and we did go unto the ohio

The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind, what with wrapping up our life in Brooklyn and getting our new one started in Cincinnati, with the baptism of our oldest son and some visiting with extended family thrown in there as well. I've experienced all the feelings, and though I grateful they were not as overwhelming as they might have been, thanks to the Zoloft, I'm still trying to get my bearings and process the emotions coursing through me. But since so many people have helped and supported us through this life change, I thought at least an attempt at an update was well deserved, so here we go.

On our second to last full day in Brooklyn, we baptized Garrett a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So many people came to show their support -- from extended family, to neighbors and school friends, to ward members -- that it took my breath away. Garrett had been anxiously waiting for this day, and was overwhelmed with excitement when it finally arrived. His primary teacher, Clark Walker, gave a short talk on baptism, and his Uncle Riley spoke about the Holy Ghost. Michelle Walker, the primary president also said a few words, as did Blake in one of his final acts as bishop of the Bensonhurst Ward. It was a lovely program, and an even more beautiful ordinance, and I'm so proud of Garrett for making the choice to take this step in his eternal progression.

The next day was Sunday, and during Sacrament Meeting Blake, after serving for just over five years, was released as the bishop of our ward and Adam Grimshaw was sustained as the new one. It was bittersweet, and I'm surprised, because of how challenging these last five years have been for our family, at how sad I was to see this mantle lifted. We all shed many tears, partly because of the emotions this change invoked, but mostly because it coincided with our last Sunday in the ward. There was a linger longer after church, which helped to facilitate the goodbyes, but it didn't make them any easier. This ward has been my family for the last eight years, and I've leaned on and loved them so much, I often forgot that we weren't actually related. But as my friend Yeenor reminded me, these weren't really goodbyes but rather see you laters.

On Monday morning, bright and early, we began loading our enormous moving truck. So many people showed up to help. The boys were whisked off to spend the morning at the playground by some of our friends, while a crew of about 15 people stuck around to bring our heavy belongings down three narrow flights of stairs. By early afternoon our apartment was cleaned out -- and so empty. I know we outgrew that place a long time ago, but my heart was still heavy seeing it so bare. So many newborns were brought home there, and so many memories were made in those rooms. For all its quirks and crowdedness, I will sure miss apartment 1C.

We pulled out of Brooklyn by mid-afternoon, following my brother Riley and his family, who'd spent the last few days with us to help and celebrate and who had left a few hours ahead of us, to his home in Kirtland, Ohio. They had just purchased a home and in the process acquired an extra washer and dryer, which he was generously passing onto us. Blake drove the truck with Garrett and Caleb taking turns riding with him, while my dad, who also came out to help us with the move, and I switched off driving the car. It was slow going at first while Blake worked to get comfortable driving such a big truck, but we picked up speed and pulled into his drive around 1:30am. We woke up as early as we could manage, took a nice walk together around the corner to visit the Kirtland Temple grounds, then got back on the road for the last stretch of the drive.

We reached Cincinnati by mid-afternoon, were given the keys to the cutest house ever (which we were later told is actually a pre-fab Sears catalog home), and began unloading the truck. About ten people from our new ward showed up to help us, and a few even stuck around to help assemble beds so we'd have somewhere to sleep that night. Over the next week we unpacked and arranged things, trying to reconcile KonMari with the stuff we didn't have the time or space to go through before we left. As a result we have an ever-growing pile of items to donate to Goodwill. We've also been busy taking care of such tasks as stocking the kitchen cupboards and working on getting the boys registered for school, all the while getting familiar with the layout of our new city.

There's so much we love about our new life here -- the space, the yard, the washer and dryer in the basement, having Blake around more, how easy it is to get from one end of town to the other when running errands. Garrett and Caleb both now have bikes (late and early birthday presents, respectively) and they've been working hard to learn how to ride them. Suburban life definitely has its perks.

But we are also missing Brooklyn. We miss being able to walk around the corner to pick up a gallon of milk or a forgotten ingredient, and the way they'd double bag our purchases. We miss the settled in comfort of our life there. But most of all we miss the people we left behind. Not a day goes by without at least one of us announcing with a sigh a handful of people we desperately miss. I have to keep reminding myself that it was time to move on and that it was the best choice for our family, but it doesn't do much to help my heart feel less heavy.

So we'll be back, Brooklyn. Mark my words -- we'll be back. And in the meantime, we welcome visitors (particularly those who can bring us the good kind of bagels with the right kind of schmeer)!