Life

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take,
but by the number of moments that take your breath away.
-Unknown

Friday, May 30, 2008

If These Walls Could Speak

We closed on our house today, and while I know that all good things must come to an end, and while we are grateful for the relief that selling this house brings, I would feel so ungrateful to not remember the wonderful things that happened within (and some withOUT) the walls of this HOME. We spent many hours learning, playing and doing the things families do. We loved this house and we are more than a little sad to close this chapter of our lives. Amy Grant has a song called “If These Walls Could Speak”. I love the message…

If these old walls,

If these old walls could speak

Of the things that they remember well,

Stories and faces dearly held,

A couple in love

Livin’ week to week,

Rooms full of laughter,

If these walls could speak.



If these old halls,

If hallowed halls could talk,

These would have a tale to tell

Of sun goin’ down and dinner bell,

And children playing at hide and seek

from floor to rafter,

If these halls could speak…



If these old fashioned window panes were eyes,

I guess they would have seen it all--

Each little tear and sigh and footfall,

And every dream that we came to seek

Or followed after,

If these walls could speak.




If the walls of our home could speak they would tell of some pretty great things…here are a few that I remember well…

*We learned how to read.

*We made the leap from a little girl to a young lady.

*We made umpteen thousand batches of cookies.

*We had many holiday meals with our dearest friends.

*We had visitors from Pennsylvania, Reno, Las Vegas, Utah, Boston, and Arizona.

*We learned to ride a two-wheeler.

*We learned to play soccer.

*We learned the meaning of “Severe Weather”.

*We spent about 13,000 hours practicing piano.

*We made donuts.

*We prepared many lessons for primary.

*We snuggled, tickled, laughed, wrestled and played.

*We celebrated some real victories.

*We dealt with some hard defeats.

*We studied our scriptures and spent many hours in quiet prayer.

*We overcame personal struggles.

*We turned eight and got baptized.

*We hosted our homeschool group get-together.

*We discussed our future and made plans accordingly.

*We played with lightning bugs.

*We learned to love toads.

*We came to appreciate the difference between “dry heat” and humidity.

*We learned how to shoot a bow and arrow.

*We went to youth conference.

*We painted innumerable masterpieces.

*We developed a prize-winning chili recipe.

*We quenched our insatiable desire for information about Tornados.

*We watched the scale go up and down.

*We played so many BORED games we should never be bored again.

*We un-learned about the “planet” Pluto (and then we re-learned about the “planet” Pluto...and its new planet friends).

*We learned how to write in cursive.

*We tried to learn Spanish.

*We wrote several stories.

*We discovered BLOGGING!

*We learned how to make cinnamon rolls.

*We spent many hours on the phone with long-distance friends.

*We mourned the passing of our beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley.

*We witnessed temperatures way below freezing.

*We tried to master the art of getting along.

*We helped celebrate the approaching birth of a few friends’ babies.

*We ate approximately 1000 family dinners around our kitchen table.

*We cried over scraped knees, sick tummies, pneumonia, troubled hearts, and sometimes even spilt milk.

*We watched tons of fun movies.

*We covered the walls with paint chips, trying to find that perfect color.

*We made several Halloween costumes.

*We celebrated three Christmas’s.

*We played hide and seek.

*We exploded a bottle of diet Coke using nothing but a handful of Mentos.

*We watched a lunar eclipse.

*We missed our daddy terribly.

*We tested our boundaries.

*We went to time-out.

*We laughed ourselves silly.

*We built many snowmen.

*We rode the wagon down the hill in front of our house.

*We went to the coolest pumpkin patch in the universe.

And most importantly--

*We met many many wonderful friends and neighbors.

We have been so blessed throughout our marriage by the people the Lord has brought into our lives and Omaha was no exception. We will never forget the influence you all have had on us and how much your friendship meant to us. Thank you so much for being part of our lives.


…That’s what these walls would say.

6 comments:

ArchRay said...

That was beautiful.

Gibson Family said...

We feel even more blessed that we arrived in time to share some of these wonderful things with your family. We miss you terribly, but it is better that you are in our lives by long distance than never at all. Give hugs and kisses to all your babies for us.

Heather said...

We miss your family so much. Garrison stood at our back door just the other day, and I heard him say "Whitney, come back." It brought a tear to my eye knowing that not only he, but we all miss your family. Thanks for being a part of our lives.

Mama Mia said...

So glad everything went through! The walls of your home were full of love! Miss you but so glad everything is working out for you!

Kerri said...

You always come up with the nicest things to put on your blog and this is one of the nicest.

Anonymous said...

Wow so many great memories... I hope you create many new ones in your new home!