Priesthood and Mission Prep

 Today was a big day in our house. Dylan was ordained to the office of a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood by Gary after church. It was awesome to sit and listen to the beautiful blessing Gary gave as he, Ethan, my dad, and the bishopric stood in the circle. I caught myself wondering where all the time went. Wasn't it yesterday that I was waiting for Dylan to be done with his first day of preschool and worrying that he wouldn't be able to find his classroom all on his own each day? Now he can serve in a greater capacity and be our Savior's hands in more ways. He has grown into such a great young man. He's full of interesting facts, takes his priesthood responsibilities very seriously, and never fails to wear his bow tie each Sunday - we're going to have to work on learning to wear a regular tie for his mission. We missed Tom and Brinlee but Tom has been working crazy hours and was at work again this morning so they weren't able to join us today.

As we were getting ready to leave the Bishop's office, he handed Ethan a few papers and let him know it was a checklist for his mission papers and that the online portal was now open and ready for Ethan to start working on. Even though I've known this is coming and I keep reminding him to ask the Bishop and to get this or that done, I still don't feel ready. I know how fast the next six months will go and then he'll be gone to some spot in the world where the Lord needs him. He'll grow in his testimony and in his abilities but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for one more to leave home. It is never really the same when they come back. They come back as a man, not a young man that needs his parents permission to stay out late or their guidance for little things. They come back self sufficient and confident and ready to tackle the world. Ready or not, it's coming and I can choose to worry about it or help him get what he needs to done in order to prepare. It is exciting to find out where he'll be serving! In a few months, we will know. He can submit his packet February 1 and he put his availability date as June 1. That doesn't mean he will absolutely leave that early but there is also a chance he might. I guess we will just wait and see. He's ready. I'll get there.

Isn't it crazy that they can get their mission papers ready to go on their phones?!?!

Logan was certainly near today. He likes to pop in on these important days in our lives. Little things that happen that some may think are simply a coincidence show me that he's close. We sang "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" today in sacrament meeting. It was a song that was sung at his funeral. We don't sing it very often in our ward. Later, when Ethan was filling out his health portion of the mission papers, it asked if he was being treated for a variety of things, one of which was bipolar. I don't remember that question when Tom was filling out his papers. It was just a simple thing that helped me feel close to him today. He's always there. He's busy serving his own mission but always makes time to be with us during these mortal milestones. I love that.

On another note, I turned 50 this week. I really love birthdays I love the opportunity is gives me to see my growth over the last year and I get excited to think about all the awesome memories I get to make this year. My 40s were full of immense joy and unimaginable heartache, growth and stretching beyond my limits at times, understanding and learning to give grace. I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me in my 50s.

Christmas Adventures

 

The first year after Logan passed away, I wasn't sure I could be home and "celebrate" the holidays. It was just too painful. That started our first Christmas vacation over the actual holiday. We took off for the warm waters of Mexico on a cruise that year and returned to an all-inclusive resort the next year. When Tom was on his mission, we stayed home and remained home one additional Christmas because the Covid 19 pandemic pretty much halted travel around the world. Traveling began again last year and this time adding Brinlee. We went to Florida because there were still quite a few cancellations and restrictions due to Covid throughout the world. 

That brings us to this year. It will be our last Christmas together for four years. Ethan will leave this coming summer for a mission and, when he gets back, Dylan will leave. We aren't sure what our fiamily will look like in four years. Will we have grandkids? Will Ethan be married too? Will this really be our final family trip over Christmas? Just in case, we knew we wanted to go big. We made the reservations back in April for Grand Cayman and began counting down. 

We had a blast! Some of our favorite adventures were snorkeling almost daily right out the backdoor of our condo, swimming with stingrays, swimming at night in a bioluminescent bay where every movement made the water around you glow as the plankton were disturbed, going to church at the local branch for Christmas Sunday, snorkeling with sea turtles at a turtle preserve, visiting the town of Hell, and finding giant starfish in the waters surrounding Star Fish Point. 

The weather was wonderful. It was warm and sunny the first five days and, even when it was cloudy the last couple of days, the temperature was always right around 80 degrees. Before the storm moved in and made the ocean angry, the water was crystal clear. You could see straight to the bottom even on our excursions miles out from shore. We dove for conch shells. We watched all sorts of colorful fish swim throughout the coral making up the barrier reef. I've never enjoyed the water quite as much! Each night we came back to the condo exhausted and happy.

The food on the island seemed to be the same menu regardless of where you went to eat. There would be some sort of jerk chicken, curry, seafood, and pasta on every menu. For Christmas dinner, we decided to go fancy and ate next to the bay. Ethan ordered a GIANT 2 1/2 pound lobster. That kid loves his seafood! Brinlee and Dylan would rather eat anything than seafood so it was steak for them. Tom and I had surf and turf and Gary ordered giant prawns that looked like just small lobsters. Once we were finished eating, the waitress came and grabbed Gary's plate and then took the seafood shells and threw it into the bay straight from our table. It was crazy! There were small sharks called tarpins swimming in the bay that anticipated the nightly feedings. The kids were all able to throw in pieces of shell from our plates and watch the tarpin snatch them up. It was a favorite memory for sure.

I could go on and on about our trip but I want to end with a realization I had this year. We began traveling at Christmas out of our grief of losing Lo. Logan was all about the experience. He was all in. He lived life to the fullest and was the first to want a new adventure. What began as a time to heal has transformed into a time to make memories as a family and have those experiences out in this big wide world. I always feel him close to us during these adventures. I think he is happy we are building family bonds and making fun memories together. It will be hard to not travel the next few years at Christmas but I know we will find ways to make memories in other ways. There is a big world out there waiting for us to discover.