School was back in for us, so Jake is missing from these pictures, but this is the old co-op group two years ago before the Lea's moved to Washington. Crazy how time flies and everyone is suddenly bigger!! Jessica, Suzy, and Tyler weren't born yet. Riley, Frankie, Scarlett, and the twins were about the same age as the babies are now. It's amazing. Love these little faces and love how they, how all of us, play and just seem to pick up where we left off.
Jaime took some excellent pictures and posted these words. I must say I completely echo them-- so I copied this from her post:
We met at Lisa's home on Monday morning for a playdate with the old crowd. It's certainly grown in the last two years. Three of us have had new babies and all the little ones are not so little anymore.
We've had so many wonderful times around this counter. Lunches, art projects, play-doh, dinners. Alyssa was at school, but Frank and Calvin joined us. I cannot describe how my heart soared as I sat around with Lisa and Remi and chatted like no time had passed. Remi is moving to Michigan in June where Dan will begin his residency. It's not likely we'll be able to gather in this way again, so it made this morning feel even more precious.
The kids completely entertained themselves. We were free to visit on the couch for the entire day. It was bliss. I kept checking in on them. Scarlett and Zackary at a Disneyland/Great Wolf Lodge level of happy. Sometimes I feel bad for moving our children away from such a great support system, family members and an incredible ward. Seeing them reunited with their friends inspired a bit of guilt, but it was easier this time than last time we visited to close my eyes and picture Poulsbo and all the beautiful things and people about our life there. Life is about making decisions and adjusting to change, but also appreciating our past. This visit to Vegas helped me to remember that.
These girls were so young when we moved away.
And Tyler wasn't even born then.
I talk about "having a couch." It's my theory about girlfriends and why I feel they're important, why I need them. When things go wrong and when I'm feeling sad, I want to go curl up on a good friend's couch. I need the couch to be comfortable and the home to be a bit messy and I need to know that no matter what's going on with my friend, she will open her home to and provide her couch for me without cleaning up before I come over because she trusts me to see her messy house and I trust her to provide a couch for me to fall apart on. Lisa has provided me with a couch many times. Her couch is still a safe place for me. This is the essence of good friendship, I think, and when you find a good friend, no matter how far apart you live, your couches are always there waiting to welcome each other back.
On my last night in town, The Gateway Girls took me to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace for my birthday, which was only two days away. It was a special night because I was with my girlfriends, Remi is moving soon, and it was what we did during my visit in July. We talked about everything (and I do mean everything!) It's probably best that Dan sent Remi a text with the sad news that all three girls had thrown up. Party's over. But what a glorious party it was. I knew our brief time in The Cottage and the Gateway Ward was special even while we were living it, but looking back now I see how precious it truly was. To have been given so many friendships, in particular friendships with three women in both my same phase of life and also nearly my same age, three women with life experience and talents and opinions, who I had much in common with and still plenty of room to learn from them, will go down as one of the greatest blessings of my life.
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