Bittersweet

The bittersweet of moving has hit.  All three of the kids have struggled  a little bit with moving.  Olivia has struggled mainly with moving to a new ward.  She absolutely loved her leaders in F3 and is having a hard time getting excited about being in F2.  The hardest thing for her is that in the other ward she had so many friends that she had a good time with, and in the new ward she doesn't know any of the girls, and is a little hesitant to put herself out there.  Thanks to good, caring leaders, she seems to be adjusting, but she still seems a little sad after two weeks in the new ward that she can't join her old friends.  She calls the our new place the "house" and says it will never be home.  I hope she will feel different soon.  Olivia has told Dave she can't just leave the house where all of her memories are.  I never looked at it that way, but after living all 14 years in that house every memory she has will be in that home.  Shaylee is also struggling.  She doesn't talk about it, but through her actions we can tell it is affecting her.  We know it doesn't have anything to do with the wards, because she is now surrounded by her friends in this ward.  I think it is just the newness and getting use to it.  Taite broke down and cried with Dave the other night about how he wanted to move back to the old house.  He says he misses everything about it.  Sometimes I too find myself reflecting on the memories of it.  In fact, the other day I turned and drove straight to the old house on my way home.  It took me a second to realize what I had done.  Yes, we like our new house, there are so many great things about it, but after 14 years it is hard to walk away with out some sadness.

The end of the school year has come as well.  This too has a bittersweet feeling.  One, Olivia will enter high school in the fall.  I am so excited for her and the many adventures that await.  However, I am amazed at how quickly she is growing up.  When we moved Taite got shafted with the smallest bedroom and one day he was feeling pretty down.  Olivia said to him, "Don't worry bud, in four years you can have my room."  Now to a nine-year-old four years is a long way down the road, but to the mom of a fourteen-year-old that is only a blink away.

Also, I am always a little sad to send my class on at the end of the year.  I have had a super experience this year and I hope each one of my students leaves fourth grade with the knowledge they need to be successful, but more importantly that they leave knowing I care about each one of them and want them to find success.