10/23/2017
Our dear friend Sarah has been our nextdoor neighbor for about 9 years. She (and her mom, who is also a dear friend) are moving soon. We are sad about this and will miss them terribly. My children especially are super fond of Sarah, who has babysat them over the years and has always been a friendly, helpful presence in our lives.
One thing we have done a few times over the years is make soft pretzels with Sarah. I think we were doing this once and she just happened to come visit while they were in process. She stayed to help and got to enjoy the pretzels too. She was hooked and now it's a tradition that we invite her over whenever we make pretzels.
So this week was our last time making pretzels with "our neighbor Sarah" but hopefully not he last time we make pretzels with "our friend Sarah."
This makes me want to walk down memory lane, so here are a few photos of Sarah and my kids through the years.
When we first met Sarah, she was very outdoorsy. At first, she didn't like us as her new neighbors, as we cut down a dozen overgrown trees from our property. She forgave us, eventually. But she took to the kids right away and would play with them outside a lot.
They loved to work with Sarah on any outside projects, but just being with Sarah was fun, no matter what.
Playing in fall leaves - way more fun with Sarah around!
This led to backyard camp outs with Sarah...
Inviting Sarah to join our family when the circus came to town...
And still lots of outside fun and goofiness.
As tom-boyish as Sarah was, she took seriously my daughter's invitation to her "Dress Like a Princess" birthday party. So beautiful!
Eventually, we invited Sarah inside our house (ha :-) and she played crazy games with the kids. Mostly, she just let them climb on her like a jungle gym!
She'd read to them.
Sarah was always a good sport to play with playdough or work on puzzles or do whatever the kids initiated.
She so quickly became a good friend to us all!
Through every season, Sarah has been a regular face in our front window, heading to ring the doorbell and see if we're home... even in snowy weather when she still wears shorts!
It wasn't all on Sarah to create the fun and games. She mentioned once how fun it would be to have a pie in the face (yup, she asked for it, literally) so I surprised her one day! Actually, I pulled this off twice!
But, of course, time has passed and Sarah has grown up. We were there when she earned her Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and we were there for her high school graduation.
Now she's in college and working full time. But she still finds time to come over and visit, often bringing along her dog Chewy.
Our family has grown too, adding more children. Here is Sarah holding one of the newborns.
And with this most recent baby, she visited at the hospital like she was one of the siblings. We all loved that!
Since she's been driving, Sarah often invites my oldest daughter to join her on a quick trip to Dairy Queen or PetSmart or wherever. It's been so good for my daughter to have a positive role model to look up to in Sarah!
Without a doubt, Sarah has been one huge blessing to our family. All of us enjoy her company, her friendly chatter and helpful spirit, her distractions during long days at home, and her friendship. We know the day is coming when Sarah will likely marry and/or move farther away, but we sure do cherish all the memories we've created together. And we have grateful hearts to the Lord for leading us to such great neighbors, who share our faith and are encouraging to be around.
You might be moving across town, Sarah, but you will always be welcome here! We love you!
