hellos and see ya laters

the last week has been chuck-full of "hi"s and "not-goodbye-see-ya-later"s! it all started with my mission trainer (first companion) Michelle Ryan - she married Michael Jordan {not the basketball star ... just this short, darling, white kid} who served in florida and lived with Andy for several months - i know ... small world!! they were in town for Michelle's grandma's funeral and they brought their 3 boys. the youngest was 10 days old when we met him on Easter! they are a darling family and promised to come back for a real visit soon!!
then came my mission buddy Corey Hughes and his family - they were taking a long vacation and spent 2 nights with us! they arrived on the 26th around 2:30 and hung out with us the rest of the day! we had that yummy dinner i posted earlier and then wednesday they spent the day in Seattle! that night we had Julie (Sillito) Tegeder and her family over for dessert and hangin' out - chatting up the mission days! it was SO fun to have everyone together ... the kids had fun playing and i LOVE having company! it gives me just the right incentive to get the house cleaned and tidy ... as well as i just love to have people here!!
then we had to say 'see ya later' to our good friends the Conlin's ... they moved away to Colorado Springs. we've been kindred spirits, walking buddies, and friends for quite some time and it was hard to see them go! they promised to be back for a visit in july-ish ... so we're looking forward to that! we sure do miss them already!
in short these past few days have been fun-filled and heart-breaking all rolled into one! we look forward to having our friends come back ... and Corey made the mistake of telling Abi that he'd help her build an igloo if we went to visit them next winter! why is that a mistake, you ask? Abi is like an elephant - she NEVER forgets anything! so we'll be seeing the Hughes family in the snow next winter!
as for our other friends that live far away - our door is always open or we'll give you the code to our garage ... just PLEASE come for a visit!