Sunny, warm days in the middle of January.  Day trips to Yosemite.  Camping in the mountains and near the beach.  Our amazing church.  Our sweet small group.  Dear friends.  These are just some of the things we will miss as we make a move from the Central Valley to Chicago in just a little over a month.  From sunny Cali to windy Chicago.  However, the thing that we will love so very much is that we will be living closer to family.  For years, there have been over 2000 miles between us.  Apart for holidays.  Apart while dealing with horrible illness.  Apart for t-ball games and talent shows.  But now… now we will be able to celebrate cousin’s birthdays together.  Take day trips to play with Grandpas and Grandma.  Enjoy turkey on Thanksgiving with sisters and brothers.  Build even more amazing memories.

So this is the last birthday we will celebrate in our California house.  Lots of memories here.  This guy was not even walking yet when we first moved in.  He’s a big 5 year old now .

We had a pizza party for some of his preschool classmates.  It started out as a cooking party, you know, because he wants to be a chef (or he did when he was 4…  lately he says he wants to drive airplanes when he grows up…), but focusing more on the pizza theme was just way too much fun.  We decorated cupcakes, made our own pizzas, and ate them all up.  Happy birthday, joyful, expressive little man!!