DOVE FAMILY

It is with sadness and excitement that today Friday September 14^th is our very last day in our home.  Many of you may not know, but I have spent the last few weeks “talking” to my dad and telling him everything that we are going through.  Asking him and the Lord to support us and guide us in making decisions.  Thanking them for giving us this opportunity and blessing us with this new house and knowing that this is where we are supposed to be.

Although many of you say that “it’s just a home”  the house on Lions Gate Lane has been a home full of memories, laughter, tears, silliness, family, sadness, bickering and love.  Leaving the Lions Gate Lane house was so incredibly hard.  This was our first home together.  The bad-- parking was a terror on holidays and Sundays during football season, and it was worse when we had a snow storm AND our HOA regularly got on our nerves AND I had 4 bathrooms to clean!  All that aside-  we had awesome neighbors, we only had a patch of lawn to mow, they just opened a new Target, Wegmans and Bed bath and Beyond 3 minutes away and the fact that our deck was fantastic and we loved the area!  The last 11 years in our home has been wonderful and it’s time to say goodbye…

We are off to a new adventure – only 10 minutes away but it’s still a different neighborhood. No matter where we move to, Dave and I are who we are.  No matter where we move, we have our beliefs, we put our family first and always do what is best for our kids.  What we WILL do is create more memories full of laughter, tears, silliness, some bickering and not too much sadness.   You bet that we will still have our weekly dance parties in the family room with just the 4 of us while Dave does the Robot and “worm”, Matthew will do flips and Julia will shake her groove thing!  Yes- I know I will have to do the lawn and Dave will be “teaching” me. I don’t want the lawn to look like Camden Yards, I just want the lawn DONE.  Trust me, after I finish mowing the lawn- who knows what it will look like!  We are thankful for this opportunity.  We are thankful that we have each other, our family and friends and we are ready to move to the next chapter.  

So, just like the tide shifts, things change and life happens. We have weathered many storms together in this home and our family came out strong and happy—tired… but still happy.  Someone “old and wise” said to me…  “Congratulations on your new home.  With all the love your family has, it will take no time to make this new house a home”  Thank you and for that, I will always remember this as we enter the new chapter of our lives. So long Lions Gate and thank you....

This past labor day weekend, we went camping with two good friends and their children.  Boy was it a HOOT!  Camp fires, kids acting wild, golf carts, swimming, good friends, good food, laughing and being silly.  That’s what this weekend was all about.  It was a 3 bedroom all wood cabin with a kitchenette, bathroom, air conditioning, sofa bed, beautiful deck, grill and fire pit!

Friday night- we arrived at Drummer Boy Camp Resort and found our cabin.  The kids were all so excited and they were running around crazily as we unpacked and prepared a late dinner of burgers and dogs.  The kids also enjoyed the camp fire and s’mores and telling silly stories.

Saturday- we ventured out to the pool and decided to head over to Gettysburg.  We saw the battlefields and enjoyed some ice cream in downtown Gettysburg.  The kids liked looking at some of the encampments and the costumes that many people were wearing of that era.  That evening, we enjoyed some yummy grilled kabobs and just relaxing at the cabin as it did rain a little that night. 

Sunday- we explored Grotto of Lourdes.  We weren’t too sure how all the kids were going to do because they had been so wild all weekend.  This was a beautiful, spiritual and peaceful garden with statues of religious figures, grotto spring water (holy water) and the grotto sanctuary.  For a good hour, the kids, three 6 year olds, a 4 year old and a 19 month old were so very quiet, they didn’t run, scream and act insane.  We were all so proud of them!  After visiting the Grotto, the kids enjoyed the activity pool and many MANY rides in the golf cart!

It was a great weekend with friends and we had such a fun time.  Yes it was fun, but it was also educational for the kids learning about Gettysburg and also seeing the Grotto of Lourdes. We are looking forward to our next adventure with them!