Scott's Homecoming!

This was a beautiful day!  It was fun to be here to see Scott and spend time with my sisters!  It's always neat to see the growth that a mission brings and Scott was no different.  It was good to visit with him and hear about his experiences!  This was a fast and furious trip, but I'm glad I came!

We took these out in front of Heather's home in Mission Viejo, CA.

All who came for the day!  

We even managed to get some card games in and had a nice lunch that Heather provided.  

Havin' Fun With Megan HOME!!

It's been a blast having Megan HOME!!  It was short and sweet though...she flew in yesterday afternoon and heads back to Provo on Sunday the 28th.  (I will be gone to CA on Sat. for Scott Beatie's Homecoming from HIS mission-- so I won't even be here the whole time Megan is here! :(

Well we had fun in the little time we had... movies in the morning, and a swim meet for Brooke and Katelyn on Friday night.  We enjoyed visiting together at the swim meet instead of me watching Megan... hahahaha!  Everyone was asking about her mission call and there was such excitement in the air!  This is such an exciting time!  

We took this picture before we went to the movies to see "Inside Out".

Opening The Mission Call!!

Our sweet Megan opened her mission call tonight!! She is going to the Washington DC North Mission and will also serve in the DC Temple Visitors' Center!! We are thrilled for her and can't wait for her to serve!! She reports to the Provo MTC on Oct. 21. Soooo excited we can hardly contain ourselves!!!!

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It's HERE!  Oh I SO want to open it! It came on Monday the 22nd, the day that Katelyn and I traveled home from Utah!  Figures!!  

This is where it has sat TAUNTING me for the last several days!

Now she's home and can finally open it tonight at 7:00!

This is super exciting stuff!

Opening...

Reading... Washington DC North Mission and the DC Temple Visitor's Center!

We Made It To Provo!

Well today is the day!!  Today is the day that Megan goes her own way in her life!  We had orientation meetings all morning (both she and I) and there we met her new roommate Marissa Perez, who is extremely outgoing and social-- very cute girl, and then this afternoon they only gave us a couple of hours to get all moved in to the dorm.  She is in Hinckley Hall room 2232 in Helaman Halls-- on the very end, just like my room in May Hall so many years ago!  It was a very HOT day and moving all her stuff in with 100's of other girls doing the same thing was interesting!  We unpacked her stuff once we got it all in her room, made up her cute bed and got her clothes and things all organized and put away in record  time leaving us enough time to go to Wal-Mart and pick up a few things we still needed.  We even had time to catch dinner at Kneaders too!  We came back and did a few more things in her dorm and then she had to get back on campus for more activities, so I drove her up onto campus and said good-bye to her there... THAT WAS HARD!!!!  I got out and gave her a big, huge hug and she started to cry...and I did too!  I watched her for a moment as she walked away to see if she'd turn around, but she didn't.  At first it made me sad. but then I realized it was probably because she was crying and didn't want me to see!  (She later confirmed that to be true!)  That was the hardest thing I've EVER done as a mother!  This whole week was the hardest thing I've ever done! I'm going to miss that girl!  Katelyn stayed in Kanosh to play with cousins while I got Megan all settled here, but right at that moment, I was wishing that Katelyn was with me, so that I wouldn't have to make the lonely drive back down to Kanosh by myself.  I think I cried the whole way!  I called Bill to tell him that I would NEVER, EVER drop off one of our girls by myself again!  I don't care what's going on in our lives, next time, HE WILL BE THERE!  My only consolation is that we will still be able to talk on the phone, text, face time... etc., etc.  When she leaves on her mission?  I don't even want to think about that yet!  AND, she will be coming home in a couple weeks or so to open her mission call... We will see you soon Megs!

I love this campus so much!  It helps knowing she will be in such a wholesome, good environment!

Good luck Megs!  We love you!!

BYU BOUND!!

Well, Megan, Katelyn and I leave for Utah this morning!  We came out to load the car and friends had come during the night to decorate the car Megan drives.  Looks like Tia (Rose) and Sarah (Wilson) were responsible!  Hahahaha!!  Megan is truly loved-- this was a cute send off for her!  After all of the good-byes to Dad and McKenzie...we stopped briefly at the pool so Megs could say good-bye to Brooke, and then we were OFF!!  We had an enjoyable ride as far as Jenell's house.  That's where we stayed until going to Provo, the night before she could check in.  (We stayed with Shelly there.) These are exciting times!  We were hoping that Megan would receive her mission call before she left, but it didn't come.  I guess now we will just have to fly her home so that she can read it.  (We have a credit with Allegiant... we will use that.)  I can hardly wait to find out where she will spend the next 18 months!  But for now, we are concentrating on getting her all moved in to her dorm and settled in Provo for at least the next 2 months!  This is the next adventure for Megan and I can't believe it's already here... it's time for her to fly the nest!!!

Father's Day!! A Week Early!!

We also had to celebrate Father's Day a week early!  I decided to do that not only because next week Megan and I will be gone, but because it's Megan's last Sunday at home--the last Sunday we will all be together!  Perfect for celebrating Father's Day!  Bill does so much for all of us!  I am truly grateful for him and for all he does for us!  It was a beautiful day together as a family!

Katelyn decorated this cake!  Cute!

Celebrating McKenzie's 21st Birthday!

We went to a nice dinner with Grandma to Olive Garden...Mac's favorite place to go!  I will be gone for her birthday up in Utah taking Megan to BYU, so we needed to celebrate early!  (I'm also missing the Edward Jones Summer Regional Meetings-- first time I've ever missed it in 17 years! This one would've been the 17th Regional!!  Weird!)  We came home from Olive Garden and had her favorite sugar cookie bars, instead of cake-- with candles and all!  We gave her tickets to go see Phantom of the Opera with Dad.  It was a fun evening and we all enjoyed celebrating her birthday together.  She's 21, the legal drinking age!  I'm so glad she has NO desire to do that!!  What a blessing you are McKenzie!!  Happy Birthday!!!

Lighting the candles...

Me trying to keep those other girls from blowing out her candles!  McKenzie though that was funny!

OK! Blow them out already! Fun night!

Temple Baptisms and Cute Girls!

We had a nice afternoon today at the Phoenix Temple doing baptisms!  It was Katelyn's FIRST time doing temple baptisms!!  What a great day! We've had some recent June rains that were so unusual, but they left it a bit cooler!  This was a beautiful day and even better inside of the temple!  We got a lot of names done!  Katelyn really enjoyed it, too! :)

Megan, Katelyn, Kobree Livingstone and Hannah Hinton