PEORIA, HERE WE COME!

We are moving to Peoria, Illinois!!

Jeff was recently offered a job with Caterpillar, Inc. in their main office in Peoria, Illinois and we have accepted the position and are getting ready to move cross country. It was a hard decision to make -- leaving our family and friends and starting over where we don't know anyone, but in the end we decided it was a good career move for Jeff and a great opportunity for the whole family.

Jeff and I were able to go to Peoria a couple of weekends ago and look around Peoria and some of the neighboring cities. We saw a lot of nice neighborhoods, houses and communities and are confident that we will find somewhere that we will be able to call home!

My biggest sadness with the move is the family and friends that we are leaving behind. My sister and her family and Jeff's dad and step mom are such a big part of our lives that it makes it hard to go so far away. Luckily, it is just a short plane ride away and Stacy has already promised me a summer visit (and maybe even Christmas) that I'm trying to look on the bright side of this negative.

We have also met some wonderful friends since we have been here in Issaquah. We have enjoyed spending time with all of them and have enjoyed watching our kids grow from babies to toddlers together. There are many days where I would not have survived my "stay-at-home mom" days without these other moms! I will miss being a part of their daily lives as the kids continue to grow, but hope that we will continue to be involved through phone and e-mail.......(and maybe even a visit from them to Peoria!)!

On the positive side of family -- we will be only about 2 hours away from my Aunt Peggy and my cousins Tami and Kari and her family. We are definitely looking forward to seeing them more often.

As of right now we do not have a definite "move" date. Everything depends on when our house here sells. We just wanted to share our big news with all of our friends and family.

We feel very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and we hope that everyone will stay in touch with us after we are settled in Illinois!