Farewell to chad

Oh how we have absolutely LOVED the Etherington family Kuching down the street from us for the past year and a half. And for six months prior to that Chad stayed with Suzi. So for the last two years,our lives have had Chad involved on a regular basis. 

We have absolutely cherished him in our lives. Hayden thinks he is the greatest cousin ever and the older brother he never had. Those two became so close. Hayden always says, "while Chad says..." Or "Chad taught me..." And completely idolizes him. 

Chad is absolutely incredible to Hayden and has taught him so much. He helped Hayden find his own way. He taught him to believe in himself and not worry about the perception of others and social media. He helped Hayden gain confidence. He brought him out of his shell. He loves Hayden unconditionally. 

Of course I love Chad for who he is to Hayden. But it is more than that. Anytime Thomas was working on the house or doing a project, Chad was right there helping out. 

But, I miss Chad for other reasons. I miss Chad sitting in the chair next to my bed just talking to me about anything and everything. I miss his theories. I miss him. I loved Chad for his concern for me. He always asked how I was. If I needed anything at all, he was right there. He would help me with anything from taking care of dogs to entertaining Hayden to staying with him is I had to go to the hospital orrunnign down because there was blood everywhere and I could not do it anymore. He helped me with homeschooling Hayden. He taught Hayden. He cared about all of us. He brought so much joy and life into our home. 

We all miss Chad like crazy. We can't wait for his first visit home from Utah. We are going crazy without him. 

Chad left for Utah on New Years morning. So New Year's Eve we got together and celebrated Chad. Our New Year's Eve was crazy. We ate pizza. And played logo party and I wa in bed befor 9pm. Exhausted. 

We had so much fun playing logo party. It was girls vs boys. The first game the girls took it and the second the guys got us good. The guys laughed that we could go from point A to Z quickly and could never figure out how we got the questions right. 

My favorite moments: suzi has the charades card and had to act out "slip and slide". She ran across the room and literally slid on the ground. We were laughing so hard we couldn't guess. So she did it again. We guessed big league chew or baseball but never thought of the obviously slide for slip and slide. Oh how we laughed. 

Another favorite was me acting out hostess. I opened the door and showed people to the table with menus then opened a package and ate it. Lisa immediately guessed hostess treats. The guys were stumbled. 

We had the greatest time. So much fun with people we love and adore.