Nashville

Nathan got reassigned to Nashville, Tennessee while waiting on his Visa to Ecuador.  He flew from the Provo MTC to Nashville on September 21st, arriving with some other incoming missionaries.  He got to check in with me for a minute that evening to let me know he arrived.  We didn't talk to him for another week though.  However, a friend of mine from college sent me a photo the next morning of Nathan standing by a lady who was related to her husband.  They had discovered a connection from Oklahoma when Nathan talked about his family.  That lady and her husband had housed those incoming missionaries in their home that first night.  

Nathan's companion is Elder Rees (from Utah). They have an apartment in Mt. Juliet and also have a car, but their miles are very limited so they can't drive around all over Nashville.  His P-Day is on Wednesdays.  They went to the temple on one of those days by taking a train down to the temple.  Nathan is now discovering what it's like to cook meals every day and how much groceries cost.  He made spaghetti for the first time.  They have a Sonic nearby, so they go there quite a bit.  They get to play Chess and board games sometimes on P-days.  The missionary work is hard because they aren't allowed to knock on doors to find people to teach.  They have to wander around parks and malls and places where people are already out and about to meet people.  They have to make several contacts to get just a few people to teach.  One day they contacted 100 people and got one lesson out of those people they met.  

He's learning to follow the Spirit.  Recently, they were in the mall sitting down on a bench.  They got the feeling they shouldn't be there and got up to wander somewhere else.  They ended up in the Goodwill store, donating a couple of Book of Mormons and handing out some pamphlets.  Later that evening, their dinner appointment had to cancel due to illness, but they paid for Little Caesars Pizza.  When they went to pick up the pizza, they crossed paths again with a couple who they had given a pamphlet to at the Goodwill store earlier.  That couple was interested in learning more.  Crossing paths with them all started with the prompting to get up off the bench at the mall.  It was also interesting that their dinner appointment needed to get cancelled to end up at the pizza place.  The Lord works in mysterious ways!  

With another person, they already had a Book of Mormon and had been reading it.  They called up Nathan and said something like, "I love this book!  When are you going to teach me more?"  That doesn't happen very often.  I'm not sure what happened after that, but that was a highlight of that day for Nathan.  It's been pretty challenging, but he's still loving the work.

He flew to the consulate in Phoenix on October 5th to get his Visa for Ecuador.  He'll head out on November 1st, so he's had about 6 weeks in Nashville.  He's enjoying the beautiful fall colors there.  The sister missionaries got Nathan and his companion the skeleton shirts.  

 

September Birthdays

We celebrated Alex's birthday a day early (mint chocolate cake the night before and breakfast on his birthday).  He left that morning for Scotland.  I cooked the bacon and Owen did omelettes.

Alex's birthday was very low-key, but I had a lot going on for my birthday this year.  Owen and Alex made French toast, bacon, and eggs for breakfast.  I went out for lunch with friends.  Alex made Mongolian beef, fried rice, broccoli, and spring rolls for dinner.  Alex also made chocolate cake, which some friends came over and helped us eat.  I got several little gifts from friends - a cupcake, candy, and flowers.  A few of the young women brought some cookies.  I opened some gifts from family too.  My sister Audrey sent me a painting she did of Kai, based on a picture of Nathan and Kai.  Audrey, Ashley, and my mom went to a "Paint your Pet" night, and since Audrey doesn't have any pets, she painted our pet and then sent me the painting.  She did a good job on it!  I chatted with my parents for over an hour, and then to top off the day, I got to talk to Nathan.  Apparently the missionaries are now allowed to call on birthdays of immediate family members.  It was a good day!

Scotland

Alex traveled to Scotland for 2.5 weeks for work.  Looks rough... 

 

Speedway

Owen went to a go-karting birthday party recently for his friend RJ.  I don't know if he went very fast around the speedway... but he had fun with his first time in a go-kart!  His friend was really fast - he'd clearly done this before.  He sped around everyone else.  The first picture is them hanging out after the party, doing nerf guns.

Picture Day

 

Missionary Training Center

Nathan has been in the MTC in Provo for 4 weeks, learning Spanish, attending devotionals and training, and getting ready to go to Ecuador.  We've been able to have video chats with him once a week, on his P-day.  It's been fun to check in with him.  He's been loving it, doing two of the things he loves - missionary work and basketball.  He's been able to play basketball for an hour every day except Sunday and for 2 hours on his P-day.  He's also been to the Provo Temple once a week.  He's listened to some great devotionals - one of those was an Apostle, Dieter Uchtdorf (one of the photos of the large audience listening to Elder Uchtdorf was from the Church News).  

He's had the same companion that he had during home MTC, so they've been working together for 6 weeks.  He has 5 roommates.  He said the food isn't great, but not too bad.  One of the pictures is a view of the football stadium from the MTC.  They could hear a BYU game going on one night.  Nathan ran into 2 friends from back home while in the MTC, Garrett and Eli - always fun to run into a familiar face.  Garrett is also a missionary, but Eli is a returned missionary now working at the MTC.

The photo of Nathan riding in the van is him going to do a local background check.  I had sent his Visa packet in, but he had to do the local check again for some reason.  I think that delayed the processing of his Visa, so he's still waiting on that to go to Ecuador.  He's been temporarily re-assigned to Nashville, Tennessee.  We don't know how long he'll be there, but I think it was meant to be.  Originally Nathan had the feeling that he would serve in the Appalachians somewhere, and he also wished he had the chance to teach in English before teaching in Spanish.  He's getting the opportunity to do both of those things.  He's headed out of the MTC today! It's been a great experience for him so far.

Family Night Lesson

We've been studying Isaiah recently for our Come Follow Me lessons.  I did an object lesson with one of our scriptures.  

Isaiah 1:16-18 says, "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.  Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

I had previously put a teaspoon of baking soda and a couple drops of red food coloring in a cup of water, and if you put in about a 1/4 cup of bleach, it takes the color out of the water.  It makes a pretty good object lesson about what Jesus Christ's Atonement can do for our sins, to make us clean.  

Isaiah talks a lot about what will happen to the wicked during the last days, but he also talks about repentance and redemption - "his hand is stretched out still."  We can avoid the destruction by making sure we're clean and come unto Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 12:2-3 says, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."  We don't need to afraid if we're on the Lord's side.  The Lord will create a "tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain."  We talked about these places of refuge and protection - temples, churches, our homes where the Spirit dwells.  We can seek these places of refuge and find joy amidst the darkness of the world.

Dodgers Game

Weston got to hang out with Nathan's friend Devan and his mom for a night out at the Dodgers game.  Alex and I were at Jared's cross country meet and Owen stayed home with Savannah.  Weston was the one available to go at the last minute to use their extra ticket.  We both had a late night, getting in around 11:30pm-midnight.  It was a fun night for Weston.  He got to go to In-n-Out Burger before the game and then got ice cream and soda at the game.  The game was pretty fun for Weston to watch.  The Dodgers beat the Padres 12-1, with several home runs.  My friend Nicole said that Weston made the game more fun, so she was glad he came with them.  Weston was like a little brother for Devan!

God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again

The bittersweet moment had arrived... time to say farewell for 2 years.  We had his "last supper" on Monday night - he requested fajitas.  Nathan taught his last Family Night lesson on Monday and we ended with prayer.  I couldn't hold it together any longer.  I tried to play the piano, but it was hard to see the notes on the page through my tears.  Savannah and Nathan sang along for a little bit and then left me to work through the process.  It's hard to describe the emotions - the joy of Nathan serving a mission, yet the start of a new season where our kids start leaving the nest.  (It's hard to even post here and re-live those moments and feelings.)  Our family dynamics as we knew for so long was about to change.  It's almost like a death, because they're not right there living and breathing with you anymore, yet they're very much alive in their own sphere of life.  I cried a lot of tears that night and into the next day trying to process my feelings.  I didn't sleep much that night, and I finally turned to writing Nathan a letter to get some thoughts out to him.  It's so hard to let him go, but I'm also so happy about what he's chosen to do for the next 2 years.

 In the morning (about 6:30am) we had our last breakfast together for a while - bacon, eggs, biscuits, and a banana cake.  Our friends brought over the cake the night before - I ended up eating most of that cake on my own the rest of the week as comfort food... Jared went to his early morning seminary class while Nathan gathered up all his things.  Nathan said his good-byes to Kai - she gives the best high fives, almost like a handshake.  Then it was time to head off to the airport at 8:00am... Jared met us there, along with some other friends to see him off.  Again, I was holding it together pretty well until the last pictures and hugs.  When I saw Jared standing there with Nathan and saw Jared holding back a few tears, I couldn't hold back my tears any longer.  Although Jared was holding it in, I could feel the emotions he must have had inside with saying "bye" to his best friend for 2 years (and possibly 4 if their missions overlap).  We got our last hugs and watched as Nathan headed up the escalator... last time I'll get to hug him for 2 years. 

I tried to pull myself together as we left the airport.  Jared dropped Alex off at work and headed to school.  I needed to get Owen to school.  He was a little late, but my eyes were too puffy to go in the office with him, so I just dropped him off.  I cried all the way home, and then when we walked in the door, I saw Nathan's old tennis shoes there on the floor, walked past his room with the still messy desk, saw his almond milk in the fridge, some remaining green apples that he loved to eat, the card game we'd played a couple nights before, and other things that reminded me of him.  It was a hard day, but I didn't have much time to wallow in my grief.  We had things to do and places to be.  The busy-ness of the days in the next weeks has helped me with the emotions of Nathan not being here.  If I don't think about it too much, I don't have to deal with the emotions!  

I think we're all managing the empty spot Nathan left pretty well, but I still have "mom moments" of grief here and there when I'm missing him.  It was hard to walk past the window to Nathan and Jared's room the first few days, because for two weeks I'd seen Nathan in that window, sitting at the desk.  Then he wasn't there.  I also missed having him walk in the door in the afternoons after the school day and just start talking about whatever he was thinking about.  I kept waiting for him to walk in the door. 

 I think Jared realizes he has a new role to fill, in being the oldest sibling in the home, the one that Owen, Weston, and Savannah are now watching more closely.  He'll also have to be the one I rely on to help drive siblings around sometimes and to chat with me more often about what's going on inside his head.  Nathan's personality was more outgoing and he just readily shared what he was thinking about - I did a lot of listening with Nathan and enjoyed that.  Jared and I are more similar in that we don't readily share what we're thinking or feeling often, so we'll have to help each other fill in the voids that Nathan left.  With Nathan and Jared being so close, I know it's more of an adjustment for Jared to process.  I keep thinking about what happened when Nathan first went to school.  Jared didn't know what to do with himself.  He just leaned over and stared at the toy bucket, not knowing what to do.  I think that's a little bit of the feeling now:  "What do I do now?" 

Go forth with faith!

Home MTC and Back-to-School

When Nathan's missionary tag arrived in the mail, things started to get real.  We had been doing several things to prepare for his mission:  buying lots of shirts, pants, socks, ties, shoes, and other supplies.  We also had to figure out how to get the typhoid and yellow fever vaccines, which was no easy feat.  We couldn't just run in to the doctor's office for those.  We eventually ended up at Walgreens Pharmacy for the typhoid shot.  As we traveled over an hour away to get some documents for the Visa, we tried to get the yellow fever shot at another Walgreens.  We had made an appointment on-line and showed up at that time, only to find out they didn't actually have the yellow fever vaccine.  They sent us back to our hometown Walgreens, but they didn't have it in stock...  We were back to square one.  There was a $400 option at a specialty clinic or we could try signing up for Costco's travel consultation program, which cost $40.  It was a little bit of a hassle putting in all of Nathan's immunization history and filling out the forms, but we did get that in quickly, which allowed us to make an appointment at Costco Pharmacy.  We ended up going in there on Monday August 1st, when Jaden was here.  Jaden and the other boys ended up waiting in there with us for over an hour for Nathan to get that vaccine.  Just before that, we had gone to a friend's house to try on wetsuits.  Since we were already on that side of town where Costco was, we were planning on running in there to get that done.  It took us a LONG time in there AND it still cost $150 (because insurance wouldn't cover it).  I guess it was better than the $400 option.  

Gathering the necessary Visa documents was also really challenging.  Nathan had to get a local background check / fingerprinting and then do a federal one as well.  Some documents had to be notarized and apostilled (sent to get a seal that it was an authentic document).  When Nathan first tried to do the local background check, he was 5 minutes late for his appointment and they wouldn't allow him to do it that day (even though he still had 10 minutes before the next person's appointment).  He had to re-schedule to another day, which was after he got back from Oklahoma (and the one day we had for family pictures and such before Jaden got here).  We eventually did everything we could do, and the remaining process was then waiting on the federal document to get apostilled in VA.  That ended up taking a full 6 weeks to arrive.  It was a couple weeks into Nathan's mission training in Provo when I sent the complete packet.

Nathan was set apart as a missionary and given a blessing on Sunday, August 7th by our Stake President.  That was a really special thing to listen to.  The whole (immediate) family was there to see him have that missionary mantle placed upon him.  The Spirit was really strong.  The tears started for me as soon as the blessing started!  One of the things said in his blessing was that he'd be blessed to learn the language quickly and at times have the gift of tongues in speaking without even realizing what he said.  

After being set apart, he was officially a missionary and was to wear the name tag and start following the mission rules right away.  No more TV, no more phone chats or social media (except designated missionary posts), no hanging out with friends, and time to start following the mission schedule and wearing missionary attire most of the time.  Sunday was still a family, church, and rest day.  He came home and fell asleep for a bit on the chair - it was a pretty draining day (and week).  We went and said farewell to Nathan's friend Shawn, who was leaving 2 days into Nathan's home MTC.  Nathan wouldn't be able to see him off at the airport, so we got one last quick good-bye with our new missionaries.  Nathan and Shawn have done so many things together - friends since elementary school, shared family vacations, cub scouts and getting their Arrow of Light together, prom, graduation pictures, graduation, temple prep classes and Endowment together, mission calls, mission farewell talks on the same day, and starting their missions just a week apart.  The rest of us went to see Shawn off at the airport on Tuesday the 9th.  Nathan had started home mission training.

While Nathan was doing home MTC for the next 2 weeks, the rest of us also adapted a bit to his schedule as well.  He had to have a companion (a family member) with him whenever he went out, so we had to exercise, go shopping, or be right with him at church.  Nathan did a couple ministering visits with Alex, with a pretty memorable experience in helping to give someone a blessing.  Owen was Nathan's companion for exercise, since Jared was busy doing cross country and things for school.  Owen ran with Nathan the first week at about 2:00pm (when it was hot), and then they got up at 5:30am the next week.  It was nice for Owen and Nathan to have that bonding time.  Out of the kids, their personalities have clashed the most, but they were able to leave on good terms.  Jared was sharing a room with Nathan, so Jared gave up his room all day for Nathan to use for training.   

We also adapted our lives by not watching TV or movies for two weeks.  We did get to watch 2 movies with Nathan - one on each Preparation Day (P-day), which were Saturdays.  We could watch Disney movies, so we watched Minions Rise of Gru and Planes.  We also got to play some games a few times, so we played several rounds of "Cover Your Assets" as a family, and Alex and the boys played some other board games.  We went on a walk one evening while Nathan was in classes.  Nathan was using the lap top the whole 2 weeks, to be on classes and watch devotionals, so none of us could use the computer either.  (I worked on birthday scrapbooks and home projects.)  His mealtime schedule was weird too, with early mealtimes.  Lunch was around 10:30am and dinner was about 3:30-5:00pm, so I needed to have dinner ready by at least 4:30, which meant early meal prep.  Nathan was very diligent about the rules, his personal studies, and obeying with exactness.  He enjoyed the online classes but was definitely ready to get out and talk to people.  

Alex and I got one last temple visit in with Nathan on his first P-day (August 13th).  We weren't sure how that would work if his P-day was on a weekday (especially if on a day the temple wasn't open), but it was a tender mercy that it was on Saturday.  We did back-to-school blessings on Sunday the 14th, which was quite emotional for me.  Alex gave the kids and me father's blessings, but then for the first time Nathan gave Alex a blessing.  It was Nathan's first experience being the one to give the blessing and Alex's first experience receiving a blessing from one of his sons.  It was a good experience for both of them, and I was crying happy tears the whole time.

One of the cool things about home MTC was that during the evenings, Nathan would share some things he was learning.  He usually had a couple hours of free time at night before bedtime.  We still did our Family Home Evening lessons.  Nathan taught the lesson the night before he left.  He had us all share our testimonies, which turned out to be a tender time and good chance to share our thoughts with each other.  It was fun to listen to Nathan practice Spanish with us.  He said some prayers and also sang some songs in Spanish.  I started recording one time - I'm not sure you can hear it really well, but I'll share it.  He's singing "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy".  He wasn't too happy about me recording him... 

Our last Sunday at church together was hard for me.  I got to the point where I couldn't even look over at Nathan sitting there on the pew without the tears coming.  I did somehow manage to pull it together to sing with the choir in "I Need Thee Every Hour."  I definitely needed the Lord in that very hour.  I couldn't think about our family without Nathan sitting there next to us.  We've been sitting together as a family at church just about every Sunday since Nathan had been born.  We were about to have a missing seat, although for a good reason.  On that last Sunday, I made apple pie, Nathan's favorite.  He signed our neighbor's "missionary board".  It was almost time to say "farewell."

  

Meanwhile, normal life activities were still going on for the rest of us.  We had youth activities.  Weston and Savannah had swimming lessons two times a week during August.  They both did really well.  Owen made key lime pie with a homemade graham cracker crust, which was delicious!  Weston inherited several new hats from Nathan to his already large hat collection.  He put about half of them on all at the same time one day... just because he's Weston and does funny things.

Jared and Owen started school on a Friday this year (who starts the year out on a Friday...?), so they started school a few days before Nathan left.  We did our pancake breakfast on that Friday morning.  Nathan had about a 10-minute window to join us for breakfast (just a break, so he had to eat fast). Weston and Savannah started school the day after Nathan left.  Jared is at the High School in 11th grade, Owen is at the Junior High in 8th grade, and Weston and Savannah are at the Elementary in 6th and 4th.  It's Owen's last year of junior high and Weston's last year of elementary.  We'll still be at 3 different schools for a few years though until Savannah finishes 6th grade.  Weston got one of the new teachers to the school and Savannah got the teacher she had in 1st grade.  Luckily she liked her teacher, so she was happy to have her again.  Savannah got a few good friends in her class but not one of her best friends, Ellie.  Weston has been happy to be playing kickball again.  Jared and Owen seem to like their teachers and classes.  Owen rides the bus most of the time, but we take him at 7:40am on Monday and Thursday mornings for a 0-period choir class.  This year, Jared participated in Link Crew, helping do tours and orientation for the freshmen.  The week before school started, Jared had a full week of cross country camp.  He started off around 10:00am, did a run, had lunch and activities, did another run, and ended the day after dinner.  He even did a camping night on the last night, which Jared wasn't thrilled to be part of, since most of the kids were up all night being loud and obnoxious.  Between work, church activities, and cross country, Jared was pretty busy this summer. 

Week with Jaden

Jaden flew out to spend a week with us the first week of August - Nathan's last free week before his mission.  We had a lot of fun - beach days, eating out at our favorite Mexican restaurant, camping in Sequoia National Park, kayaking and fish 'n chips in Morro Bay, smoothies downtown, board games, and Jared's birthday party.  

Monday was a partial beach day, with the boys trying out surfing.  I wasn't there more than 10 minutes, so I didn't get any pictures from that day.  (I was mostly there to help cart people around and get free parking, which made for an interesting afternoon.  I ended up dropping one bunch off with surfboards in the vehicle with the parking pass, waiting for the 2nd car and driving that one down to the free parking, jogging the 3/4 mile or so back to the beach, then leaving early with Jared and Savannah so Jared could get to cross country).  It was a little crazy for me, but the boys had a good time at the beach.

On Tuesday (2nd), we headed to Sequoia National Park.  We camped 2 nights at Lodgepole Campground in the Sequoias.  We didn't end up with 2 sites next to each other, but we used one for eating and gathering and then just separate for sleeping.  The boys were at one site, in a tent big enough to set up a game table.  Alex, Savannah, and I slept in another tent.  We hiked around on Wednesday in the giant trees, which are always so impressive.  We even saw a bear in the wild on our hike to see a waterfall.  Because of rain (and some lightning), we decided not to go all the way to the waterfall, but we did see the bear just off the path.  The last time we went to the Sequoias was in 2012, just before Savannah was born.  I took a picture by a tree that had a bump like my "baby bump".  This year, we took a picture of Savannah and me by a similar tree.  I'm glad she wasn't in my belly this time around!     

On Thursday, we headed to Morro Bay to do some kayaking.  I loved doing that - the water was so calm and peaceful.  We saw some otters, sea lions, and lots of birds.  Owen wore his "Be Kind to Otters" shirt and wanted a picture with an otter.  We did get one, although not very close.  We had fish 'n chips and calamari 'n chips for dinner.  The kids surprisingly liked the calamari.  We picked up Kai on the way home that night.  What's funny is that we were going to have her squeeze in the front seat with me, but as soon as we opened the door, she jumped up over the seat in the back with the kids.  She pretty much sat on Jaden and Jared, as if to say, "Make room for me!"   

We did another beach day with all of us on Friday (the one on Monday was just for a couple hours).  It was fun to play volleyball.  I did get in the water this time, although it still was so cold and took a while to get used to.  I don't usually get in the water, but I did a boogie board for the first time.  The boys dug a pretty deep trench while out there.  We were better about re-applying sunscreen (lesson learned from the last time).  We wandered around downtown on Friday evening for a little bit.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day baking for Jared's birthday party that night.  The kids enjoyed playing several board games that day.  After dinner, we had our "sweet sixteen" party, with several different kinds of sweets - brownies, ice cream sundaes, mint chocolate cake, snickerdoodle and M&M cookies, lemon bars, Twix cheesecake bars, blueberry crumble bars, cherry pie, and soda. Sugar overload!  We played a couple of games, re-using a target game from a Survivor party and a card game.  They worked to hit certain colors on the target with a nerf gun and pulled a coordinating color stick, which eventually released a candy from a slot.  We also played a card game, where we dealt out all the cards in a deck.  Using a second deck, I randomly drew and called out a card.  The person with the matching card got to pick a candy from the center of the table.  Once all the candy was taken, it could be stolen from anyone.  You wanted to end up with the most matching cards towards the end of the game.  Those were the two games I planned.  After that, they played whatever they wanted to.  I think they played "What Do You Meme" game and "Herd Mentality".  A couple other guys came late - I never took a group photo, but about 6 friends came, along with Jaden and siblings, so I think we had about 12 people total.  We invited 15 friends, but I guess it wasn't a great night for the rest of them.  This was our 3rd try with the party and the last chance while Nathan could attend, so we weren't moving it.  We were happy Jaden could be one of the party guests!

Jaden went to church with us on Sunday morning but then had to head out right after the sacrament.  It was sad to see him go, knowing that Nathan and Jaden wouldn't see each other for 3 years (after Jaden's mission).  I'm glad they got this week full of fun memories though. We packed in a lot of fun in one week!