Something's Missing...

Two weeks ago we bid farewell to some of our best friends here in Denver. It's not like saying goodbye is something new, we've done it many times before (and shoot, people came and left DC all the time!), but this time has seemed so much different.  And, our kids were involved, and that seemed to make it even harder.

We have been so blessed to make great friendships here in Denver since moving here in 2009, and as God would have it, as our family grew several years later, so did many of theirs.  We transitioned into new phases of life together, we laughed together, we cried together, we shared meals together weekly (or even more often!), we camped/played/danced/worshiped/partied/cried/loved/picnicked/etc together, we made MANY memories (many of which have been documented on this blog)... and later as our kids grew our kids became best friends and made their own memories together.  Something set these friendships apart from college or even post-college friendships (i.e. the free-spirited/figuring things out days!). I was 28/29 when I first met these friends, and for some reason that made a difference in the impact these recent years have had on me as an adult (something about maturity/wisdom/growth/experience/etc that comes with age and makes you appreciate, value, and look at life differently perhaps!).

I know it's a special thing to have friends living in your neighborhood that you can meet up with at the drop of a hat.  I know not everyone gets to have friends that will meet up for spontaneous barbecues on a moment's notice (sometimes on a weekly basis!).  I know not everyone can text a group of friends and have them all meet up at the zoo/fountains/library/park/bar in ten minutes time.  I know we have been fortunate to have friends that would bring us meals in hard times, share a glass of wine or coffee when someone needs to talk, cry with us in times of grief, or dance when a dance party is totally needed.  I know it has been a unique and blessed time that we've had such a great group of fun, carefree, loving, generous, and caring friends.

And with all that said, we are still in a little bit of shock that the Van Wylen family moved back home to Michigan earlier this month.  AND, to top it off, our first friends here - the Westras (frequent blog appearances!), announced shortly after that they would be moving back too.  Our world has been shaken quite a bit.  Benjamin's world as he knew it is totally changing.  Emmeline is gone, and Boaz will be gone shortly, and it's just SO sad for us.  It feels empty around here in many ways, and I know Benjamin will never find such an amazing group of buddies again.  We are thankful that there are still many great friends here who we cherish, but this month has really been about grieving the "loss" of two close families - friends we are SO utterly thankful for.  We already miss the VWs like crazy.  They have hearts of gold, and they will never be replaced.  (Excuse me.....come back!!!)

We wanted to make the most of the remaining Van Wylen days, so we spent time doing a lot of the usual - play dates in the backyard, trips to the zoo and museum, you name it.

And on a usual City Park Jazz night, rain prompted us to relocate to our house and have an impromptu evening with the Van Wylens.  Any time with them we could get, we would take!

A few days later, in place of our normal girls Bible study, we had a going away dinner at the Van Wylen's house.

And on their last day in town, we made a trip to the zoo with the kiddos, cried LOTS of tears, and said our goodbyes before they left in the evening.

We love and miss you Van Wylens!

Father's Day Fun

Last weekend we celebrated Matt - he has been a HUGE rock for me during the past year (oh wait, during the past SEVEN years) and has taken on a lot since I've been pregnant with BL #2 (and not feeling so hot!).  He does extra chores around the house, cooks dinner often, rubs my back, the whole nine yards.  What would we do without him!?

The weather has been crazy hot lately (in addition to the freak, short-lived thunderstorms that bring lots of hail to destroy my wonderful garden), so we've enjoyed a lot of time outside.

This is what Benjamin likes to do now that his bed is on the other side of his room (we're rearranging to make room for BL #2!).  Naptime and bedtime become a little trickier!

waiting for daddy to get home...

On the Friday of Father's Day weekend, Benjamin wanted to play in the sprinklers while we waited for dad to get home.  Then, he just kept asking for dad to play with him in the sprinklers!  So, as soon as Matt got home, he threw on trunks and obliged.  Such a fun daddy :)

Saturday we headed to Ikea to return a few things (and of course find a few random trinkets to take home...).  It's always good for Benjamin to get a little taste of his Swedish heritage ;)

We put together the crib we found on Craigslist (from a neighbor only a few blocks away!):

And daddy read lots of books to Benjamin (right now BWL really loves to read one book four or five times in a row... I think we've read "Gruffalo" about twenty times in the past few days!):

On Father's Day, Matt had the privilege of leading worship at church while our worship pastors were out of town.  It's always great to see him up there using his amazing gifts!  Benjamin LOVES it too!

While daddy played at all the services, Benjamin and I ran some errands and prepared a tasty lunch for daddy.  Benjamin, of course, napped for three hours and didn't see dad again til it was almost dinner time!  But we made the most of it and took at trip to our old neighborhood.  We stopped in to the rooftop patio/bar at Irish Rover to watch a little World Cup soccer (Benjamin made friends with several patrons there and didn't want to leave).

Then we walked a few doors down to eat at Matt's fave restaurant, Karma.  We (biasedly) think it's generally the best Asian food in Denver.  Can you say "spicy edamame"? :)

Benjamin is a little ham...

And after dinner we indulged in the best ice cream around (natural, local ingredients, amazing flavor options that change daily, homemade waffle cones... it's been written up in several national magazines for a reason!).  Benjamin of course loved his!!

And with that we called it a wrap!  It was a wonderful day celebrating our favorite dad.  Benjamin and I are so blessed to have him in our lives.  <3 p="">