Saying Goodbye...

The moment I had been dreading for a few months, inevitably came and went. And I must say, it wasn't easy.

Tuesday, around 5:30 p.m., I had to say goodbye to a family that I love more than I could ever express in words.

A few months back, Amanda and I were sitting at lunch with the Tods and she turned to me and said, "I have some sad news." Before the words even came out of her mouth, I knew what they were going to be. They are moving. I tried to hold it together as best as possible and was a little surprised at how taken off guard I was by this news. I had been expecting this announcement for about a year, not because of anything she had done or said, just because I knew that Irving was not where God was going to plant them for the rest of their lives. I had been trying to prepare myself for it, but when the words actually came out of her mouth my heart broke over the realization that this friend that I love so much will no longer be living 15 minutes away from me. All the memories we had shared over the last 3 1/2 years came rushing to my mind.

I'm going to ramble a lot because I honestly have no idea how to write about how much their friendship has meant to our family.

Amanda and I discovered in June 2005, that we were both pregnant and only TWO weeks apart! From that moment on, there has been a growing bond of friendship that I am truly in awe of. I still can't get over how we ended up in the hospital together having our babies only two days apart. Only the Lord knew that was going to happen. Along with Sunni, we took all of our pregnancy classes together. The three of us went through all of pregnancies ups and downs ("throwing up buddies" as Amanda and I called it) and many sleepless nights once our precious babies were born. We had many "playgroups" those first few months. Really, it was Mommy Therapy to help spur us on to get through the next night of sleeplessness along with dealing with post pregnancy raging hormones. We had countless conversations about bowel moments, sicknesses, breastfeeding, constipation, pacifiers, hooter hiders, bottles, sippy cups, the list goes on and on. We also got to celebrate so many amazing milestones that our babies were going through, like rolling over, sitting up, pulling up, first steps, first kisses, first words!

In the hospital:




Ella and Jackson have been best buds for two years. They have grown up for the past two years in the same nursery and graduated together to each class. They learned to expect to see each other every Sunday morning. The past several months on Sunday mornings, I would put Ella's dress on and tell her we were going to church and the first words out of her mouth would immediately be "Jackson!" I also learned to expect my seat next to Amanda almost every Sunday morning as we worshiped together. Many times after church, we would pick our babies up and all 6 head to lunch. I could probably fill 5 photo albums just with the amount of pictures of Ella and Jackson growing up.

To Curtis, thank you for being the best boss anyone could ask for! I would work for you again in a second. The office will not be the same without you. You are without a doubt one of the best speakers I have ever heard! I look forward to many times in the years to come, sitting in the audience as you preach God's Word in the powerful way that only you can.

To Jackson, like your mommy said in a previous post, I love you as if you were one of my own. Even though I will see you in a month, kissing you goodbye on Tuesday was heart wrenching. I know you will change so much in that short amount of time. Make sure your mommy shows you pictures of Ella often so you don't forget. She will be calling you soon to say hi.

To Amanda, I've already said how much you mean to me. But I will thank you again! You have blessed my life in so many ways. I am so blessed to have such good girlfriends and God once again way exceeded my expectations for a friend in you. I miss you already. I know it won't be the same, but thankfully the foundation has been laid and I know without a doubt that distance can not shake that.

Now as Sunni would say, SOMEBODY SLAP ME. The amount of oatmeal creme pies and Reese's chocolate covered peanut butter eggs I've eaten since they left is sinful.

Here are some pics from Ella and Jackson in the nursery for the last time:







This is Ms. Eula! I dare somebody to try to find a sweeter lady. She has been Jackson and Ella's Sunday School teacher for the past several months and I know she blesses those children's lives. She's been doing this for longer than I've been alive.


These pictures were taken right after Amanda had to say goodbye to all of the people she loves so much at our church, thus the reason for the red eyes.


Sunday night it just was right for us all to go to Double Dave's. It is a loved thing that we do together, so it just had to be done. :-) Many memories have made in these booths.




And like times before, we would let our yummy pizza settle in our tummies at our house. We had such good conversation that night while the Tods were plenty occupied.


This is the moment of saying goodbye. I am going to miss this sweet "mister".




We love the Jones' Family!