farewell to our home

Well as I sit back watching the Phantom with my boy on this relaxing Sunday afternoon, I find myself thinking about our home. This past Thursday we signed our home over to a nice young couple. Looking around I see many memories. The beautiful flooring takes me back to moving in. Truman and Travis, two of my best friends in the world hooked us up by driving down with us and helping us unload. Not only this, but the night we got here I was pretty sick. Most likely because I had been driving the moving truck and only stopping to get gas and there I would use the restroom to try to make better timing. So the first night, despite absolutely hating any form of medication, I took NyQuil and went to bed about 8:00pm. Good thing NyQuil knocks you out or otherwise I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all. Truman and Travis were tearing out the carpet, linoleum, and wood that was throughout the main living areas. it takes a true friend to do what they did. I can look at some many places and remember good friends and their selfless acts. I look out the back windows and think about the Saturdays that were spent keeping it green and groomed. How nice it was to be able to use the beautiful scenery to host barbecues and get togethers for BYU games or a night of Rock Band.
I think of the sofa that I am comfortably sitting on and remember how it was my bed for a while to not wake up little Lyla by my early alarm. I can see myself with some buddies from school marching around trying to memorize various things. I think of all the sacrifices that Sonya made to help put me through school. The home was seemingly always clean. The children always taken care of and the bills always paid. Not uncommonly marriages fail when one of those involved is in a school like mine. Yet within these walls our marriage was safe.
The rewards from the happiest days of my life where brought back to this home. My son Noah and daughter Lyla. Thankfully this home had room for my mother and Sonya's mother to come and assisted during these glorious experiences. But this home safely watched over these most valued parts of my life. I have seen Noah roll over, crawl, walk and run within the walls of this house. Lyla is following suit but is only to the crawling part. This home has often been filled with the laughter of our happy children.
This home will most definitely be missed. We are ready to move on and begin the next stage of this journey but this home will be part of some of my greatest memories. Of course as I look around this home I remember the hard times, but when this home is locked for the last time by me it will be locked by a family that is together and progressing toward our eternal goal.