As our time in Arkansas draws to a close, I'd like to recap a few highlights from the past 8 years. This list is not extensive by any means. The community we have found with this group has been outstanding and truly made life worth living in Fort Smith. (Cheesy, I know. I had to fit the town motto in at least once.)
* Life Group at the Benjamins'
* Emergency appendectomy
* Getting to lead a Life Group at the Wilsons'
* Sharing the news of our firstborn with Wilsons, Frosts, Tignors, and others
* Michael and Jeanie Cole coming to the hospital late at night when Abigail was born and Jeanie staying turbo late with me to take pictures since no family could come
* Celebrating Tignors' marriage
* First birthday party pig roast for Abigail
* Adventures with Burt in the early years of The Group
* Sharing the news of our second born with Wilsons, Frosts, Tignors, and others
* Girls weekend trip to Branson
* First birthday party pig roast for Elise
* Mourning our miscarriage with our group
* Guys coming to do yard work for me during lunch hour when I was too hurt to walk after the car accident
* Sharing the news of our third born with our group
* Fine Italian tile work in the kitchen courtesy of Sofio
* First ever Multi-Celebration Celebration hosted by Sofios, Sniders, and others
* Lisa G. spending part of her birthday to come see Gabriella in the hospital when she was born and giving me her leftovers from her birthday meal with her dad
* Citizens Fire Academy with Kent and Joe -rappelling, playing with the fire hose, cutting up a car with the jaws of life, putting out a fire in the back if the fire station, donning the hazmat suit and doing drills...
* Bonding over meat at MeatFest
* Bonding in extreme elements with the men during Manly Camping Trips
* Sharing the news of our fourth born with our group
* Fight Night at the Almonds'
* Unfortunate hair fire at Multi-Celebration Celebration '12 (it was embarrassing, but still made the highlight reel. You're welcome for not mentioning names)
* Helping new people move in and then helping family move out
* Rejoicing with friends who moved away and got pregnant
We aren't moving to be closer to family. You have become our family. We're moving for the career opportunity and relatives happen to live nearby. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a part of our lives. At every house party I remind you that it takes a village to raise a child and that I'm proud to be a member of yours. My children have had the privilege of growing up with over a dozen uncles and aunts who have poured tons of love and attention on them. This has been an amazing adventure and we look forward to expanding our community during our next adventure in South Carolina.
