saying farewell to sunny Florida

Our final weeks in Florida were filled to the brim with activity. I usually try & limit us to getting out of the house twice a week on weekdays since it is SUCH an ordeal but we did more than double that & welcomed many to our home as well to squeeze in all the goodbyes we needed to. 

I was a ball of emotions experiencing tears, lots of laughter, an achy breaky heart as I hugged special friends & family for the last time or watched my children do the same.  Over all, my heart was thankful for all that God had given us in the season of life in Orlando.  What a whirlwind it was of ministry & exhaustion, pregnancies & breastfeeding, working & maternity leave, hellos & goodbyes, joyfulness & sadness but always, ALWAYS perfectly orchestrated by God. 

Lots of pictures to come....

Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies: my place of employment for six years & more importantly the place where we met our precious little ones.  This place holds memories of special patients, LOTS of babies, co-workers that cared deeply for our family as we added to the bunch in a short period of time, sharing in the joy of welcoming my niece & nephew along with baby Eden, baby, Audrey & baby Lilah,  much laughter in daytime & nighttime shifts, yummy wraps & mozzarella cheese sticks, visit after visit after visit to the NICU to see O&A, I could go on forever. I loved this hospital, was proud to be a part of the team there & was thankful to bring my four into the world in such a wonderful place.   

It just so happened that my friend a fellow nurse Cheryl was a budding photographer who beautifully captured my pregnancy with Charlotte & the little lady at six weeks old submitted many of her photos when our unit was granted an allotted amount of money to fill the walls with photos.  This picture of Char in a basket in Celebration was chosen to be at the entrance of B pod where she was born along with three different pictures of my belly that are spread throughout the unit. I loved walking past that sweet picture during every shift....

and while we are on the subject of OB, we made a stop by the office to say goodbye to our beloved Dr. Peppy who delivered Charlotte & the twins along with his amazing office staff. Tawanna, the nurse pictured below kept us laughing week after week at all my appointments, made our girlies feel extra special & hooked us up with a family that has twin boys a year ahead of us that have passed along car seats, toys, clothes & all sorts of things. What a blessing it has been to have been cared for by this team!

On a non-goodbye note, we enjoyed empty cabinets so much that I should have cleared one out a LONG time ago! Good for play time...

and dinner time...

We planned a playdate with the Brainard family. It was supposed to be a morning followed by leaving the girls there while me & the boys went home to nap before a night shift but it turned into an entire day at the Brainards with naps for all but Annie, Charlotte & Hannah! We have enjoyed many a meet up with this clan & will miss them greatly.  Annie put it well in a letter she wrote me that said that every person in their family loses a friend with us moving away. We always joke that our seven together is like having two sets of twins & a set of triplets! Much easier to manage with two sets of parents!

We had lunch out at Chuy's, our favorite Tex Mex in central Florida.....it's hard to come by around that part of the US! We met the Squires family & Char enjoyed some time with her buddy Jackson. We have loved the short time we have had being around this family & are so thankful that they are committed to serving at CCC.  We all laughed when I shared that Charlotte frequently said (prior to leaving) that she would really miss Chuy's.  Cassi said "oh honey, you have no idea hoe much Tex Mex you are about to be surrounded by!" True & glorious statement : ) 

Even Owen & Anson had some friends to say farewell to! One night last September I was working & a fellow nurse was caring for a patient that was in preterm labor with twins. She requested that I go visit to better help her think through time in the NICU & breastfeeding two little guys. We immediately hit it off & thanks to a slow night at work, we got to visit for a good long while! She welcomed her precious boys Tyson & Cameron the following day. We have been able to pass along all the twin items to them & have even had a few playdates! I love Owen's face, he was so excited!

Thursday afternoon I had the pleasure of taking my favorite 9 & almost 8 year old little ladies out to Menchie's for some frozen yogurt. These two beautiful girls belong to my friend Cathy & we have enjoyed watching them grow from preschoolers to such smart, sweet & kind young ladies. I often get caught up in conversation with them anytime our families are together & thought the three of us needed some alone time to say goodbye. It was refreshing to hear their thoughts on birthday celebrations, baptism & American Girl dolls. They introduced me to to a new topping that taste like strawberries & pop in your mouth...yum! I am such a stickler with my vanilla snow & Reeses only toppings so it was fun to branch out with the young crowd! Their little brother Alex went with Charlotte & his mommy to get a donut & play on the playground. Those two have a great friendship & will miss one another. This family, ah, I love them & am so very sad to leave but hope to plan some get togethers over the course of the coming years! These kiddos feel like cousins to my bunch : )

Our amazing friend Heather stopped by for a visit one evening during our last week.  This woman has loved & served our family so faithfully for the entire time we were in Florida.  She was the first to stay over & take care of our four legged "kids" when we traveled & she continued to be our dog/house watcher nearly every time we went out of town. The dogs LOVED her almost as much as the kids : ) She was one of the few that braved taking care of all four kids alone in the early months of four under four & did an incredible job. She poured into our girls, sharing about Jesus & praying with them at bedtime to the point that the girls first prayed aloud with her...so precious. We have spent various holidays with her, celebrated birthdays & enjoyed her company. We will miss her dearly & are excited to see how the Lord works to equip her to move permanently to Guatemala in the near future to share the gospel along with her parents.

On our last day in Orlando as a family, the Valentine's joined together for some playtime & a rainy picnic enjoyed by all. Jenny girl was a gracious host providing a yummy lunch for the whole crew. My mom was able to join us & offered to snap a picture of us with our seven! Florida has been a fertile place for the Valentine's ; ) Livi-Lou's face is hilarious...

These two beauties are really going to miss each other!

It was perfectly overcast for the beginning of our picnic...

Gaga & Owen. I was SO thankful to have my mom there to help us in the last week. We shared some special moments talking & crying as we packed. She shared with me that she wanted me to know that she never prayed that we would move back to Texas only that we would be content with where the Lord had us. What a gift to have a woman who loves us so dearly also love us unselfishly.  She of course is delighted to be near to us with our move & was so helpful when I felt like laying on the floor & staring at my messy house.

Iggy, a boy that makes me excited to have two boys of my own. I can't wait till ours are running around & tackling their big cousin!

Some ducks came up to visit as the raindrops started. The boys were mesmerized!

and all continued to be obsessed with the ducks once we were inside...

We will miss that back door into nature at Aunt Jenny & Uncle Steve's house!

Friday afternoon, the Lent's stopped by. Yet another family that brings tears to my eyes as I consider all of life experienced together.  Quick summary, we have known Chris for years & when we moved here in 2008, we were diligently praying that God would give him a wife.  God answered that prayer & allowed them to meet in our home (sweetness) in 2009! They married & we were a part of their special day. Amanda is a close friend & confidant who welcomed me into the intimacy of welcoming their precious baby Audrey in 2012. I have had the opportunity to photograph every exciting life event & have loved seeing these two adjust to parenthood while serving at CCC.  My girls absolutely adore Audrey & we can hardly wait for their next trip to Texas to visit Chris's parents!

We have been blessed with some special relationships with neighbors in the past six years. One family that has been a delight to have around is the King's.  We first met James & Janet when they attended a Sunday worship service at CCC before we had any children. They were invited by a acquaintance of ours who was serving as their social worker in the early stages of pursuing adoption.  God so lovingly gave those parents Lexi & Stephen about three years ago & we have had the pleasure of seeing these four mold into a beautiful family.  The kids stop by our house often to play with a dog, request that Rob comes out to throw a football & Lexi has spent many an afternoon helping me around the house.  The girls have loved playing with their puppies as well, Chestnut & Molly. We were sad to say goodbye!

That Ziel family could not let us go & came by for one last hug Friday evening! I was happy : ) Cathy later told me that all three kids were crying on the way home & sporadically throughout the rest of the night. Hearing that makes me cry but on the other hand, seeing all these smiles & chubby Anson trying to wriggle out of Anna's arms does the opposite!

Earlier that last week my mom stayed with our kids while Robby & I went over with a bag full of cheese, crackers & a bottle of wine. We spent four hours straight catching up & laughing (our favorite way to spend time). It was a lovely night, one I know we will wish we could put on repeat.

Our last visitors on Sunday afternoon were Steve, Jenny, Karis, Isaac & Olivia.  Karbear & I-gee were quite excited about the wide open spaces in the house without furniture & did lots of running around & exclaiming "This is like one big living room without furniture Aunt Lala! I love it!" So cute : ) Livi- Lou got some snuggles from both of us plus my Dad who was there to help us finish up & drive to Texas.  Jenny brought me a stack of CDs that were the equivalent of mixed tapes for my 20 hours alone in a vehicle.  We have lived in the same city with Steve & Jenny all but one year so this transition will be a difficult one not only for us but the kids too. I have loved knowing my nieces & nephew so well & am trying to be creative as I figure out how to keep that up with the distance between Texas & Florida followed by the even longer distance between Texas & Poland.  I trust that God will continue to deepen our relationships & provide the in town support we need from others when we are separated. For the coming months, I will just stare at these three precious faces when I miss them....

We buckled them into their seats & said farewell from our driveway one last time before heading back in to finish up the packing & loading.

What a gift it has been to have our lives intertwined with so many people through our time in sunny Florida.  I know that the hurt experienced when leaving is a good thing because it is evidence of being "all in" wherever we are. We had that same hurt when we left home to go to college, when we left Lubbock after graduation & then when we left Dallas for the (half) cross country move to Orlando. As always, we don't know what is a head but we look forward to the continuing of crossed paths with others in this journey. We trust that God will give us not only what we need but WHO we need as well.