I saw my five year old self learning to ride a bike on the rocky driveway, crashing in the grass since I couldn't figure out how to use the brakes. I saw my seven year old self pretending to be Pocohontas running barefoot through the woods with Jessi. I saw my ten year old self sitting in a tree reading my favorite book to escape the tiny bedroom that I shared with three sisters. I saw my fourteen year old self jumping on the trampoline, trying to break my record for number of back flips. I saw my seventeen year old self laying on the trampoline with my closest friends, watching a meteor shower and talking about our futures.
This land, these trees, these people, provided the most idyllic childhood I could dream of. It was here that I learned to chop and stack firewood, how to start a one-match fire, how to mow the lawn and weed the garden. It was here that I learned how to share and how to put on make up. How to swing dance and play the piano. How to bake, wash cars, pick berries, use a machete, and make a bed. How to play water kickball, flag football, and Fugitive. Where countless family reunions, ward parties, Friday nights with friends and group homecoming pictures happened.
And I am so extremely grateful for the upbringing that I had, and that I got to create memories with my children here.
I am also grateful that my parents are selling this slice of heaven, passing their stewardship of this place to a family that will create their own memories and past times. I'm grateful that they get to do this while they are still "young" so that they can move on to the next chapter of their lives...focusing less on yard work and maintenance, and more on grandkids, future retirement/missions, and church callings.
Thank you Mom and Dad for sacrificing so much for us so that we could be raised here. Thank you for teaching us the value of hard work, service, love, and for giving us such a solid foundation both physically and spiritually to plant our roots and grow.
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