And All That Jazz

It turned out that yesterday was surprisingly full of good-byes. We knew that my grandparents were leaving early this morning to drive back to Florida, so when we went over there for brunch yesterday we knew that it would be difficult. We also invited Joel and Jenn down to brunch since we hadn’t seen them yet and they had yet to meet Ezra. As predicted, it was in fact sad to say good-bye to my grandparents, and they had a tough time saying good-bye to Ezra. It was incredibly special to have them here for a month, to share in time before Ezra was born, and to be there at the hospital as soon as he came to us. We sent along a bunch of pictures with them, but the good news is that we are thinking about flying there to visit with them and my Aunt and Uncle in October. 

We went up to Denver for our first Family Dinner since Ezra was born. For those that don’t know, there is a group of friends family that get together every week for a dinner (we rotate who has to cook and it’s location). This summer, we have decided to move the dinner time to Sunday evenings to coincide with Jazz in the Park – a summer tradition in City Park with free jazz and a few thousand people. We met up with Jennifer and Tori and enjoyed the very comfortable June evening. Ahna made some dinner (orzo goodness), Tori supplied us with some watermelon and margaritas, and Jennifer brought the most important part of the meal: cookies. We were able to make it up there and back in between feedings and while he was sleeping.

Following dinner, we had to say good-bye once again…this time to the Columbine House. Six years ago, Ahna, Tori, Mary, Jennifer and Erin moved into the house and set up community. Since then, Ahna and Erin have moved out, Sarah has moved in, and Gabe and Charlotte lived there for a while (by the way, this is the Family Dinner group). The house holds a lot of great memories (my favorite was learning to play craps) and lots of stories; but it was time to move on. All of the ladies that lived there are taking up residence in other parts of the city, so we all will still be in town. Returning the key to the house was closing a chapter of life. It’s so hard to think back and imagine that we all would be where we are six years later…