goodbye Anna

Monday afternoon we threw together a picnic, picked up the big three from local school and headed to a park for some fun.

These huge letters are fun to climb in, and photo-taking opportunities abounded.  And it was a good beginning of the goodbye-Anna week.

Our best photo of the week is definitely this one!  Everyone worked hard to personalize the mat and I'm thinking this one is a keeper for Anna :)  [I'm also wishing I had done more photos like this over the years... for me ... to keep.  It's a fun way to capture a moment, and the signatures are priceless.]

Luke can't write his own name but he has mastered the 3.  And if I hold my hand lightly on top of his he mostly gets the letters, some of the time.  ha.  John Paul is a name-writing fool, the J is hit or miss and the N a bit of a train wreck, but he's a proud do-it-yourself-er on this activity and I'm not going to rain on his parade.

I know in a few months even those two and their skill levels will change, so it's good to mark this moment in time.  For so many reasons.  Our kids experience so many goodbyes, so much transition, so much relational change.  Their grief is real, and their life experiences intense.  I'm grateful that we worked hard to commemorate these special weeks with Anna.

We all miss her.  She became a dear friend to all of us in a very short time.  I'm really going to miss her, and we are anxious to keep up our friendship.  I expected that our time would be blessed in many ways, but I did not expect to enjoy such deep friendship with Anna... our age difference is significant (ahem!) but not an obstacle.  I'm blessed to count her as a friend.  And so are my children!

The week marched on, Matt returned home from a trip (perfect timing as the rocking of the family emotional boat was needing his steady presence) and we transitioned towards the weekend.  Next week is a big holiday here which throws the local school schedule for a loop, but we will carry on with home school and hopefully squeeze in a camping trip?  I'm reminding Matt that this is the big year that he can take ALL FIVE kids and he's thinking that means I'm camping too.  Typically its a dads and kids trip (Moms home with the little ones) but I'm not sure what to do if there are no little ones to stay home with?!?!?  This October camping trip is a tradition dating back to the year he took Julianna - at 21 months old!  and left me home with 2 month old Lydia!  I'll have to pull out some old photos.