7.25.24 John MTC sendoff

Well, the day finally came we gathered everyone that lives here for a last picture. They were in the midst of pivot repair, playing, life etc. Life doesn't change a lot here the same requirements are part of each day the ages and faces change. The talents and skill levels change but the day-to-day just keeps rolling on. We are thankful for this group and for the one that will grow to fill the huge hole that happens each time a highly skilled mature one leaves. 

The three brothers. So much ability in this photo and a lot of years until they see each other again. The power of example and expectation is strong. We are thankful for brothers and the good examples they are to each other. 

John with Grandma and Grandpa Saunders. Their support and teaching have helped shape John over the years. 

Livy shows how excited she is to work at the shop. This was a deliberate pose on her part. And John is excited to leave the shop for new adventures. Mark is working there now too. 

We tracked my dad down in a wheat field. He took a quick break for a last-minute hug and encouragement to John. 

We caught my mom on the way to lunch. She too gave a hug and encouragement. 

We stopped in at Grandma Lasley's for a quick squeeze and well wishes. 

We spent the night with Greg's sister after a quick dinner with one of his favorite mission companions. The next day we visited his cousins. Jani Perry had completed another 5k temple-to-temple walk that morning. A determined return after her stroke 2 years ago. She fed us lunch. 

The temples are so close together and yet there are so many people. I'm always overwhelmed when we go south to Utah. I'm so thankful plants and trees dominate my landscape. But it would be nice to be within minutes of a temple. It was odd to not have the Provo temple looming. It is totally torn down and work has begun on the new Provo temple. 

Just as we were ready to leave she told us she had joined Gifford Nielsen speaking at the MTC a while ago. Her contribution was to bring some of her signed BYU footballs and toss them to Elder Nielsen. It caused a ruckus of laughing and enjoyment among the many elders and sisters. I don't know if my sons understood how impressive her collection is. All the quarterbacks for the last 40 years the coaches, full teams that won big events. She is a number one fan. The world knows her as a songwriter but her close friends know she absolutely loves sports! 

The MTC was busy. I was thankful for Harold coming with us. This was of course hard, but with Harold in the backseat laughing and encouraging I did not lose it. Yes, I'm crying in these pictures but there is no place I would rather he be. I'm thankful for our latest elder Saunders. 

After we dropped him off we stopped at the Leatherby's Ice Cream parlor. We got some scoops of ice cream. We did this after dropping Harold and Anna off, but not Aliza. Greg was sad we didn't that time. It was an inspired stop because Deanne had left her purse in our car. She went visiting with us and had treated John and I to Einstein bagels.  A treat I had not indulged in since my college days in Utah. 

My guys are what I hoped they would be, and they are grown up. I told Greg it almost feels like our nest is empty we are almost to single-digit kids. We are down to 10 at home but that will fluctuate and we will continue to work to teach and train and know this younger crew.

Our drive home was long and we were tired. We stopped to see my aunt and Uncle. Greg slept a bit. We continued toward Oregon and noticed the smoke get thicker and thicker. At the border around 9 the sun was odd and red in the sky. There is so much destruction happening with the lingering and large wildfires burning more and more of the state. 

 After grocery shopping and Greg's assistance that he pick sweet corn, we made it home to our in-bed but not asleep kids. They helped unload the car and I made dinner. It was nice to be with them and care for them. It's good to be home. It's a place where we try to stay stable and continual or methodical. We are so blessed to be parents and to get to know each other. Life is good.