It would be most fitting today, to remember our Amazing Sierra Vista 3rd Ward Family. Especially as Brain was officially released as Bishop. I am sorry there will be few pictures today as these memories were not the type of memory you take pictures of, they are more the memories that are made in everyday life.
It all started almost exactly 12 years ago to date that Brain and I came down to Sierra Vista AZ on a house hunting trip. We did not check to see which schools would be the best for our then 2 yr. old nor did we even worry about the ward we might be moving into. We had one goal and that was to find a home that felt right for our family. Oh how the Lord truly blessed our family when the home that felt right fell into the Sierra Vista 3rd ward boundaries.
Here is where we were first welcomed by so many wonderful people. It is where a small group of moms asked if I would like to join them in a 3rd ward playgroup. This playgroup was a saving grace for a lonely mother who felt so out of place in a new town 16 hours from her family. These women have truly become some of my very best friends and confidants. This playgroup gave me the adult interaction I really needed to get through a week. It is with these wonderful women I shared a common heartache as years passes with no other children coming to our family and where each of us shared in joy as our families were finally blessed with one more.
We have watched this ward grow so much in the last 12 years. We came to a small ward with a primary that fit into one room and have watched it grow to become so large that boundaries were re-done and we were recently moved into an entirely new building. We have seen many wonderful people come and go and have even started joking that we are the old timers.
The Sierra Vista 3rd ward has provided us with so many opportunities to serve and where my children have grown up with amazing influences to follow. We had the opportunity to watch as our 3rd ward family banded together as a devastating fire went through much of our ward boundaries, yet every family was taken care of and where those eternal ties of being one family were truly strengthened.
It warmed my heart just last night as Braxton was dropped off at his first dance. He was so nervous and even thought I was the mean mother making him go to this dance. I too was a little nervous for him, but as I watched from the van as he walked into the church and was greeted by the friendly face of Brother Maroney. I couldn't help feeling a little sad that we would be leaving this comfortable familiar family where we have always felt loved and welcomed.
The Sierra Vista 3rd ward has been our family in so many ways, as they have attended our children's blessings and baptisms and celebrated with our family the many highlights that have come our way.
And no other ward will ever top the 3rd Ward 4th of July water fight.
We are going to miss our bench at church and the love and concerns of all our ward family. We will miss the great ward parties and the smiling faces in the hallways. We will miss the old timers who have been here as long or longer than us.
This has been our family for 12 years and this is why many tears have and will be shed as we move on to a new adventure.
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