The Farewell Tour Continues...

Two more emotional land mines were cleared this week: We said goodbye to the Bowmans (better known as Jill, Brent, Brynn, and two week old Drew) as they moved away to Denver.  This was a family delivered to us directly from God to make our time in San Diego sweet and meaningful and just plain fun.  It's friends like these that give me so much encouragement to keep on reaching out for relationships when we find ourselves starting over in a brand new town.  Who would have imagined such a deep connection could be made in less than two years?  So in direct opposition to my introverted nature, I'll keep our hearts and lives open for our next great friendships.  Some photos of our last evening together:

Later in the week we celebrated the end of a great first year of preschool for Millie.  Really, it's the first year of school for our entire family.  It was cool to feel our way through the logistics of the new schedule, packing a lunch, classmates' birthdays, Millie's own birthday with her class, how in the world to save/store/stash the copious amounts of artwork she produced, parent/teacher conferences, and so much more.  She of course, grew and changed like I could not have imagined, and my single goal for her was accomplished a million times over: She grew to love and trust her two teachers.  Mrs. Beisigl and Mrs. Cook poured themselves into these three year olds each week and Millie thrived in the attention.  Here's how I know: not too long ago Millie did something really cool (I forget exactly what it was...) and the first thing she said to me was "Can I tell Mrs. Beisigl?"  Something tells me that her teachers are celebrating Millie's achievements in a special, special way.  I'm excited about our next school adventure in Charlottesville.  Millie is too, which is just priceless.

This is "Simon's Hall"...his holding pen before bursting through that door to greet his sister at the end of her day.

Dad and Mils check out a photo collage her teachers made for her.

Millie and her friend Amelia.