moving day

Twelve years we lived in that house.  We moved in as a newly married couple of 2 years and moved out after 14 years of marriage and four precious babies.  I knew it would be hard but I had no idea how hard.  Big changes are not really my thing and my sentimental heart would have lived in that house for the rest of my life.  However, it became obvious that it was time to move on.  

We prayed so much throughout the considering, selling, buying, and everything in between.  I prayed for the people that would move in often.  I prayed for a family that would love it and make a ton of beautiful memories there just like we did.  It was so much more than a house to me and I desperately wanted the next family to feel the same way.  We wrote a letter to the potential buyers and placed it on the counter during showings.  We had multiple offers the day before and the day it was actually put on the market.  We received two letters in return and one of them became the new owners.  They are a sweet couple who also know and love Jesus and had one tiny baby girl.  I loved them immediately and knew that they were exactly what I was praying for.

The move was exhausting in every way possible and full of help, tears, smiles, love, and pizza for days.

We were so thankful for family as well as new and old friends that showed up to help us with the move.  You know someone really loves you and/or has an amazing servant heart when they spend their Saturday helping you because moving is the worst!  

That evening after everyone had gone home and several drop-offs had been made to the "summer home", we ended up back at the house, just the six of us.  More pizza for dinner and a few more precious memories made.

By the time we got to the "summer home", it was after 10:00 and we were all extremely tired.  I was struggling and requested that we have a family sleepover in Mommy & Daddy's room.  We got out four sleeping bags and placed them all around our mattress on the floor.  I fell asleep crying that night.  I was wishing we had never decided to make this move.  I was a mess.

The next morning was new and fresh and I felt better.  We actually ended up needing to rent another U-haul because we had too much stuff left at the house.  The kids love riding in the front of the moving truck with Daddy so they were excited.  We spent another full day moving and cleaning.  We wanted to leave the house as clean as possible for the new owners to come home to.

And then at the end of the day as we were packing up the last little bit of cleaning supplies and stuff, Avery asked if we could watch the Kings Island fireworks from her room window one last time since it was getting close to 10:00.  Of course.  I was so happy that she thought of that.  We got the house completely cleared out and walked through it together one last time.  It was straight out of a scene from a movie as all the memories were flashing through my mind while my eyes scanned the rooms that made up our home for 12 sweet years.

We made our way to the window of the room Avery had slept in her whole little life and huddled around it.  The firework show began and we literally all started crying (with the exception of Violet who did not understand why in the world everyone was so upset).  Tears were just flowing like rivers down our faces as we hugged each other and watched that last fireworks show.  The moment was surreal and beautiful.  It was raw and vulnerable.  And I was feeling so crazy thankful for the journey we were all on and that we were on it together.

And so began the next chapter in our life story...