SGB I: The Front Porch

Saying Goodbye, Part I (SGB I)
Breaking up is hard to do.
So, please excuse the fact that this post has ONE MILLION pictures. 
Each one is absolutely, completely necessary.  And I actually did eliminate at least one million others.
I assure you.

I remember the first time I discovered it.
It was one of those days you don't forget as a parent.  Although I'm sure there were MANY hard days before it, its the first one I distinctly remember many of the details of.  It was the day KJ ate diaper ointment.

I took these pictures.  And I discovered how perfect our front porch was.

Sure, it looked amazing in lights. And covered in snow.

But what I loved most was the pictures.

Something about the lighting.  Just enough even shade to balance out the natural light.

Something about the shape. The perfect design to sheild small children from distractions and escape routes. (helpful, as there were sometimes LOTS of children to contain)

It was the perfect place for taking pictures. And so we did. Lots of pictures.

Pictures of one.

Then two.

Then three.

Then six.

Then four.

I love the pictures, but even more I love the memories that this threshold represents.

Late one spring evening in 2004, RRL and I got the keys to enter through that threshold for the first time.

Later that same year, RRL helped me hobble across that threshold after major surgery for my Crohn's disease.

We remodeled, we cleaned, we hired other people to clean :)

We lived.

We carried all four of our babies across that threshold.

And we welcomed three others through that door, too.

Oh, dear.  Here come the tears.

We celebrated many things standing on that porch.

Potty training.  And first sleepovers.

Birthdays.

  

First days of school.  

And KJ's last day EVER of preschool.

Wearing Red for Valentines' day, Being Fancy for Easter and Dressing up for Halloween.

Snow days, play days, and every ordinary "we just look cute" days.

 

Ok, now I'm really crying.  Big buckets.

With some creative acrobatics by the photographer, it was there that we caputred some sweet moments,

some silly moments,

some twin moments and some tough guy moments.

Above all, they were OUR moments.

The great thing about these moments is...the door just beyond them was nearly always closed.  Partly to block the glare.  But mostly to hide the piles of laundry, the maze of toys, or the child pitching a fit inside instead of joining the "moment".

Which is why these final pictures are so perfect.

They capture our last moments of all 6 of us on this porch.  The very last time it was OUR porch.

This was the last picture on the porch AND it was KJ's first time to hold Christopher, standing up, for a picture. And our front porch once again helped us capture the moment perfectly.

Well nearly...except for the little bit of...um...imperfection that happened to leak out.

Then again, maybe an imperfect finale actually WAS perfect.

The front porch always did capture us, just as we are.

ABL

Couldn't have planned that ending better if we tried...which, obviously, we didn't (especially KJ).

Can't wait to share more about saying goodbye to Great Divide Dr.

And then about our next great adventure (a whole mile away).

But then again, we are right in the midst of the adventure now, so I can't make promises about when those updates will occur.  Thanks for traveling (and being flexible) with us.