Reality Sinks In

So what does one do once they have dropped their daughter off at the airport to leave on her mission?
Panic, of course!
How would I know if she made it to the MTC.  She didn’t have a phone . .
she left that with me.

I could check online, but I wasn’t so sure it would give arrival status . . .
There was no way she could write in time to calm my worried mom’s heart . . .

She did, however, have an awesome friend who texted me this photo right before she went into the MTC!

And the following day, I found this online.

Phew!  She made it safely. 

A Day Too Soon . . .

Because Allie wanted to fly out a day early, I had to suck it up and get her where she needed to go.
We printed out her boarding pass . ..

She half-heartedly attempted to finish all the things she was supposed to before she left on her mission . . .

She made sure she said goodbye to the puppy . . .

and decided she didn’t really want breakfast and settled for a beverage.

We arrived at the airport. . .curbside . . and unloaded her suitcases . .

hugged her, armed her with her “breakfast” . . .

walked away . . .

and drove away . . .with tears streaming down my face.

Sending off your oldest is hard; the second one is no easier, but sending off the youngest is really difficult because there is no one else left.

It’ll Have to Do . . .

Time was flying by for me but probably not for Allie.  It was the last day before she chose to fly off to Utah a day early (to hang out with friends as well as a missionary can).  So we filled our day with . . .
yard work . . .

some puppy lovin’

a last meal at the restaurant of her choice

being set apart . . .

and packing.

It was a hard day, if you want my opinion.  The wait was nearly over.

Procrastination

What do you do when you really should be writing a talk or taking care of the finer details of preparing to go on a mission?

Perhaps put together a puzzle or two . . .

have a few cookies and other snacks . . .

and get mad at the person nagging you to get things done . . . just so she won’t miss you so much. 
But things all turn out in the end . . .

“The” talk gets written . . .

“The” brother comes home to listen to “the” talk . . .

Allie tries on missionary clothes and gives the talk . . .

renews her driver’s license . . .

samples “sugar pie”, a supposed Hoosier treat . . .

nearly finishes a puzzle . . .

and enjoys some down time with Jennifer’s kitty.
Life is good

All Work . . . .

It was wonderful to have Allie home.  I am not a big fan of weeding, but I am a big fan of the results.  Typically the job falls on me and no one ever helps.
But because Allie was home and didn’t have anything better to do . . .

We spent a couple of afternoons cleaning up the weeds near the front door (the entire yard looked REALLY bad before we started.)

It was wonderful having a much neater yard AND spending time with my daughter.
As a reward, I cooked/baked the things she hoped for . . .

and Paul took us out to play!

Life is never dull when Allie’s around. . . no matter what she claims.

Clean!

There were things we needed to get done before Allie’s departure date.  We took care of two of them on the same day . . .

First she got her teeth cleaned. . . gotta have some pearly whites to share the gospel!

And she took out her endowments at the temple.  It was a great experience.  Some good friends joined us and made the day even more special.
What a blessing to have all our children to be able to go through the temple.  Now the goal is to have us all there at the same time!

How Do Old People Celebrate Birthdays?

With milkshakes, duh!


He picked Peanut Butter & Bacon. 

We met up at Sonic and indulged.
Happy Birthday to Paul, who enjoys the simple things in life!

Reluctantly On the Road Again

It was time to empty out the van . . .
and head across the lonely desert . .
and make the usual pit stops . . .


it goes without saying . . .

I added a new stop (because puzzles are not a bad way to spend my time when hubby’s off doing what needs to be done) . . .

and made my way here. . . .

to pick up . . .

so we could . . .

for her mission.  But then she had me drop her off here . . .

to play soccer with her friends one last time.
The next day , we went out to breakfast. . .
 
had an amazing snack/lunch . . .
and went out to dinner . . .

with some packing and loading up the van in between.
all so we could . . .
head home.