California is much too far!

Much of my life for the past five months has been consumed with my sister Kristin and her family. They've been living with us since the end of July while Kristin's husband Scott looked for a job. In November Scott started having interviews for a job in California. When I first heard the word "California" my heart sunk as I thought about my sister and her family moving thousands of miles away.

When Kristin and her family moved here it was such a blessing because I didn't know her kids at all since I hadn't seen Kristin and her family in four years. I really thought that Scott would end up finding a job that was relatively close to us. I hoped it would be in St. Louis, but at the very least somewhere in the Midwest, no more than seven hours away so that we could see each other several times a year. No such luck!

Scott did get the job in California, which is an answer to prayer, but it's very bittersweet! My sister and her family will be moving to California a few days after Christmas. My heart is breaking at the thought of losing Kristin who is one of my best friends, and also Kristin's four little boys who I adore so much. I'm completely in love with them! They delight me and fill me with so much joy. I didn't really have much experience with little boys until Kristin moved here since my two oldest sisters each have four girls. I was completely partial to girls when Kristin moved here, but now I love little boys just as much as little girls, thanks to Kristin's boys!

It makes me so sad to realize that the kids won't really have any memories of living here since they are all so young. Kaleb probably will since he is 6 1/2, but the other boys are so young! Especially Aaron who isn't even a year old yet. He's grown up so much in the past five months and it's been really special to witness his growth and progress.

I'm thankful for modern communication so that Kristin and I can stay in contact with each other, but it's definitely not the same! Why did it have to be California?!