howdy neighbor...

Meet my neighbor, Emily.

She is an amazing friend and I feel so blessed to be able to share a porch with her and her cute little family. 

They moved in from the South end, after we had been here a year. The past 2 years with them right there have been so much fun! 

Some highlights to remember:
- Passing off the monitors once the kids are in bed so we can go on date nights. Makes for very convenient babysitting.
-  Game & movie nights..
- Song dedications through the wall. Apparently Johnny Cash's, "Ring of Fire" means something to their  family too. :)
-Finding treasures in my mailbox or on my doorstep. The wooden rooster I was able to adopt was the best.
-Getting some quick fashion advice when Josh is too clueless to help. And borrowing clothes for a special occasion  (when I'm not pregnant!)
- The occasional night shopping trips to the mall or target.
- Finding new hiding spots for the toilet seat in the Dalling household. {There's a story behind that one.. A couple of years ago we did a white elephant exchange with friends and someone was sneaky with their toilet seat gift & hid it under our couch. Of course we didn't find it for months..but once we did, it was time to pass it on!}
-Swapping kids..once in a while when they get bored one of us will take the girls..and the other take the boys..just to mix things up a bit. Or just playing in the front yard together.
- Unintentionally keeping tabs on them, always noticing when their car is gone.
-Meeting on the porch for a good chat on warm nights.
- Emily is quite the jokester. She gets a thrill out of scaring me. :) Once I was cooking dinner when she sneaked up into my kitchen and threw a huge fake spider on me!!
-Having an "emergency call"... pounding on the wall means get over here now!
- Just knowing she is right there has always been a comfort to me. I will never forget one morning when I had the stomach flu & i couldn't even stand without feeling like i needed to run to the bathroom. Camdyn was little at the time & smearing a banana across the tv. I didn't even care, that's how yucky I felt. :) And Emily came to my rescue took my kids who were still in their pjs and gave me time to rest.
She's always been there, sometimes without me even having to ask. Who could ask for a better friend and neighbor!

Well..the time has come to get new neighbors. The Dalling family is moving to Texas. I am not happy about it! I told Josh I would do my very best to not be bitter towards the new comers :)...since they will most likely not be students. Luckily there are many more wonderful friends close by who will keep me feeling happy. 

Teegan & Camdyn's buddies... Claire & Preston

It's a BBQ night..