Reporting to the MTC IN STYLE

We made it through the weekend without too much wear and tear, and jumped right into the week that we had been looking forward to and dreading for months.  Austin spent Monday and Tuesday helping his Dad with a house, and visiting with his friends saying "C U in 2!"  Oh, and he did a little packing too.  He didn't have to pack as much as some missionaries do because he had already packed up his room when he left to work in Idaho 9 months earlier, and his mission is close enough that we didn't have to pack everything he would need for two years in his two suitcases.   He ended up having lots of room so he took his favorite blanket and pillow with him.  He was set apart as a missionary on Tuesday night at 6:00 by our stake president, President Braumall.  Pres. Braumall, Bishop Stirland and Pres. Chandler all spoke for a few minutes and all three spoke about how vital it is to be obedient to the mission rules.  The blessing Austin was given as he was set apart was very similar to his Patriarichal blessing, which we found to be very interesting.  I was a basket case that night.  I was exhausted, and very emotional and pretty much cried through the whole thing, I even cried through Weston Yardley's setting apart too (the were set apart together) and his mom didn't shed a tear! Go figure!
After he was set apart and Doug was his companion, we went to Durangoes Mexican Restaurant for dinner, but found out Austin wasn't very hungry because he had eaten two different lunches with two different girls at two different times that day.  He had a little something anyway and we went home to pack.  We had to leave the following morning at 6 in order to get to the MTC 12:30 when he was appointing to check in.  We had tried to talk Austin into flying up so that we could all see him off at the airport, but he had his heart set on us taking him up.  We had a difficult time arranging it so that we could all take him up, and Doug had a house that needed to be transported up to Snowville, Ut. that same week.  As it turned out, we ended up pulling the house to Springville and leaving it at the truck stop there and taking Austin to the MTC in the semi, something we were told had never happened before.  Austin drove most of the way, and even drove into the drop-off zone where the Elders waiting were very excited to see him, and gave him the "honk your horn" high sign, which he did before jumping out.

Our final family picture for two years. 

Austin driving and pulling the house behind.  He was very relaxed
when he was in the drivers seat. 

I decided to go at the last minute and I'm so grateful that I did because I wouldn't have
wanted to miss it for the world!!  The draw back it that I got to sit in the sleeper with the luggage.
I was too wound up to relax and rest. 

We had to stop and change a tire (Doug changed it), so we snapped a picture
of the Elder pulling a house. 

Doug is parking the house and Austin is a bundle of nerves in the passenger seat. 
He drove himself from the truckstop to the MTC and that calmed some of his nerves. 

The MTC sign is gone, but they let you get a picture in front of the street sign that says MTC. 

Austin pulling into the MTC drop off. 

Here we go.  One of the traffic directors hopped up onto the side board
and told us that they have never had anyone dropped off in a semi, and that
he was confident that we would fit. 

Pulling in, the missionaries on the sidewalk were all giving Austin the "honk your horn" sign,
which he did, announcing his arrival. 

One final picture and a thumbs up as he goes from truck driver to missionary. 

They allowed one final picture together.  My eyes look swollen shut! 

And then he was gone, lost in a sea of missionaries. 
I'm so looking forward to our first letter!! 

  

Austins Farewell

To continue with our intense weekend, the next day at 9 am was Austins mission farewell.  I was geared up for very little crying, and nearly accomplished it by holding my great niece through most of the sacrament meeting.  Distraction is the best cure for crying, that and laughing, which would have been inappropriate considering we were in a quiet meeting.  Austin did great with his talk.  He tried not to look at me because for some silly reason that made him cry, so he looked to the right and to the left and I played with cute little Joselyn.  It didn't work well, but we made it through.  Austin spoke about service, and how he anticipates doing a lot of service on his mission.  He related the story of his Dads accident when people gave us so much to help us through, even someone who gave us $5000 cash so that we could pay our bills.  He also spoke of using your talents and skills to give service and told of the experience he had when he and Ephriam saved the kids life that wrecked on his motorcycle.  It was such a great talk!  No wonder he had so many tears, he related such tender experiences, but it was very effective in bringing the spirit. 
After Sacrament meeting we all came home and filled our house to capacity.  Our family was the first to eat because most of them had to travel back up to Idaho and we all visited, ate, and wrote down encouragement and wishes for Austin before they all hit the road.  ALL of Austins friends came over after sacrament meeting and we had a great time with them too.  We had hoagie sandwiches and salads and I just kept refilling everything until about six o'clock that night when friends started to slow down and we could sit quietly again.  It was a wonderful day, and I was completely exhausted, but happy. 

I made these cute little missionary cookies for his farewell luncheon and forgot
to put them out, so I sent them to all the missionaries in the MTC that I knew.  Ha ha ha!! 

Austin is in his happy place, for sure. 

Lots of friends,

and family,

and both sets of Grandparents,

and more friends,

and cousin Kora.

Even the downstairs was full! 

Tanner Jones and KC Gubler,

Three of the four brothers doing what they do best,   (What a great shot of
Doug and his brothers!)

Cousins, and siblings, big and little. 

A final farewell to Grandma and Grandpa Beutler as they were leaving to go home. 

Catrina Terry and Meg Hutchings for one last shot. 

(R to L)  Tanner Jones, Kora, Uncle Troy, Aunt Vickie, Uncle Chet, Aunt Bernie,
and the infamous JOHN JONES!  (We just love that guy!)  ha ha!

Baby Joselyn, who saved me during sacrament meeting. 

Austin with Uncle Kerry (the youngest brother)  and Aunt Joylyn. 

And another Eagle fly's

February 23, 2013

They say some people learn from others experience, and others have to learn from their own.  I know lots of people in each category, and I can safely say that our son Cody has the best of both worlds.  Cody seems to learn a lot from others experiences, especially his older brother Austin.  Cody is four years younger than Austin, but that doesn't stop him from wanting to be involved in all the activities Austin does, and on occasion Cody gets to go and hang out with Austin and his friends.  They go shooting, have Bon Fires south of town, ride dirt bikes, go four-wheelin', and all kinds of other things that are a dream for a fourteen year old to do.  Cody also has seen Austin struggle with challenges, one of which was getting his Eagle project and paperwork finished.  Cody learned from his older brothers' experience and made a goal to have his Eagle before he turned 14, which he accomplished five days before his birthday. (The rule for Austin was that he couldn't get his drivers license until he had his Eagle, and he was nearly 16 1/2 before he had it accomplished.  Cody didn't want to waste a moment of driving time so he took care of his Eagle early, even though we weren't going to enforce that rule anymore because it seemed to punish us more that it did Austin.)   We waited until February to have Cody's Court of Honor so that we could have all of our family here and coordinate it with Austins' mission farewell.  It ended up being a LOT of work to do both at the same time, and was a very emotional weekend for us, but we "Got-er-done" and everything went really well. 
We had the Court of Honor on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013 at 5:00 pm at the high school.  (The church was scheduled for a wedding and we needed a lot of seats for everyone coming.)  So many people helped me get it all together, and I was very excited to have my brother Troy come down and do the ceremony.  He is a big scouter up in Preston and really did a great job with everything.  I will let the pictures tell the story. 

The table setting in front of the room honoring Cody.  His Cub Scout pictures
are so cute! 

Brother Stratton conducted the court of honor and Laron Stout opened it.

Austin, Cody and Mady played the song by Aaron Tippen "And the Eagle Flies".
Cody and Austin played and sang on their guitars, and Mady followed up the song with a few measures of
"America the Beautiful" played on her violin.  It brought chills. 

Brother Holland and Brother Mason, Cody's 11 year scout leaders, gave a tribute
to him and talked about him in their scout group.  I was glad to see that Brother Holland
cries like I do. 

Uncle Troy gave the Eagle pledge and presented Cody with his award.

He then lead him in the Eagle Challenge, with the other Eagle scouts standing behind him.
There was a very good spirit there as Cody accepted his responsibilities as an Eagle Scout.

Pinning the mothers and fathers pins.  I can't believe Cody is almost a head
taller than I am! 

Cody was able to give two mentor pins, one to Jimmy Hall, his current
scout leader who helped him and believed in him.

He gave the other pin to Austin in a very emotional ceremony.  He told him
that he is the reason Cody got his Eagle so early.  I still cry as I think about it. 

Brother Wood from the Mormon Battalion gave a presentation and gave Cody
a buffalo skull neck slide and made him an honorary battalion member.

Uncle Troy presented both Austin and Cody with flags that have flown over the United States Capitol
and read to them a poem that was written for the occasion.  (He wasn't able to make it to Austins Court of Honor two years earlier).
 

Dalyon, Josh Hall, and Caleb Furse were the color guard.

Refreshments were cupcakes and yummy lemon water from my dear friend
Bobette Green.  (I was so glad for her help!) 

 

We followed the court of honor with a barbecue with our families, and nearly everyone was there.  It was a great night for our family, and for Cody.  We are so proud of him and his accomplishments! 

We will start with Birthdays, and catch up from there.. . . .

The date of this post is going to be all wrong, I'm convinced of it!!  Surely I have not procrastinated keeping up on my blog and waited an ENTIRE SIX MONTHS to begin telling you about what great things have been happening in our lives!  There must be some mistake!!  Ha ha ha!  Sadly, the date is correct and I have a lot of catching up to do, since I use my blog as our family history record, and have it published into a book at the end of each year.  Thus, it is important to go back and relive a few key moments in our lives for posterities sake.   So, with my calendar on one side of me and my phone on the other, and facebook pulled up in a window somewhere underneath this page on my computer, I am going to attempt to put all the feeling, excitement, joy, fear, sadness, elation, boredom and whatever else we experienced in the past six months into each post AS IF it was posted as it happened.  It is funny how the past six months have flown by as if in a Fast And Furious movie, and yet the four months Austin has been gone on his mission feel like he has been gone a year, (I keep thinking he should be coming home soon, ha ha).  But I'm getting ahead of myself, lets start with birthdays. . . .

Cami and Dalyon have their birthdays 10 days apart from each other, so I feel like I'm safe to combine them into one post.  This was a monumental year for each of them, Cami turning 10 (which is a WHOLE decade I was told), and Dalyon turned 12 and received the priesthood.  They grow up so fast!!    Cami's birthday was on Jan. 22 and we had a small family party for her.  She was very excited to receive new clothes and girl lego's to add to her collection. (It is nice that they make lego's in pastels and have the settings as houses or pet shops or beauty shops).  Her favorite gift was the flowers she received from her Dad who was moving houses in Idaho and Montana and couldn't be here for her birthday.  She was very excited about them!  Turning 10 was kind of a "boring" birthday she said because you don't get to do anything new, like when you turn 8 you get to be baptized, or when you turn 12 you get to go into the Young Women, but I'm pretty sure she had a nice day. 

Her first flowers, and they are her favorite colors too!  Thanks Dad!

Presents of legos and earings and other FABULOUS girl stuff! 

Ten candles nearly light the cake on fire!!  Happy Birthday Cami!! 

Dalyons birthday is on February 2, Groundhog day.  This was a monumental birthday because he turned 12 and so many things changed for him.  When a birthday is this big, the kids get a friend party, and Dalyon invited 10 of his nearest and dearest friends to celebrate with him.  They had a video game party downstairs where we had three different TV's going with different games.  Everyone got to have a turn on them all, and they had ice cream cake and presents and more video games.  The kids stayed and played for three and a half hours, and I had to go downstairs frequently to make sure everyone was all right.  They really love to play video games!
In church, Dalyon received the priesthood and became a deacon as well as moving into the Boy Scout program.  He is very excited to start doing all the things his older brothers have been doing, and to be with his friends in the quorum. 

Presents and ice cream cake.  This is Dalyon with his friend Ewan (who has muscular dystrophy and is in a wheel chair now), and Josh Hall. 

Dalyon got some really neat presents, like LOTS of lego's to add to his stash. 

Other friends who came were Kellan Howard, Dallas Nielson (the only girl), Dalton Harris, Someone I don't know and AJ Sampson.  Happy Birthday Dalyon! 

 

Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas was a blur this year.  There were all kinds of concerts, parties, events, dinners, shopping, working, and school to fill our time and it flew by.  Here are a few things that we did:

We got snow exactly a week before Christmas and I let the kids stay up late and play in it.  I didn't know if the snow would stick (which it did) or if it would stay for the holiday so we broke the house rules and played.  It was so pretty in the street lights and really made it feel like the Christmas season.

Perfect night for a walk! 

Dalyon and Cami started out by making the largest snowball ever, but then it didn't qualify as a snowball because they couldn't throw it, so they added two smaller snowballs on top to make a snowman.  He lasted the whole week! 

The end of the world (according to the Mayans) was predicted on Friday, December 21, and once again it didn't happen.  So, on Saturday, Dec. 22 we had a very special event.  Austin was able to go through the temple for his first time.  It was a very neat experience for me as a mom, and I will always remember it.  We got to the temple at 8:30 in the morning and I did initiatory while  Austin did his with his Dad as his escort.  To meet with him in the holding room, with him all dressed in white filled my heart so full it spilled right over through my eyes.  The spirit was so strong and my joy so very full.  I got a great surprise then too, because my dad who was supposed to be in California, came and sat down next to me and my mom.  We were all really glad he could come and go through with Austin.  The session was very sweet, and seeing Austin in the Celestial room, and then in the mirrors in the sealing rooms was very neat.  Someday he will take his bride and stand in those mirrors and see for eternity, but for now I got to stand with him, and that meant a lot.  We went to lunch after at the Golden Corral with our family, then Austin and I turned around and went through again with his good friend Ephriam Tait, who was going through for the first time that afternoon.  I was exhausted by the end of the day, spiritual things and crying wear me out.  Austin said he felt like he was trying to take a drink out of a fire hydrant, there was so much to think about.  His friend Andy Ashcroft and his dad Kelly also went through both sessions with us that day.  I was glad to share it with my mom and dad as well. 

As I said before, Christmas came and went in a hurry.  Besides preparing for and going through the temple with Austin, I was also baking.  This year I intended to scale down my Christmas rolls and give myself a break, but I ended up doing 219 rolls in the end, and mostly by myself this year because everyone else had other obligations and the only day I could do them was during school.  They got done, and delivered, and I suppose eaten.  Check that one off the Christmas to do list.

Ready to be baked. . . .

We had Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Winn's house this year and Vickie and her family came too. Austin and Cody took their guitars and we had a night of sing-a-longs and good food. We opened presents from the extended family and of course our traditional Christmas pajamas.  This year I gave each of the kids a book with their pj's.  We had a really nice time together.  Christmas was on a Tuesday this year so there was no torcher of waiting to open presents until after church, which I still hear about.  ha ha!    I think everyone was pleased with their gifts.  It was a different Christmas for Austin because he is getting ready for his mission and got mostly mission stuff.  All the boys got a remote control truck that they all took out to the sandbox and zoomed around with for fun.  Mady got a cedar chest and Cami got a horse to go with her American Girl doll.  We had a very nice Christmas.

It is just too early in the morning to be doing this!  They got up at 6:30 and they NEVER get up at 6:30 am.
Mady is sticking her tongue out at Austin, who is hiding behind Cami.  Life is never dull here. 

New Years Eve was very different for us this year.  Normally we have thrown a big party and had a lot of friends over to be loud with, but this year I had to work on New Years Eve Day and Doug was in Montana, so I didn't throw a party.  Doug left the day after Christmas to go to Boise, ID in a snowstorm to pick up a house going to Wiliston, North Dakota.  We are so grateful for the work and didn't even bat an eye about the fact that this is the first year in 23 years that we haven't been together on New Years Eve for our 11:27 kiss.  That has to be a record of some sort, kissing each other at the same time, on the same night for 23 years.  There is a story about why it was 11:27,  we thought it was midnight and after the kiss realized that it was only 11:27.  Neither of us complained, however, because we were able to correct the mistake at midnight.  Regardless, New Years Eve was quiet with Austin, Mady and Cody out at a bon -fire Austin and friends were hosting south of town, Cami was at a friends house, and Dalyon came home about 6 from a friends house.  He and I decided to go to the movie "Parental Guidance" and watched the ball fall in NYC, something we have never done.  It was a quiet but nice night with just the two of us. 

We have had a crazy year, as usual, which should feel like the norm for us.  Looking forward to 2013 I anticipate more craziness and a few tears. (A mom has the right to cry when her boys leave on missions, right?) Our lives continue to change as does our world and we are grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives that brings us peace in troubled times.  I look forward to better times and am grateful for the good memories we have had.