Signs of Hope

Both physically & mentally, this move was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. And through all the turmoil, I was just so thankful that the Lord sent me so many signs of hope and moments of laughter. : )
The day before we left, we actually saw a MONARCH butterfly in our yard on its journey south! I have NEVER seen one of these in our yard before, they're usually only tiger swallowtails and a few blue-tipped swallowtails in addition to a rare painted lady.

Annie was also a hoot almost every day by wanting to try on my "inside shoes" all the time.

These pictures remind me SO much of Oma as a little girl standing in her own Grandma's shoes.

BUT, the greatest joy for Annie has to be feeding "tee-toll kitty cat." We would feed Tickle for about two hours a day with these little circle "snacks" that were actually little wooden velcro circles that went to a Melissa & Doug birthday cake set. Annie would put one in Tickle's mouth and then, as she leaned down to grab another one, I would spit that first one back into the pile. And so it continued for hours each day. : )

And, don't get me wrong, there was plenty of snuggling with Tickle as well.

Then there was the thrill of Leia Rose's life (and Heidi's as well) to be able to ride in the BACK of Grandpa's pickup truck for a REALLY long ride, . . . from Heidi's house to our own, . . . a whole four houses away. Ha! ; )

And even though it was 4 AM when I took these pictures (did you notice the time of the post?), I just HAD to document this. For the last month, whenever I would take Annie out of her carseat in the garage, she would look up at this (dirty) window there and say, "Buh-Buh Bee" (meaning "Bumblebee." Why she thought this little spot of dirt (bird poop?) on the window was a flying insect, I'll never know, . . . but I sure enjoyed Annie's imagination!

And here is the very last image I will ever have of our home in Chapel Hill, . . . and if asked about the most touching memory I will always say that it is the place where I brought all of my children home after being born.