Memories of Minnesota

This is the scene I see when I look out our back door. Tons of kids playing and Evan loving every minute of it. I'll admit that some of the kids really get on my nerves at times, but it is always nice that Evan has friends right in his backyard to play with. I feel so bad making him move away from friends and life as he knows it. He has moved two other times, but he wasn't old enough to realize what was going on. Evan has many things he will be leaving behind - friends, school, #8 as he calls our townhome, the train that runs along side our house, his favorite parks & pools, play areas at the malls, "his" Children's Museum, the many lakes & beaches, and the list could go on. Out of everything I know Evan will miss his friends the most. He may not always act like it, but Evan LOVES to play with his friends. Every time I tell him we are going somewhere, Evan will ask me who is going to be there. One of the favorite things the kids in our townhome complex like to do is have water fights and spray water at everything. Evan introduced the younger kids to the art of spraying a spray bottle instead of a squirt gun since it is easier. The kids have had hours of fun with this $1 spray bottle. These are some of the neighbor kids - Emma, Phil, Evan, Sofia, & Christopher. Evan loves playing with them and especially likes Emma to come play in his house.
I took these pictures of Lily and Evan a few days ago. They were just being too cute to resist. Lily is SO close to crawling. I am not ready for a baby on the go!!Our great friends JoAnn and Steve had a farewell get together this past Sunday for us. It was nice to be together with our friends for one last time, chat, eat some delicious dessert, and let the kids play together. Not only is Evan going to miss his friends, but Rob & I will miss our friends a lot also.

This was not planned, but turned into the perfect photo moment. The dads with their girls - Rob & Lily, Reed & Matilda, Steve & Amelia, Harvey & Ella. Unfortunately Bill arrived after this photo or he would have been in it with McKenna.

Our hosts for the night - the Knightons - JoAnn, Amelia, Steve, & Ben with Rob, Evan, Mandy, and Lily. It was so funny because we could not get the babies to look at the camera. They just wanted to look at each other!
We will miss all of you Minnesotans! We cherish our friendship with you and hope to see you in Salt Lake sometime soon!