A bittersweet night

Tonight we enjoyed dinner with Dan, Laura and Luke and Jim, Amanda and Sam Richards. It was great to catch up with everyone, compare kids (as in, how they've grown) and share stories from the last year. Sam wasn't born yet when we moved so it was fun to hang out with him a bit. We ate dinner at the Dan and Laura's house, who live across the street from our old house and the whole time, I was trying not to totally lose it with crying as I looked at our house. It was really intense. Amos also had a tougher time, not wanting to eat, coughing alot and feeling generally crummy. We think it was because in addition to having a cold, he was constipated and finally felt better after he pooed. Sorry for too much information, but that's what happened!
Anyway, after a great grilled Salmon dinner with yummy cucumber salad and dessert, we took many pictures of the boys together in their blue pj's and then headed over to see our house. I made it over the threshold and couldn't keep the tears in any longer. Jim and Amanda were gracious to let me stand there and get it out of my system. They were really excited to show us the house, all they had done and how they had made it theirs. We loved seeing them there and was able to enjoy being there after getting the emotions out of the way.
As we drove away, we realized what a gift it was that we were able to walk through our first house again, a year later. To see the Richards loving and appreciating it, too, was a real gift. We realized that the difficult summer we had last year of remodeling the kitchen while packing to move meant that it would in the end, be the house Jim and Amanda wanted, helping us to sell it before we moved, at a reduced price for them and it being something they would love and appreciate.
We are glad that they have been blessed there just as we had been.