dear friends

I have some very sweet friends that I left behind in Oregon.  I really love the ladies in my ward.  

I am already missing them.  It is just so hard to say goodbye.  

Me leaving was a perfect excuse for a girls night, and I must say, I felt very loved by this group of ladies.  They were so thoughtful and sweet.  

Chrissy came up with the idea to go do a session at the temple.  I loved this idea and it was so fun sitting in there, looking at the long row of ladies sitting beside me.  It was a beautiful sight, I must admit.  

After the temple, we of course had to eat.  We went to Lake Oswego Grill, which I had always wanted to try, and it was delicious.  They have the most amazing waffle fries covered with a blue cheese and gorgonzola sauce.  I don't even like blue cheese and gorgonzola, but these fries?  So yum.  Oh, and dessert of course.  That was good too.  We actually stayed until well after closing, and had no idea that the whole restaraunt staff was just waiting for this giant group of dress-wearing ladies to leave.  Oops.  

Here are the sweet friends I left behind, but will always remember:

Cynthia Hedgecock and Shanan Gardiner.

Cynthia is one of the most laid-back, easy going people I have ever met.  She is so mild-mannered and such a great spiritual example.  She's also The mom to Carter who was in McKay's second year preschool class.  

Shanan was a friend to me before we even moved there.  She had heard a new family was moving in, tracked down our email address and had dinner for us the night we moved in.  I couldn't believe someone would do that.  She also had me and the kids over for our first play date.  So sweet.  She is an amazing cook and always is the first to offer to take someone's kids.  People think she has a day care in her home because of the many times she offers to help with kids.  She is the mom to Blayke- one of Ellery's bff's, Bailey- McKay's friend, and Beckham.

Chrissy Davenport and Cassidy Nelson

Chrissy is the mom of Kimmy, one of Ellery's primary and preschool friends.  Such a sweet, friendly, outgoing girl and a great mom.  She was the generous hostess of many movie nights downtown and because I think it's pretty amazing, I've got to tell you that she had a nearly 11 pound baby. . .naturally!  She brought by a bag of snacks for our trip the day we left.  I was really touched by the thoughtfulness of that.  

Cassidy is so creative and crafty and easy going.  Her little boy, Dax, is Ellery's friend and we were pregnant at the same time together, which was fun.  Layla and her cute twin boys would have been little buddies for sure.  I will always remember shopping with her and Cathy til the wee hours of the night on Thanksgiving.  The only thing that made that night worth it was being with such fun girls.  

Katie Hendrickson and Cathy Hollist

Katie amazes me.  She is so good and so humble.  She is the mom of four beautiful girls (Taylor, Hallie, McKenzie, Evelyn) and I really am in awe of how she runs her home.  She is so organized and such a good mom and I wish I could still live by her just so I could keep learning from her.  

Cathy was my closest neighbor, which was just lucky for me.  She has amazing style, is fun to talk to and serves tirelessly.  We actually went on dates when I didn't have a husband for awhile- her and Ty really took care of me.  One of the things I missed SO much when I lived in OR was the lack of other young moms in my neighborhood.  It was so nice to have this girl just a couple houses down.  I really miss talking to her and seeing her so frequently, and I'm SO glad that I got to be her neighbor.  I truly consider her one of my closest and dearest friends.   

Starr Thompson, Shera Lynn Murray, me

Starr.  I don't even know where to start.  My cub scout buddy.  My twin-family mom.  My best friend.  She was such a blessing to me and I learned so much from her.  She is so laid back and so honest about who she is.  She is so humble and thoughtful and I just really love Starr.  She took such good care of us whenever we were going through anything.  She was the first person I hugged and cried to after I found out about the whole MS thing.  She would bring me dinner just because I was having a bad day.  And she was always willing and happy to watch my kids.

I was Shera Lynn's visiting teacher.  I so loved getting to sit down with her each month and talk about life, motherhood, the gospel and everything in between.  She is incredibly sweet, and really funny and down to earth.  Her faith, testimony and humility were great examples to me.She is the mom of Brandon who was Ellery's friend and McKay's little buddy.  

Michelle Barker and Mailee Woodhouse

Michelle is so happy and friendly all.the.time.  I don't know if I ever saw her without a smile on her face.  She is positive and it's infectious.  She was also a friendly face at my ob's office, where she works.  She is a new mom to the cutest little baby, Dixon.

Mailee was my very first friend in Oregon.  I was so lonely at first and Mailee did not hesitate to befriend me, and fast too.  McKay and her son, Jaxon, had preschool together and we carpooled together.  She is really easy to talk to and really funny.  I'm really grateful that she reached out to me when I was struggling at first and became such a good friend.
  

If there is one thing I really learned from these ladies it's how to serve.  Each one has been an example of service to me.  In fact, there is so much I learned about service from being in the Summerlake ward and associating with these ladies that it changed me and I hope to be able to serve as willingly and endlessly as they did.  It really was a remarkable thing to behold, and I am so glad I got to be a part of it.

Our ward was our family while we were away and I really can't believe how lucky we were to end up in this family.  It was a blessing, that's certain.