Westward, ho!

(Fort Collins, CO)

The Midwest has been our home ever since we can remember, but the time has come to uproot and move out West. A new job opportunity is taking our family to Colorado in a couple of weeks. We are sad to leave Iowa so soon--Cedar Rapids has been good to us. It's given us our very first house . . .
. . . a plentiful garden . . .

(roma tomatoes + mini bell peppers)

(jalapeno peppers)

(cherry tomatoes)

(zucchini under the fort)

. . . memorable friendships . . .

(a friend's birthday party at the fire station)

(playgroup at Bever Park Zoo)

. . . a baby shower to welcome our new daughter . . .

(Ramona: "Baby Mika doesn't take showers. She takes baby showers!)

. . . and there have been many chances to work, play, and grow.

(the duck pond at Noelridge Park)

It will also be sad to move further away from our parents in Illinois. It has been nice this past year to have just a 3-4 hour drive between us. We squeezed in one last Iowa-Illinois trip over the weekend for a friend's wedding in Decatur.
Parry and Teresa let us stay with them.



Of course we made a stop in Bloomington-Normal on the way back for some Jii and Baachan time.

I think some part of me will always remain a Midwestern girl--something about expansive fields of corn, oppressive humidity, and blaring cicadas will always invoke a sense of nostalgia. But I'm looking forward to setting foot (for the first time!) in Colorado, and experiencing a whole different set of adventures with our little family in a new place. Westward, ho!