We Are On A Mission

Technically, Amanda is on a service mission for the next 18 months. The reality is that we are all kind of on it with her. It is going to be a blessing for our family, but also a challenge. Most things worth while are. I drive her down to the temple every day where she will serve in the clothing center and the temple. Yesterday was her first day, and she did great. She used the cash register, debit/credit card machine, and stocked inventory. I think she is really going to love serving, and she is so happy. There were some amazing things that lead up to this week. Last Friday I spent all afternoon at the airport picking up wonderful family members. First my mom and sister, Christine came in. We went to lunch, then went back and picked up my sisters, Julie & Linda. Lastly was Ashley. It is so good to have her home for the summer. I loved having family here to share with us in this amazing experience. Saturday, Amanda went through the temple. It was so great to be there with her. Then we ate at Cheesecake Factory. That was yummy and fun. The last thing we did Saturday was the kids came over to the hotel and went swimming for a couple of hours. Sunday evening Amanda, was set apart as a service missionary. That was a pretty incredible experience. Monday morning, everyone left early to fly home to Arizona. I am so grateful they came. Tuesday, Amanda reported for her first day of service. This was a crazy day for me. It started at 5:45 am when I took the kids to seminary. At 8:30 I had physical therapy which was pretty hard. I have not been in several weeks because I had strep throat and the flu. I am pretty weak, but hopefully that will fix itself pretty quickly. Then it was back home to take James to work because our van is not working right and we don't dare drive it, so we only have one vehicle at the moment. Amanda needed to be at the temple at noon, so we dropped her off, then picked up Nathan who had an orthodontist appointment. That poor kid had to have most of his top brackets removed and re-positioned. That took an hour and a half. Then back to pick up James and drop him off at the community college where he teaches. Then back to the temple to pick up Amanda. Then back to pick up James, and take Amanda & Ashley to institute, then back home. Last trip of the night was to the store to buy milk because we were completely out. Things will not be that crazy all the time, but yesterday was pretty wild. I am sure we will settle into a schedule and things won't feel so crazy. It is a good crazy and I would not trade it for anything.