I won't miss about Minnesota (massive April snow storms). There are even more things that I will miss. So, here's a little top 10 list of things I will miss (they are in no particular order)
1. the 4 parks within walking distance of our house
2. Lakes everywhere you turn!
3. 1 or 2 good snow storms (not all 20 we get every year)
4. all the ethnic restaurants because of all the diversity in Minneapolis
5. crossing over the Mississippi every time we drive into the city
6. the skyline as we drive into the city
7. the free zoo and conservatory 15 min. from our house
8. our neighborhood/house
9. our staff team (of course this would be number 1)
10.our church
I also thought it would be appropriate to start this post with a stroll down memory lane. Perhaps you remember this photo back in February of 2007.

Thankful that God grew us from 2 to 4!

Callie our little photographer helped us re-create this picture. There it was, start to finish in our little house. I will probably bawl my eyes out when we leave it (even though it has NOT been without its headaches). It was the first house we lived in together, the house we brought our children home from the hospital in, our home for the past 6.5 years.

Last Minnesota Days Part 2

So, I was planning on just doing last post (this being it), but we've taken a lot of photos around here this past week, so I think we'll squeeze one more in before we leave. Stay tuned for the final post (for real this time) coming in a few days. Last weekend we headed out to western Minnesota for a wedding. It was a lot of fun to attend our last Minnesota wedding. We had great weather and it was a beautiful setting next to a lake.

Callie had a lot of fun playing with her friends (some of the last times, so sad).

We basically had to pry her off the dance floor at 9pm. (way past bedtime).

Her last day of preschool. It's been an awesome experience for her!

Callie and Molly

Callie and Elisha

Last Minnesota Days Part 1

This is not our last post in Minnesota. I plan on squeezing one more in. We are starting to get sentimental around here, tearing up a lot more. Anyway, here are a few pictures to enjoy til that last post. Here's a pic of Coleman. We were out walking just the two of us one morning when Callie was a preschool. It was garbage truck day and Coleman was highly entertained. The boy loves trucks right now.

Here's Callie's latest family portrait!

Charlie and I enjoyed an early birthday dinner at Benihana.

Latest shot of kids at the park

Wet, Cold, but WONDERFUL Wednesday!

So, Wednesday may have been cold and even a bit snowy, but nonetheless it proved to be a wonderful day. Wednesday morning Callie's friends threw a little going away party for her. It was sooo sweet. We made photo albums complete with pictures of the girls from the past 4 years. The girls "wrote" little notes for each other to put in their photo books. And, because princess attire is so very important, we had a little disney dance party as well. It was a great morning. So many sweet memories we are making even in our last month here.

As if that wasn't fun enough, Callie and I returned home to find a big bouquet of flowers. Charlie and Coleman had gone out to get us flowers! What a surprise! I've loved having them this week especially because it was a cold, dreary, somewhat snowy week. Then, to top it all off, Holly, Samm, and Lisa "kidnapped" me for a fun dinner date to cafe latte. It was great. I had no idea it was coming. It was so sweet of them to want to treat me to that!

here is just the latest pic of our two goofballs. They like to both play in Colman's crib sometimes. I think Callie was pretending that Coleman was at nursery (or something like that).