It's So Hard to Say Goodbye...

Leaving Southaven was not an easy thing to do. God has blessed us with so many friends there, and we knew it would be hard. However, our friends made us feel SO SPECIAL and LOVED!!! About 2 weeks before we left our neighbors/friends, from our old neighborhood had us over for dinner. It was so fun to get to spend time with them and to be able to see how God had given us and our kids friends in our neighborhood. on our last Friday night in town, part of our U.S. team ( the one's that live in MS) got together at Scott and Anna Katherine's for dinner, games, and prayer. We all had such a fun time and it made us hopeful for what God has in store for all of us in the months and years ahead (forgot to take pics :(. Our last Saturday night in Southaven, Bubba and Whitney put together a party for us where the people we were close to at church, got together and we ate, and they prayed for us, it was a very sweet time. The Sunday before we left, 2 of my friends who have daughters who are friends with Emma and one of those also having a son who is friends with Ty, threw a party for Emma and Ty at the skating rink. Emma and Ty had so much fun and felt so special. Those ladies also made Emma a scrapbook with pics of her friends from school and church with notes throughout that her friends had made that said: I like Emma because... and then the child would fill in the blank (brings tears to my eyes even as I type about it). Emma's teacher at school, Mrs. Smith, also had a canvas frame made that had a pic of the whole class in the middle..it was precious. Sunday night the church prayed for us and then had a reception for us afterward, Emma stated it best when she said, " I feel like a queen" The whole church made us feel so loved (sorry no pics of this :( . Tuesday, Ty's last mother's day out, his teachers gave him a party. They had made our family (or more we had made it) a special wall hanging, with our feet prints on it, and it said "Blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news" They also gave Ty some gifts ( one of those being a scrapbook from his teachers and they even put a pic of him in his "cap and gown" since he won't be there to "graduate" with his class), had special food, and played games. Finally, on Wednesday night Ty and Emma's Awana's teachers made big deals out of them!! Emma's class threw her a party and she got a beautiful cross necklace, and Ty's class had a missions emphasis, and so Ty, Jeff, and I got to go in and talk about Vancouver, and then they had a special cake for him and gave him a bat bag and Canadian money (sorry, no pics of this either :(. We were seriously overwhelmed at the outpouring of love shown to us over and over before we left. Every one in Southaven will hold special places in our hearts, and we will continue to keep up with them.

Emma and Ty with their neighborhood friends.
Emma with Ella and Adyn.

Jeff and I with Raul and Leah, and Chris and Tiffany (neighborhood friends).

Decorations for the party Whitney and Bubba threw.

Cool and thoughtful sign Bubba made for our Sat. night party and Sunday reception.

Jeff and Bubba.

Lacey and Daniel Saturday night.

People at the Sat. night party.

Emma and Gracie.

Jeff, Bubba, Frank, and Parker.

KB and Riley at the skating rink.

Gracie G. and Emma.

Emma, Abby, and Maddie, at the skating rink.

Ty with Parker at skating rink.

Ty with Conner at skating rink.

Taylor (our babysitter) with Emma at skating party.

Emma with Emma Cole at the rink.

Ty with his class at Mother's Day Out.

Cookies Ty's teacher made for his party.

Ty was definitely having a good time at his party :)

Ty with Mrs. Sandy, his Mother's Day Out teacher for 2 years.

Ty's class playing musical chairs.

Ty with Mrs. Gina (Ms. Amber had already left)

Emma with Mrs. Smith, her teacher this year.

Emma with Mrs. Patti, her other teacher this year.

Mrs. Laura (Emma's kindergarten teacher) and Emma.

Mrs. Julie and Emma (one of her 1st Grade teachers).