Goodbye old neighbors!

I still remember the fall day when I got a call from my friend, Rosie.  She asked if I knew of any houses in our area for sale.  Her son Eric and his fiance' were looking.  I explained to her, available houses were hard to find in this area, but I'd keep my eyes and ears open. 

We have been friends with Rosie and her husband for almost 40 years.  Our kids knew their kids.  The guys have fished and hunted together forever. 

Skip forward to the next day. On my drive home from work I saw a sign that had just gone up on a house a block from our private drive.  I immediately called Rosie.  She in turn called Eric.  Long story short, they were the first on the list of many, to look at the house the following Saturday. 

Eric and Kathy bought the house, worked on making it suit their taste, got married, and moved in. 

Their theme was the outdoors.  Eric loves to hunt, fish, and trap, plus he's a taxidermist. I made this wall hanging as a house warming present. 

Living on the river we spent many weekends boating with them. We'd pack a picnic and hit the water. 

This is daughter "Mac" (Mackenzie), about the year they moved in. 

In 2007, they found out they were expecting.  I made this quilt, for the new soon to be born baby.  Colten was born in August. 

 He went on the river with us from little on. 

Many Saturday nights we'd attend church and then go eat Mexican at either my choice of LaBamba, or Eric's choice of Santa Cruz. Kathy and I had many good times enjoying our frozen Margaritas!

Colten grew . . .

 . . .and "Mac" turned into "Kenzie", a young lady.  She will be driving in 2 short months. 

They are a beautiful family. 

And now they have a beautiful new home.

Of course, I had to make them a new house warming present.  This is a wall hanging that I have made before, but it's always a challenge. The blacksmith forged the rod and hooks.

I even pieced the date in camouflage, marking the year of the new house.

Note all the pieces, all 717 of them, all sewn with many memories of the fun we have had with this family.  I will always remember the sewing I did for Kathy and Mac, mending school clothing, taking in formal dresses, lending formal dresses, borrowing Eric for an extra hand a time or two, and phone calls regarding neighborhood events or even tornadoes in the area.  

They will be missed. But I know Kathy is always just an email away. Even if we travel to their new home, it's a short country drive, one county over. 

Love you guys!

Now come back soon and I will tell you about the NEW neighbors!