Sunday, January 5, 2014

And Just Like That, I Have a Missionary.....


Two days before departure, we hosted an Open House for Taylor so friends could come say goodbye....


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We were overwhelmed with love and support as Taylor prepared to leave and fly to the Mexico MTC.  I was so busy visiting with friends that I didn't take any pictures once people arrived at the house!

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In the last 48 hours, we set up FaceTime and Skype calls for Taylor so he could say goodbye to grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Max was happy to join him for some FaceTime!

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The night before we left we went out to dinner at Taylor's favorite restaurant, Red Robin.  It was kind of a somber dinner.... Taylor was pretty emotional after saying goodbye to his BFF, and I was emotional just thinking about what was less than 24 hours ahead!  Later that night, we went to the church and met with our Stake President, who set Taylor apart as a Missionary.  I wish I could say I held it together.  Um, yeah, I didn't.  ;-)

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Our sweet Stake President shared this scripture with us, which he knows well because his youngest son just left for a mission in Guatemala over the summer.  See, it's okay to cry those happy tears!

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Taylor saying goodbye to Max.  I'm not sure Max realized what was going on, but Taylor knew he would miss Max a lot!

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All my babies together for the last time under one roof for two whole years.... such a weird feeling!

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The airport.... no words are necessary, right?  
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Sending a missionary off has to be one of the most bittersweet experiences I've ever gone through.  Of course you want them to go.  Of course you do.  But it's harder than sending them off to college because you can't text, visit or fly them home for holidays.  But, it's better than sending them off to college, so it's worth it. 

After we said goodbye and left the airport, we got in the car and drove home.  It was still early in the day, but we all took the day off from work and school because we knew we wouldn't be in any shape to work or concentrate on anything.  On the way home, the most amazing feeling of peace came over me.  The tears stopped, and I felt completely calm, in a way I never thought possible.  On that day, I knew without any doubt that Taylor would be safe and okay.  I knew he was doing the right thing and that he would be blessed for his service and sacrifice.  Such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father that I will always be grateful for!

Since he's been away (4 months now, wow!) we've seen many blessings and opportunities for missionary work here at home that we didn't expect.  It's hard to know we won't get to see Taylor in person for two whole years, but the experience is one we wouldn't trade for anything!  

Thursday, January 2, 2014

If I Had a Bucket List.... (warning... ridiculously long post ahead...)

Taking the family to Nauvoo is something I've been wanting to do for about 10+ years!  With Taylor leaving on his mission in September, it was getting to be "do or die trying" time... so in July of 2013, we made it happen!

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The route I planned out for us to take...  we had 2 super long driving days, but the rest were managable.

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Day 1:  Road trip food ready to go....

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Said goodbye to this boy... it was so hard to leave him home, but we were lucky to find a friend who would stay at the house while we were gone and keep an eye on Max.  

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Day 1:  Drove to Albequerque and got there in time to swim before the sun went down.
Watched about 5 different fireworks shows from the window of our hotel room.
We also got treated to a pretty cool lightning storm show off in the mountains.

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Day 2:  Goal was to make it to Kansas City.  Wow... what a drive.  Lots of backroad highways, and very little interstate.  Almost every town we passed through  in Texas and Oklahoma looked like this.  Silos on one side of the road, gas station on the other side.  We are used to 800 miles in one day, but this was hard, even for us!  

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Day 3:  Independence, MO Visitors Center.  What a super cool place to visit!
Across the street is the original temple site for the temple that was never started.  Someday.... 

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Day 3:  Liberty Jail.  What a moving, powerful presentation at this place.  

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Day 3:  Stopped by the Kansas City Temple.
What a beautiful building... It was announced at the same conference as
the Gilbert Temple, but it's been finished for a couple years.  

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A better picture of the temple.  I had no idea Kansas City even had a temple until we drove by
it on our way to Independence.  

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Day 4:  After attending sacrament meeting in Kansas City, we headed towards Nauvoo.
Our first stop was Far West, MO.  This was another temple site that was abandoned.  At this site,
the cornerstones were laid and they are still there today.

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Day 4:  Our second stop on the way to Nauvoo was Adam-Ondi-Ahman.  This is the valley where Adam and Eve settled after they left the Garden of Eden.  The beauty and spirit here were incredible.  Eric chit chatted with a senior missionary there that knew a really cool story about one of Eric's ancestors, Benjamin Franklin Johnson.  

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Brayden hitching a ride on Eric's back.  Adam-Ondi-Ahman is so big,
you drive your car from one end to the other!

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Beautiful groves of trees were everywhere!  I talked with a sister missionary who warned me about letting the
kids run around in the grass barefooted.  Chigger bites are a real problem.  Luckily we were spared that misery!

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Day 4:  We drove into Nauvoo just before the sun went down.  The first thing we did before
settling down for the night was walk down the street to the Nauvoo Temple.  Pictures don't do
this temple justice.  It's amazing.

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Day 5:  Touring Nauvoo.  There was so much to see and do,
but we made sure to get tickets for the carriage ride.
It's like Disneyland for Mormons.  :)

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The John Taylor home.  It blew me away.
It was awesome to sign the "Descendants Guest Book".
I got teary eyed when the sister missionary told us the story behind the rocking horse.


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Day 6:  After we did an early morning session in the temple, we walked down Parley Street
to the river.  It was important reminder of the sacrifices our ancestors made for "freedom of religion".

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Day 6:  Quotes by notables... this one is from Eric's ancestor, BFJ.

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Statue down by the river.... Joseph and Brigham, Eyes Westward
We also visited Carthage Jail (apparently I don't have any photos of Carthage on my phone)  :(

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Day 7:  Leaving Nauvoo... on the morning we left (we could easily have stayed another day)

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A typical highway in Iowa.  Beautiful and green as far as you could see.

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Rest Stops in Iowa

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End of Day 7:  Council Bluffs, Winter Quarters, and an epic meltdown over dinner
which resulted in Pizza Hut at the hotel.   

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Day 8:  Never been so happy to see a gas station in all my life.
We drove across Nebraska and realized just as we were crossing the border into Wyoming that we had NO GAS!
Thankfully, we coasted into a gas station on fumes and celebrated our good fortune by buying everyone
a Root Beer float at the A&W built into the gas station.

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Day 9:  Left Casper, Wyoming to head for Independence Rock and Devil's Gate.  

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The Martin's Cove visitor center was amazing!  We could have spent an entire day there.
I wish we had known there was so much to see and do!


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On our way to Rigby, Idaho,  we passed through Teton National Park.  Seriously the most stunning mountain peaks I've ever seen!

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Day 10:  Lunch in Rexburg at the Taco Bus... 

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The Taco Bus (from the outside!)

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The beautiful Rexburg Temple

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It made me soooo happy to see this seal still in the original floor of the Manwaring Center.
So much has changed since Ricks became BYU-I, but this is proof that the college I went to
still lives on in spirit!

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Selfies at the Rigby Figure 8 races....

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Fireworks with Matt and Becca... they have the good ones in Idaho!

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Day 11:  We finally visited the Conference Center!  It was amazing!  Temple Square was nice too!


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Meeting baby Kelsey

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Snuggling with Maris

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Day 12:  Hiking the Y... How have we NEVER done this before?  

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My kids with the Utah cousins

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Day 13:  Drove home through Utah and northern Arizona to make it home.  How wonderful
it felt to be home and sleep in our own beds.  Max isn't usually a smuggler, but he
wouldn't let us out of his sight for a while!

This was such a fabulous trip with so many special memories and stories that I hope I will never forget!  We got really lucky with the timing because I think all of the kids were old enough to appreciate the places we were visiting and understand why they are so important to us.  

I could write a novel about each place we visited, and someday I will, but for now... time to move on!


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