On His Way!

It's been a pretty busy month. Not just because of Christmas... In fact, I've done most of my Christmas shopping online.

No, we've been busy getting Brandon ready to leave on his mission. Shopping, shopping, and more last-minute shopping. Visiting family; having family here to visit us...  Lots of stuff! It's been a weird combination of running around like crazy people, and just waiting.

Last Sunday, December 11, Brandon spoke in church. We were afraid that we wouldn't have any family here because of the weather and the three-hour drive up from Salt Lake. But Bruce's sister Marilyn and her husband James came out, and Grandpa North came up with Michael, and Scott and Emma (cousins). They came to church with us to hear Brandon talk, then we had lunch together and visited. We were really happy to see them! Of course we were so busy being happy that we forgot to take any pictures. :-/

Oh! We actually we did get a picture of Brandon and Michael together before everyone left. :-) (Because Michael thought of it.)

Then we were on the final, final countdown. On Monday Brandon brought the suitcases up from the basement and we started packing. And realizing that we had more stuff to buy. On Tuesday I finished packing his bags for him; that's the last time I'll be doing that for at least two years—maybe the last time ever. And, on Tuesday morning, I also finished wrapping all of Brandon's Christmas presents so they could get packed into his bags too. Only Brandon will know if he is nice enough to wait until Christmas morning, or if he is naughty enough to open them ahead of time. ;-)

The Van Picture
We take a shot like this almost every time we go on a major trip.
It looks so empty with no Michael, Jason, or Lindsey there!

On Tuesday, at 4:30, we all went to the stake president's office so that he could set Brandon apart as a missionary. President McClellan gave him some counsel, and a blessing, and then Brandon was officially a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

me, Bruce, Elder Brandon North, President McClellan, and Bishop Goodrich

Then we all went back home, Brandon and changed into driving clothes, and the kids said their goodbyes.

These two brothers have shared a room since Ryan was a baby.
Will Ryan miss Brandon, or will he be thrilled
to have his own room?

hugs from Kaylie, Jessica, and Rachel

Brandon had to report to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo on Wednesday, December 14. That's about a 3 1/2 hour drive for us. And we still needed to pick up a couple more things for him that we couldn't find in Vernal. So we decided to spend Tuesday night in Salt Lake at Bruce's Dad's house. Did we think to take a picture of Brandon with Grandpa while we were there? No. Of course not. :-/  (Sometimes we are kind of dorks about the whole photo thing.)

Wednesday morning I cooked the last breakfast that I will make for Brandon for two years. Not that I cooked him breakfast all that often (he was just as likely to cook breakfast for me). But the last home-cooked meal idea did cross my mind that morning.

Then Bruce and I watched him open a Christmas present—we wanted him to have this one available right away.

because if you're leaving home for the first time—and going to Budapest, no less—you should have a camera!

Brandon will have the companion picture to this one—a photo of Bruce taking a picture of Brandon taking a picture of him taking a picture...

We got Brandon's bags back into the car and went to buy his shoulder-bag and his passport carrier. And then we had an hour to kill. So we went to my mom's house, but no one answered the door or the phone. So we went to see some friends in West Valley, but we didn't have much luck there either. So we went back to my mom's house, and this time she was available—and she was glad we stopped by. And we were too!

This kind of looks like I did a bad Photoshop job,
but Grandma really is that little next to Brandon.

Then we met up with Bruce's dad (who took us to lunch) and missed another photo opportunity. And finally we drove down to Provo. When we got there we were met by a nice young missionary (whose name I've already forgotten), who helped us unload Brandon's stuff and who would guide him where he needed to go.

Nice Elder... ?
Maybe Bruce will remember his name.

A hug for Mom...

A hug for Dad...

And then he walked away, and we won't see him again for two years.

I did surprisingly well. I teared up a little, and that was it. Probably because from Provo we were headed to Ephraim (a 1 1/2 hour drive) to pick Jason and Lindsey up from school for Christmas break. (Um, didn't take pictures of them either.) And from there we made the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Vernal. And then I went to a tap class that night. So I was too busy to be too sad.

But yesterday (Thursday) I did kind of mope around all day and didn't get much done. And I was very sad to go to Ryan and Kaylie's Christmas choir concert last night and not have Brandon there. (And looking at all these pictures is making me a little sad too.) It is hard to send one of your kids away for the first time, even when you're glad for what they are doing.

But we got our first email from him last night! (With "I live!" as the subject line.) That was a super nice surprise! Here's what he said:

"Um, hi. I am at a loss of what to say. I was just made District Leader and Senior Companion. I don't really know what that means, but that is what is going on. It is super fun, hard, and frustrating, in that order and decreasing in potency with each one. I love you, can't really think of what to say.

Sorry that this is short, but this is all.
Love you
Brandon."

So he's doing all right; he's busy, and he's mostly enjoying it so far. Yay! I'm proud of Brandon! And it will be exciting to hear how things go for him.