Christmas 2015

 We had a wonderful Christmas season this year.  Last year I really wasn't in the Christmas spirit so this year I was determined to make it better.  I started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving and didn't really listen to anything else the whole season.  We watched a lot of Christmas movies and decorated the house and put the lights up together.  For the last 14 years we have had a tradition of going to a movie and out to dinner on Christmas Eve.  This year we changed it up a little bit.  This year we went to see a play at Desert Star.  It was called Ebenezer Scrooge and his nightmare before Christmas.  It was super funny and we had a great time.

 We decided that since the play was a lot more expensive than a movie that we wouldn't go out to dinner at a sit down restaurant.  We couldn't all agree on a place so some of us went to McDonald's and Jaxon and Jake chose to get a pizza from Papa Murphy's to eat at home.

The fam in their annual Christmas Jammies

 Jadon had written to us on Monday and told us that he would be calling between 8:00 and 10:00 am.  I was really excited to be able to see his face and talk to him.  I got up and was ready for the day by 7:30.  No one else was awake.  I didn't know what to do while I waited.  I had so much nervous energy so I decided to go out and shovel the new snow that had fallen all night.  Dale came out with me and put Christmas music on his speaker.  It was so magical to shovel the pretty snow while listening to music.  It was very peaceful.

 After we came in, everybody sat in the front room while we discussed what to do while we waited for Jadon to call.  We decided that we would go in the kitchen area to see what Santa brought while we waited for him.  It turned out perfectly.  After everyone was done checking out their Santa stuff he called.  He called me on my phone first to see if we were ready to skype.  It was so much fun to hear his voice.  When he called on skype we set the computer on the couch and all of us huddled around the computer to talk to him.  He was at the Malone's house and his companion was talking to his family in the next room so we could kind of hear them.  At one point, Jadon showed us on his Ipad to his companion's family on his Ipad.  It was pretty cool.  It was so much fun to talk to him and see his face.  He looked and sounded so good and happy!  He told us about how he helped his branch president on the farm on Christmas eve and how cool it was.  He couldn't believe how deep Jake's voice was.  He recited the first vision for us.  We took the Ipad outside and showed him the snow.  He was jealous because they don't have any snow at all.  He let us say hi to the Malone's so we could thank them for taking care of him.  The hour went by really fast and no one wanted to say goodbye at the end of the hour.  I miss him so much but it makes it so much easier knowing how happy he is and how much he is learning.  He has grown up so much in just 4 1/2 months.  It has been hard not having him around during the Christmas season.  Every time we do something that is a Christmas tradition, it feels weird doing it without him.  You would think this would make the Christmas season sad but it didn't.  I think having a missionary in our family brings a very special spirit to us.  

 After we hung up with Jadon, we finished with our Christmas morning by opening presents.  Santa put silly string in the kids stockings and they had a great time spraying it in the house.  Penny, our elf on the shelf, had hung ornaments all over the kitchen area a few day before so the silly string stuck to them making it look like a big spider web.  Luckily, it wasn't that hard to clean up once it dried.

 Jadon sent us a Christmas package.  Inside was a a container, for each of us, of one of the treats he likes in Maine.  Along with it was a hand written letter for each of us.  That was the best thing of all.  I don't know what it is about hand written letters but I love them.

 Since it snowed about 8 inches, and the plows didn't come through our neighborhood, we decided to so some hookie bobbin.  It was a perfect day for it.  The sun was out.  The streets were covered and everything was beautiful.  The kids had a great time and a few of the neighbors came out for rides.  We spent a few hours doing that and then we headed up to my Dad's for Christmas dinner.

Katie

Kyson

Jaxon

Jake

Kierra

This was a wonderful Christmas and a great way to end 2015.  I am so thankful for all of my many blessings!  I love my family so much.  I absolutely love having a missionary.  Monday's have become my favorite day of the week because I love getting Jadon's letter and reading about all the wonderful experiences he is having.  I really do feel like our family is being blessed because of his service.  I think there will be some major changes in our lives in 2016 and I'm excited to see where this journey will take us!

Called to Serve!

All ready to go

 It's hard to believe that I am posting this exactly a month after Jadon left.  Some days I can't believe it's already been a month but most days it feels like he's been gone much longer.  The morning he left for the MTC was a pretty laid back morning.  He had to be at the MTC at 12:30.  I woke him up at 8:00 a.m. but he had a really hard time waking up and didn't get out of bed until 8:30 or so.  He came up on the couch and fell back to sleep while I made breakfast.  We talked about going out to breakfast on the way to the MTC but I decided that I didn't want to feel rushed.  We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  After breakfast, Jadon fell back asleep on the couch.  I guess the last couple nights, where he didn't sleep much, were catching up to him.  While we were all getting ready to leave, Dale went and made a small copy of Jadon's patriarchal blessing so that he could keep it in his scriptures.  We left for the MTC around 11:00 am.

Elder Byers

Everyone told us to say our goodbyes at the provo temple, across the street from the MTC.  We got there around 11:45 and just sat in the shade and talked for a little while.  Jadon was still really tired and was frustrated that he was feeling that way.

Last family picture for two years

We walked around for a little while and took some pictures and then Jadon decided we better head over there.

I told Jadon that I got to get out of the van at the MTC so I wasn't saying goodbye until we got over there.

He gave each of his sibs a hug but that is too many pictures to post so I just did the big group hug one...

and, of coarse, Katie because he loves her so much.  He loves his other siblings too but Jadon and Katie have a special relationship that, unfortunately, will change over the next two years as she grows up

Jadon looks so much like Dale in this picture

My favorite quote that goes with this picture- Missionary: someone who leaves their family for a short time so that others may be with their families for eternity

When we got to the MTC, all of the kids stayed in the van while Dale and I got out to help him with his luggage and say goodbye.  When he hugged me, he finally lost it and started crying.  Having my 18 year old son, who never cries, cry like that was hard to take.  He hugged his Dad and then the missionary escort took him off to processing.

I told him beforehand that I wanted him to look back when he left.  I'm so glad he did because I love this picture.  I love that he gets such an amazing opportunity to share the gospel

Right before he left, he handed me a stack of envelopes.  He had written everyone in our family letters one night when he couldn't sleep.  When I got back in the van, after saying goodbye, it was silent.  I decided that it would be a good time to have everyone read their letters.  I didn't read mine because I hate to cry in front of people.  Kyson was sitting behind Dale so I could see him out of the corner of my eye, reading his letter.  He kept looking out the window and I could tell he was trying not to cry.  When he couldn't hold back anymore and started to cry, he was looking out the window and I could see his shoulders shaking.  I climbed back there and gave him a hug.  That's when he lost it.  He started sobbing.  It was so sad.  I looked to the back of the van and Katie was sad and Kierra was sobbing too.  I made the rounds of the van and hugged everyone.  The rest of the ride home we all just sat in silence.  Our original plan was to stop at the DMV on the way home so Kierra could get her license.  I asked her if she still wanted to do that (because her face was all red and puffy) and she said yes so that's what we did.  Several people told me that the hardest part of sending a missionary off was when they got set apart and that the goodbye at the MTC wasn't that bad.  They all lied!!!  It was so hard to let my boy go.  He's been my shadow for the last 18 years and I had no idea what I was going to do without him.  I couldn't stand the thought that I didn't know what he was doing or where he was every minute of the day.  The next 4 days were very hard.  Luckily, I was able to go to youth conference the next day so I had that distraction.  But he was constantly on my mind.  I had so much running through my head.  What was his companion like?  Was he sleeping?  What was he doing all day?  When we got his first letter on Sunday afternoon (it was in the mailbox on Saturday but the mail came really late so it wasn't there when we checked it) a huge relief came over me.  Even though the letter was short, I could tell that he was happy and was doing well.  The whole family sat around and read it together.  Each day that goes by is easier and getting his letters is AWESOME!  His stories are so funny.  Every Monday night we read his letter out loud at the dinner table.  I miss Jadon every day but I am so grateful for his willingness to serve and I know that his mission will change his life!  I love having a missionary!

The day before leaving

Jadon, Gladys, me and Dale

 The night of Jadon's farewell he was very quiet and seemed kind of down when he went to bed.  When I got up in the morning, I had to pick up a few more things for Jadon from the store.  Before I left, I asked Dale to chat with Jadon and figure out what he wanted to do.  Jadon was feeling the stress of everything that still needed to be done before he left and he also wanted to do something fun before he left.  So they made a list of all the things he needed to do and we decided that we would get all those things done on Monday so we could play on Tuesday, the day before he left.
Tuesday morning we got up early and went to the first session at the Oquirrah temple.  It was a great way to start the day.

Katie was so excited to ride with Jadon

 Before we left for the temple, we told the kids to be ready to go when we got home.  Dale had just found out that there was a new family that just moved into our ward.  They moved here from Venezuela.  He thought it would be a good idea to go visit them so we all headed over there.  They don't speak very much English but we could tell they are a super neat family.  After that we all headed up to Park City.  We were thrilled that Gladys was in town and was able to come with us! It was a beautiful day and not crowded at all.  We walked right on to the ski lift for the Alpine Slide and didn't have to wait too long for the coaster.  We had so much fun riding both of them.

 After we were done with the slide and the coaster we went out to lunch at the Mexican restaurant we have been too several times in Park City. 

Katie and Jadon in line to get tickets

Jaxon, Dale, Kyson and Jadon riding up to the Alpine Slide

Everyone walking to the slide

Everyone excited to go down

 We love being in Park City.  We try to go every summer.  We had such a good time together!

Jadon in his CMC tie that all the missionaries in our ward, for the last 2 years, have signed

 After lunch we came back down to our house and spent an hour or so at home before Jadon was going to be set apart.  He was getting some things down on the computer before he left.  At 7:00 we headed over to the stake center.

Jadon giving his Dad a hug right before we left for the Stake Center.  He knew he was giving up his phone right after so he was taking one last look.

Our missionary son, Elder Byers

The setting apart was very emotional.  The stake president started out by asking me to bare my testimony.  I had been told this would happen but I still wasn't prepared.  I was overcome with emotion.  The day Jadon was being set apart was also the one year anniversary of my mom's death so she was on my mind a lot that day.  It was very hard for me to talk and express myself.  I shared with my family how thankful I was for Jadon and his decision to serve a mission.  I talked about how he just came good.  He has always wanted to be obedient and do the right thing.  I also talked about how thankful I am that families can be together forever so that I will be able to see my mom again.  Dale followed me with a beautiful testimony.  He talked about how envious he is that Jadon gets to go serve the lord for two years and how happy he is that he gets to do that.  The Bishop and the Stake president said a few words and then they set him apart as a missionary. 

Jadon and his sisters

 After He was set apart, we decided to go to Macey's for an ice cream cone.  We just wanted to cram as much as we could into one day and didn't want it to end!

I'm coming too!

 When we got home, we packed his clothes.  Dale found a video online teaching a missionary the best way to pack his clothes.  We watched that and ended up having a lot of room left over.  We thought we might be missing something but went over the packing list several times and we had it all.

watching the packing video

Jadon was very quiet most of the time that we were packing.  Towards the end he started to get very cold.  He never gets cold.  I was worried that he was getting sick.  He took a shower and came up and layed down on the floor and fell asleep.  I felt so bad for him and really had no idea what was going through his head.  What a scary thing to leave home and know you won't be coming back for two years!

Payson Lake

 One of the last things we had planned to do as a family this summer was going camping at Payson Lake.  Because Jadon had gone through the temple the week before, I decided it would be a good idea to go to the Payson temple together.  We weren't able to go to the open house and I really wanted to see that temple.  I felt bad that Kyson and Katie weren't able to come in with us.  They sat in the waiting room in the temple with Kamryn and Jared.  We decided to do baptisms so that we could stay together in the temple.  Luckily, no one was there when we got there so we didn't have to wait at all.  Jadon did the baptizing of all of our family and Lisa and Taylor.  It was really neat to see that.

Jadon helping Katie roast starburst

 We went out to lunch after going to the temple and then headed up to camping.  After we got camp set up, we went down to the lake.  A few people got in and went on the paddle boards.  Everyone else walked around the lake.  The water was quite a bit lower than it was the last time we were there.  We were disappointed that the water wasn't deep enough to jump off the pier.

Everyone, except Dale, on a very short hike

Jadon and Taylor

Byers and Adams kids...such great friends!

 We went on  a very short hike that we had been on before.  When we went before there was a good size waterfall and water you could jump in at the top.  This time the water was all gone and the waterfall was very small.  We still had fun

Katie, the little swimmer

Katie and Kamryn trying to get warm after swimming

When we were having lunch, the table was in the sun so we ate under the tree

 I love this picture!  Their faces are priceless!  Jaxon is looking with such admiration at his big brother and Jadon is just smiling and listening to Jaxon.

Kamryn and Kyson being brave in the cold waterfall

Katie followed

 One of the times out on the lake Jadon and I decided we were going to try and stand up together on a paddle board.  We tried over and over and we finally did it but we were only able to stand up for 7 seconds.  Jadon and Jaxon decided to try it and they were much better at it.

They did it!

Kamryn and Katie playing in the lake together

The kids always have so much fun out on the water.  Everyone from my family, except me, is out there together

 Lisa forgot to bring her life jacket so we had to dig these orange ones out of the storage in the trailer.  Jaxon decided to try one on.  The problem was he couldn't get it off.  We had to try for a long time to get it off.  We were all laughing pretty hard.

 We made friends with a family that was camping near us.  They had these little kayaks that they were nice enough to let Katie use.  She loved it and she was pretty good at getting around the lake.

 Kierra asked me to do her hair which led into a little beauty parlor.  I did almost everyone's hair but only posted a few pictures.

My little nerd

We had such a great time camping together.  It will be really weird to go next summer without Jadon.  He always makes everyone laugh.  He's just fun to be around.