So crazy that this is all actually happening!
I haven't posted in awhile and won't be able to after today because the movers are taking my computer and sending it to the good ol' U.S.A!
I have a lot of mixed feelings about going back. We are excited to see some old friends and to live closer to family (CT used to sound so far from Utah and Idaho, but now it sounds a whole lot closer).
We will miss so many of our sweet friends and neighbors here in Italy. We have had a few tearful hugs already at church, and one sweet sister scowls at me whenever she gets the chance and says, "cattiva!" (bad, wicked, evil). It is her way of letting me know that we are breaking her heart. Oh, Marisa! And, I don't want to think of saying good-bye to Cinzia!
I get teary often when I look out my back windows and know that I won't be waking up to this view everyday, or watching next year's crop grow behind my house. I really have just loved living out here in the Italian country-side. You can bet that I will be looking for a place in the U.S. where I can enjoy fields of corn and wheat once more--maybe a few orchards. . .and grape vines . . . and cute farmers who like my children to run around in them all (asking too much?).
Anyway, we know that once we get back to CT and get everything settled, we will love it, just as we did before we moved here. I am grateful to know where I am going, and that the Bloomfield ward family is waiting with open arms.
This has been quite an episode in THE LIVES OF DAVID AND REBEKAH MOSS. I hope that I can find a way to capture the magical parts of this experience so that I will never forget them. There have been plenty of challenges here, but right now they feel so small in comparison with all the beautiful things.
I think that Eli and Adam will "grow up" more than I want them to this next year--they have stayed even younger than their ages in our somewhat isolated situation. Gabriel will hopefully stay little a bit longer, and Isaac is already too old for himself.
I have cherished this special time with all "little" boys. I have soaked it all in, I think, but I still feel a sense of mourning for this special era in our lives. I can see that Eli, who turns 11 in April, will be a young man very soon, though I think he will always have some of the magic of "little boy" in him. The other will quickly follow, as life just continues to fly by.
Okay, you can tell that I am at a particularly sentimental time right now. All my emotions are at surface.
Italy has been the hardest, neatest experience. I am so grateful that I followed the feeling in my heart that this was right for us, instead of following the worry in my mind and saying "no thanks--too hard".
I know that Heavenly Father loves us and knows what is best for us, if we will just open our hearts to the messages He sends, and turn our lives over to Him, the outcome will always be right and good and filled with peaceful assurance.
Next post will be from our sweet old friendly house number 11!
