FaceTime fail

This past week, Ryan was traveling for work. This isn't unusual as his new position will have him traveling throughout his territory about 50% of the work week. However, this time, he wasn't in his territory; he was back at John Deere headquarters and rubbing shoulders with some of our Iowa favorites, the Oakes family. 

I just can't say enough good about this family. I miss them dearly. So, because we knew Ryan was at their house, we took the opportunity to FaceTime him and sneak in a chat with five of our favorite Iowans. The kids had just gone to bed, but Haley was adventurous and got them up (serious mom points right there). We had a great chat and it was so good to see all of their faces and hear their voices. I miss them. Ryan misses them. Leah misses them. Kate misses them. And they all miss Jane...especially Adam. 

The chat was wonderful. We caught up on all things church, school and extracurricular. We sang. We made funny faces. We laughed and smiled. And then it was time for goodbyes. 

After we hung up, Kate lost it. I don't think she had really processed our move until that moment and the result broke my heart. In just a few minutes, I heard all of the following phrases:

• "I just love Abby so much." (This was spoken once while smiling, multiple times after while sobbing.)
• "I want a play date with Izzy."
• "Can we both go to Utah at the same time and play at the same park together?"
• "How about we drive to Nebraska and they drive to Nebraska and we have a play date."
• "Can't Mr. Tyrus just get a new job and they can move to Washington too?" (This is my solution, by the way.)
• "I wish we had never moved."
• "Can we move back to Iowa?"
• "Can they move somewhere close enough for you to drive me over to play?"
• "I just miss them so much."

My mom heart hurt for her little sobbing heart. She was feeling so many emotions all at once - emotions I have felt many times over the past few months - and she was just so confused and frustrated and sad. 

Moving is hard no matter how big or little you are. I'm grateful to have had such good friends in Iowa - friends that we long to be with. And I hope we can make friends like the Oakeses here in Washington. 

In the meantime, we'll work on that job in the Pacific Northwest for Mr. Tyrus and a wedding in 20+ years for Jane and Adam.