Saying Goodbye

The week before Christmas was a very emotional seven days of saying goodbye to friends and family members. We enjoyed dinner with Merrill and Melinda Barney, as well as with Rex and Vicki Lewis. We also had many people stop by the house to wish us the best. Kaytee was with us when we spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, December 19 and wept openly as people shared their feelings about us leaving. Allysa and Stacy stopped by - along with their kids and boyfriends - to give us hugs and kisses and to collect food from our pantry and freezer.

A day or so before Christmas we drove to Ogden for two delightful nights with Kelly, Gary and Whitney. We ate, played games and enjoyed our time together before traveling to Pleasant Grove for an evening with Michael, Tara and Lilly. David, Jan’L, Kaler, Kole and Kyle, Kris, Zac and EJ arrived on Sunday to see us off. Every available inch of floor space was occupied with blow up mattresses and bed roles - to the point it looked to an uninformed observer - like a refugee camp!!! There was a great deal of laughter as four of our six offspring caught up with their siblings - some who hadn’t seen each other in a very long time.

Then came the morning of Monday, December 27, the day scheduled for our arrival at the MTC. Our two strong sons laid their hands on our heads and pronounced a sons' blessing asking for our safe keeping and return in 18 months. There was a torrent of tears from everyone and Kris hugged us both and sobbed, “you’d better come back!!!” We look forward to being able to hug our precious loved ones again on or about June 27, 2012.