Goodbye Columbus

Despite only living in Columbus for a year, we made some great friends. I was able to help get the Columbus chapter of Side by Side off the ground and made some great friends in the process. I loved being involved in Side by Side in La Crosse and jumped at the opportunity to be involved in starting one in Columbus. Not sure what I would have done this past year without these ladies and look forward to hearing how they are continuing to grow!

Beth Myers (founder of SBS Columbus) and I

Heidi and I

Kelly, Vincent, Sadie and I

Heidi and Emily

Julie, Matthew and I

There were so many people I didn't get the chance to officially say goodbye to, but hope we'll be able to stay in touch as we go forward......and you never know, maybe some of you will end up doing further training or settling here in the twin cities!!

A little slice of heaven.....aka Scandia, PA

Disclaimer: I have been horrible about keeping up on my blogging during the last month, but now that we are settled in our new home and Matt has started working, I figured I should try and get as much done as I can before I get too far behind. So here goes....

Two weeks before we moved, we went to visit Grandpa Sorensen in Pennsylvania for the weekend. We hadn't been up there since Grandma's funeral and were anxious to spend some time with Grandpa and relax in western PA (and also take advantage of only being 5 hours away). We had a great time and the kids especially loved being there. They are just getting old enough to really appreciate all the things Matt speaks so fondly of---fishing in the pond, 3-wheeling, exploring in the woods, shooting guns, running around in endless fields, amazing views, learning from Grandpa (I'm not sure there is a thing he can't fix), riding on the tractors, etc. It was a wonderful time that we treasured and although it was hard not having Gram there, we were thankful to be able to help Gramp out a bit and spend time with him. (Or try and keep up with him---I've never seen such an active 84-year old! He still bikes 12-15 miles a day!)

He loved spending time with the kids

Learning how to thread the line and tie on a hook

And Gramp really wanted to do whatever the kids wanted to do. He was happy just pushing Sadie around in the car or teaching Wyatt how to fish.

Uncle Kyle and Christy also came out to PA while we were there and we got to spend some time with them as well......Wyatt's first shot of the BB Gun

He had a hard time closing one eye, so Matt had to cover his left eye for him to help him out

And this year was finally the year---no more fear about the 3-wheelers! He was so excited that Gramp had a 'little' one just for him!

I had to post this picture because it just typifies Sadie's personality. If you look closely or click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see she's reclining against Matt with both feet up on the 3-wheeler and crossed.

Ready to go to the pond for some fishing!

We never have a lack of fun when we go out to Scandia and hope to be back sometime relatively soon. Great memories!