George John Calls; Cousin Time with Julia and Grace

Danica made a yummy healthy breakfast casserole with lots of veggies. Danica and I went with Suzanne and her girls to the park. Julia got a huge grin while swinging. We showed her where Danica played Chick-fil-A when she was little and she had fun with that too. Then we went to the library together. Between those few activities, eating, and letting her dress up in some fake jewelry Julia was well entertained. She says Danica’s name “Gaga”. As they loaded the car she said Gaga come! She wanted Danica to go with them. We spent the afternoon cleaning the house and doing projects. We got a surprise cal from Drew, which was the highlight of the day. We had expected to talk to him yesterday so when he didn’t call we figured it would be next week. My phone said George John wanted to Facebook message so I almost didn’t answer it. Apparently he made some crazy account a while ago and that’s what he’s now know as on it. Drew’s doing well. He looked great! So fun to see him with his name tag! He sent us a bunch of pictures and we chatted for almost an hour. There’s a weight room and plenty of food.

Fun with Suzanne and Friends

We got to spend the day with Suzanne and her girls. We played the game pretty pretty princess and jumped on the exercise trampoline. Julia loves Danica. She played games and read books to her for bedtime. “Danica nice!” Suzanne and I left the girls with Dave and ran errands and had ice cream in the evening. Dave was great with Grace and got her to sleep. We had another fun late night game of Avalon. This time we had Preston, Bennett, Kaitlyn, and McKenzie. We played until 1 and it got pretty loud and rowdy.

Suzanne Visits

Suzanne and her two girls came to visit today. Steve has training in the woodlands. Little Julia and Grace are so darling! We had papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner and BYU brownies. The BYU Utah game was tonight at 9:25, super late. They got crushed 30-12. Ugh, another loss. I fell asleep part way through. There just wasn’t anything worth staying up for. Fuller’s football team won though. I watched that game and enjoyed it. Katy defeated the reigning state champs at home. Sweet! I didn’t see Fuller get in the game, but I saw him on the sidelines.

Quieter Days

Well, after all the business, today was a very quiet day. No Drew to feed and no Drew to say hey mom come help me with (organize my clothes, pack my bags, etc). I woke up thinking about him and his first day in the mtc. Seminary went well. Christy and I spent some time together talking through how the class is going. We are blessed to have well behaved kids!
I got my exercise in, played the piano, did a few batches of laundry, worked on my seminary lesson for tomorrow, helped Danica with her English homework, helped Devin with the dishes. Dayton slept in, helped me by cleaning some blinds, hung out with Bennett, and studied his scriptures. Dave is hyped up about the BYU Utah game tomorrow evening. We haven’t beaten Utah in about 10 years. We are due for a W! Overall it was a quiet, nice day!

Dropping Drew Off at the Airport

This morning I helped Drew with the finishing touches on his packing. Gratefully he found the cord for his razor. Dallin had it at his apartment. Devin wasn’t feeling super hot but still went to school. His stomach was hurting. I picked up Danica and Devin from school at 9:45 and we loaded up the car for the airport. Dallin had to work but Julianna joined us. We tracked down the Aeromexico check in counter, which took a bit of searching. Drew checking in his two bags and got his boarding pass. Then it was time for pictures and hugs. He didn’t cry; he was stoic. He’s been ready and waiting for this moment for a long time. He looked the part of a missionary for sure! We watched him in the security line for a few minutes and then had to turn and leave without him.

How we will miss Drew! He has such a big heart. We will miss his funny slang and his love of Nae’s (cute little kids). His flight out was at 1:50. It was delayed 30 minutes. When he arrived in Mexico, he was the second to last missionary to board the bus to the mtc. He emailed us in the evening to let us know that he had arrived.
We played Small World with Dallin, Julianna, Devin and Dave. Danica went to young women’s and played bingo. She wasn’t a big fan of it. Dayton has been successful at getting together with James Paine. No one else for the past couple of years could get him to call them back or engage. Dayton has gotten him in with a group of friends and some several activities with him. It’s been so good to see him again!

Drew's Last Day at Home

This morning at 5:20 I awoke. My seminary lesson about the mission of John the Baptist was going through my head with exactly what to write on the board and which questions to ask. Although I would have loved to get more sleep, I recognized that I was receiving revelation and wanted to show the Lord that I value and appreciate it! So I hopped out of bed and started writing as quickly as I could. My lesson went well and the spirit was very strong as I testified at the end. I love when the spirit is obviously there. Those are the successful days! As soon as seminary ended I prepared my lesson for Thursday. Devin stayed home from school since his stomach wasn’t feeling well. Drew was able to get a last minute opening at the dentist for a cleaning so we left immediately. Preston and Bennett came and we played Avalon until 11pm. I stayed up until 1am helping Drew pack. Because we were both so exhausted, we didn't have a chance to think about it being his last night at home.

Devin Turns Eleven and Drew's Missionary Farewell and Setting Apart

Today was Drew’s farewell and Devin turned 11. What a busy day it was! Devin wanted breakfast tacos so i got up early to make breakfast for 17 people before 8:30 church. Julianna was terrific and showed up early to help make food. Devin loved having cousins around for his birthday. Jon’s family had spent the night and Russell’s family met us at the church. Kevin also came. Dave and I sang in the choir right before he spoke. Drew gave his homecoming talk and really did a terrific job! He is such an incredible young man! He’s prepared, ready, and excited to serve. He will be a remarkable asset for his mission president. As I lay in bed last night the thought came to me that as sad as I am to have the chapter of his life as a child closing, Heavenly Father is even more excited to get him out in the field as a missionary. Drew has so much potential to lead, to teach, to relate to people, to love (especially children) and to be an example. He has studied and asked questions preparing himself to serve.
Devin opened presents and got a couple of books(Calvin and Hobbes and Micheal Vey #6) money, a sweatshirt, cards, and a Calvin and Hobbes shirt. Lunch was, at Devin’s special request, macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. Sadly I was out of ketchup which meant Devin didn’t even want any nuggets, so I called Colette and borrowed some. By the time I tracked some down there were only a couple of nuggets left. We were feeding a BIG crowd of 25. He didn’t like the way aunt Meghan made the macaroni and cheese. So a bit of a lunch fail in Devin’s mind. He can be a tough cookie to please on a birthday. We had a family gospel discussion that went really well. Drew and Dayton covered a section and were great. You’d have thought they were missionary companions that had been working together for a while. Meghan commented on how grateful she was to have Fuller there to see them in action. We had the other families and Kevin also take portions and we had a good discussion. I was impressed again at how inspired this new program is in the way that it gets families discussing the gospel together and teaching each other. Afterwards we drove back to the church for Drew to be set apart as a missionary by president Williams. What a special moment that was, to have him officially start his mission! He received a very nice blessing. A few things that stood out to me were the gift of tongues, safety, peace, and the ability to be patient with others when they couldn’t measure up to his standard. He was told that although he is going to a dangerous place, his exposure to these dangers will be limited, for which I was fearful. We took lots of pictures to capture the moment.
Back home we gathered for Devin’s presents and birthday treat then had some family game time. Devin Matthew and Will played Heroscape. The older crowd played Avalon together. Dinner was lasagna and breadsticks. In the evening Russ was able to get McKay on FaceTime and the boys he SO MUCH FUN chatting for an hour. Preston and Bennett came over to chat as well. They ended up staying until late and we played with just them after the cousins had to leave. We even let Devin stay up late. It was his birthday and we are down to just a few hours before Drew leaves. Avalon was a lot of fun and those boys are just delightful. They have been such a blessing to our family as good friends to our boys.
What a day! Dave and I lay in bed. It was late and we’d had a long, full day. We chatted for a few minutes about the emotional ride these last 30 days have been. We are so grateful that our children have made such good choices. We recognized that after all we can do as parents, the choices to serve missions and marry in the temple are entirely up to them. We are grateful for the amazing spirits that Heavenly Father chose to fill our family with! It was also a sobering thought that tomorrow night is Drew’s last night at home.