We've moved enough to know that goodbyes are hard. One of the blessings of moving a lot is meeting so many wonderful people around the country. Before we moved we had a lot of last get-togethers with our friends. When we moved to Minnesota the first year was tough. I felt so displaced in a new state, knew barely anyone, missed Utah (where I'd lived for ten years) and it was freezing all the time. That was, wow - a really hard year. I remember crying spontaneously a lot, missing our community, friends, state. Over the years, though, we made so many great friendships in Minnesota. It's hard to believe that by the time we left it felt like home.
This girl.She was basically the rock of our ward in Minnesota. She helped everybody with everything... she took care of people's kids when they were sick, invited people to activities when they were new, she took meals (delicious meals!) to anyone feeling down or burdened. She was always volunteering at church, always helping people out at the drop of a hat... basically just always serving, even when she had her own health trials to deal with. Not only were our kids best friends, but she is one of my best friends too (not to mention Genevieve loves her). My first great Minnesota friend. Love you Jess! So many fun times, outings, carpools, preschool memories, and rambunctious memories with our boys together.
The summer after we moved to Minnesota I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends from London study abroad move minutes away! In our ward. It was such a blessing to me. Char and I had kids all the same age, we were pregnant (and sick, ugh!) together, and saw each other almost every day. We cried together when our kids went off to school, had random play dates all the time where we'd corral all our kids to play inside while we drank hot chocolate, played volleyball on a league team and church team together, cooked for each other, watched each other's kids, sang karaoke, worked out religiously at Lifetime, sent our kids to preschool and joy school, went on lots of fun dates, and sang too loudly to music in the car when we were kid free. Char is the kind of optimistic, uplifting friend everyone needs. This girl never tires of being an amazing mom, never complains, and seeks the best out of life. Love you Char!
The friend blessings kept pouring in in Minnesota - some of our best friends from BYU moved to Minneapolis a year after we got there. After the first year being so hard in Minnesota, then having Jess move there, then Char, then Sarah, I feel like God put some major blessings in my life with these ladies!
So thankful I could be there when Sarah had her sweet babes!
Love these Larsens. Friends since we first got married. Been there when they got engaged, married, and had their babies! Sarah saved me when I was way in over my head with 3 kids - always there for me to vent and helping me to have a good time!
Glad I got one picture with my friend Kristy who did my hair for 3 years while we lived in MN. Our kids became friends and we did too!
Megan, on the left, lived 2 doors down from us. What a miracle to have a friend from church close moving to an unknown place. From the get-go she was bringing us meals and offer to help with our kids. We really started to get close about a year and a half after we moved to Minnesota - when we started serving in the Primary Presidency together. She also joined our city league volleyball team and we had such a fun time together. I really grew to love Megan so much. She's such a hard worker, a great mom, and was a wonderful friend. And here are our girls who became good friend too ;)
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If you asked me that first year I would have happily moved away from Minnesota, but over the years we were so blessed with great friends and experiences. I'm thankful we stayed and met so many great people.
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