Moving on again...

Today as I was packing, I found a stack of pictures from my BYU days with this beauty of me and my roommates a few months before I got married. Yes, that's me looking young and well-rested. Anyways, it was fun to think about how much has changed in the last 6 odd years. When we took this picture, I was so excited to be moving on to the next step and getting married and then I was excited to move to Cleveland, and have a baby and another baby and now move back to Alaska. But I think each time I move on again, even though I am excited, I feel a little bit more sad about leaving the last step behind. Maybe because I am recognizing each time that you don't revisit the past the way you think you will and life keeps moving forward way to fast. I remember when Stratton was born thinking about how old he would be when we left Cleveland and thinking there was no way he would get that big, and now here we are with a tall skinny boy that talks my ear off and tells me he wants to a be a pilot when he grows up(on the days he isn't leaning towards being a robot). If any of you have talked to me lately and find this surprising, don't worry. I can still hardly wait to get to Alaska. But I will miss our time in Cleveland. It has been great for our family and for me. I will miss my lovely friends here. Thanks for a wonderful 4 years. I still can't believe no one wants to move to Alaska.

And K and N, here's to you! I can't believe how much life has changed for all of us since we took this picture. I never thought I'd have to act like a grown up so much of the time. I miss you guys, but I hope your next steps are as exciting as ours! Judging by how cute your kids are, how could they not be? And I promise the next time we are through Salt Lake, I will call. If my boys haven't hidden my phone.

A Real Cleveland Moment

Today I was out running errands with Stratton and we were driving by one of the many synagogues near our area. For those of you who don't know, Cleveland has a pretty sizable Orthodox Jewish community. Since today was Saturday, and the Jewish Sabbath, there were several families walking to and from the synagogue. The wind was really whipping and an older man leaving the synagogue lost his big black hat that the men wear outside.It blew all the way across the street. A tricked out Cadillac a few cars ahead of me slammed on its breaks and HUGE black guy got out and stopped the traffic going both ways, ran across the street and retrieved the man's hat and brought it back to him. I don't know where I else I would have witnessed something quite like that, but I will definitely miss seeing things like that when we leave soon. Cleveland is a great community in its own right.