Leaving La Habra

It's Thursday afternoon, the U-Haul is loaded and we're on our way to Jenni's parents' home in Upland where we will stay until our flight.

As I (David) sat in the hallway looking into our empty rooms, a flood of memories swept over me as I recalled the blood, sweat and hours that were poured into renovating this place when we first moved in, the 3 children we had and watched grow here, the countless pages I read and wrote during school, and the peaks and valleys of our journey as believers, spouses and parents. These four years on Hartford Lane have been rich and full; it's hard to believe that so much living took place so quickly in these walls. If they could only talk, I bet they'd say, "We'll miss you." We will too.

By the way, God used many family & friends this month to help get us to this point ... THANK YOU to:

Uncle Jake & Peter Sohn for lending both your wheels & muscle to help move our belongings to Upland in shifts.

The Giesekes, Barbers, Brassetts, Alipurias and Daniel & Amy for blessing us with dinners (as our kitchen was being packed up).

Kim Lomakin for helping us pack, playing with our girls and for the gift of the U-Haul.

The Bergmans for taking Verity for the entire day on Tuesday (and for giving Verity her first ice cream truck experience!)

The Baxis' and David's parents for helping out the weekend before our move and to Jenni's parents for allowing us to use their home as our "storage unit" and a "launch pad."

Jim Burkett for willingly taking on the role of "handy/answer man" for our new tenants and for being such an incredible neighbor these last four years!

Alexis Alipuria, a master packer, who helped us tremendously the night before our move ... she first arrived with dinner in hand and then stayed until 11pm packing boxes. She even accompanied Jenni on her final Boba Loca run.

Kelly Taylor, for her willingness to drive Jenni back out to La Habra last-minute on Thursday night and allowing us to pack up Kelly's car with more boxes!

And to the countless others who have called, written or e-mailed with encouragement, gifts, and prayers. Thank you for helping us get through this season!