He has Arrived.

After 36 hours and flights from SLC to NY to Moscow to Samara, he's arrived.  Here he is with his Mission President & wife...he looks a little tired, don't you think?  Did you know mail can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months?  Luckily he gets to email us on Mondays -- he, on the other hand, is going to have to wait to hear from us while the mail catches up!

I am especially liking the pens in his pocket.  A missionary classic if you ask me.

Off to Russia He Goes.

I'm sure this picture has you wondering.  Let me explain.  Over 20 years ago...when I was just a wee girl there is a picture of me.  We were vacationing in Yellowstone with my mom's side of the family and one of the days found us on a canoe.  I actually can't even remember it I was so little.  Apparently it was cold & I was a complainer {shocker!}.  So I am sure in an effort to shut me up & keep me warm my mom or my aunt wrapped a scarf around my ears.  The scarf.  The Coke bottle glasses {remember?} & snaggle teeth were bad enough.  But we were also on a canoe & the wind was blowing & suddenly I looked like a little Russian immigrant crossing the turbulant seas to America.

The pictured has popped up to haunt me on numerous occasions.  One thing you should know about my family is we never forget.  Ever.  You do something stupid & we will be reminding you for 20 years.  So this picture has never gone away.  My wedding dinner?  Oh yes, let's use the 'Russian Immigrant' picture!  It has been immortalized & of course re-surfaced again, when Kevin got his mission call to serve in...you guessed it, Russia.

What are the odds?

And so today, in an effort to bid farewell & good luck I offer an updated version of the 'Russian Immigrant.'  In just a few hours Kevin will begin his journey criss-crossing the globe to land in Russia for 2 years.

I am beyond excited for him, but wracked with nerves.  It just feels so far away & unfamiliar.  My mind wanders & I wonder where he will live.  Will it be clean?  Will he find food he likes?  Will he want to curl up in a ball and bawl?  That is something I would do.

His letters are full of excitement & anticipation & I'm sure that adrenaline will carry him for a bit, but then what?  I don't even know, because I've never done it.  But I assume it is somewhat like having a baby.  9 months of anticipation & excitement & then the baby is born.  You land in Russia.  Uncharted territory & the first 5 weeks are a dreamy breeze. You are tired, but still full of that new-baby adrenaline.  And then you wake up & wonder how the heck you got where you are.  Dazed by the responsibility ahead of you.  Asking who in the world ever trusted you to be in charge of this person?

I'm pretty sure he will have some of those moments.  I just wish I was there to hold his hand through it.  Isn't that what all mothers want to do?  Sit in the back of the kindergarten class & smile at their kids?  Give them the head nod of encouragement?  Be the security blanket for the rest of their lives?


We get to talk to him at the crack of dawn in the morning before he boards that first plane.  Say a little prayer for him?  And my mom, while you are at it. 

Sometimes the best things in life are also the hardest.

By the way, you should have seen the photoshopped composite picture we sent him to bid him farewell.  Just think, me, my mom & Lindsey all dressed in our best 'Russian' gear {what is that even?} & photographed in the blaring sun & then photoshopped into a winter wasteland...that may or may not be Russia.  Quite possibly the most fun I've had wasting the most time on the most useless 'farewell' package...that we had to rush him.  Are we dumb?  yes.  Do we crack ourselves up?  Also, yes. 

And Then We Bid Farwell

I'm not going to lie.  The last couple days have been a little rough.  Rough in the sense that my emotions always seem to hover just under the surface, bubbling up at unexpected times & places.  I feel like I am always a moment or glance away from tears & it has thrown me for a loop.  I see something that reminds me of him & the fact that I can't pick up the phone to call him, text him, message him, heck I'd even instagram him to laugh about it is frustrating to me.  I have come to realize just how much I like my instant communication & just how many things jog my memory.  

My family gathered one last time on Tuesday night to say our final goodbyes to Kevin.  This picture is the 'pretty' goodbye.  We still had the whole night ahead of us.  Dinner.  Dessert.  Good friends & even better laughs.

And then, as suddenly as I had finished my Nielsen's Frozen Custard, I was in a parking lot looking like this:

 

Why in the world I was saying goodbye in a parking lot is beyond me, but alas, here is my ugly cry complimented with Kevin's laugh.  Poor guy had to hold it together for all of us.  And so, that was it.  I cried an ugly cry.  Hugged a hug & went home.  Scoobs got to stay out late with me & this is my favorite picture of him saying goodbye...it is pretty awful of just about everyone else, but it reminds me of how he just clung to his legs.  They are such good buddies & similar is so many ways.  I love it.

And so now he is in the MTC {Missionary Training Center} in Provo, UT.  Each night I think of him & hope he is well & once we hear from him, I am sure this will all start to feel so much better & we will settle into our new normal.

He was so ready to go & I am so excited to hear of all his adventures...good & bad.  It has already been such a blessing to our family as we came together to send him off.  And so, with that, I will close the chapter on being sad.

Class of 2011: My Favorite Graduate.

2011 was a big year for my family.  The 'baby' of the family graduated from high school.  I remember when he was born {he is 11 years younger than me} & the day that he would be an 'adult' seemed like eons away.  When I graduated HS, he had graduated 1st grade.  But here he is ready to head off to college.  I am beyond excited for him to start this new chapter of his life.  I can't wait to hear all the college details...the girls, the antics, the professors, the girls, the girls.  Granted it is like pulling teeth to get any info out of him, but I'm getting better at pulling teeth & am feeling up to the challenge!

My mom put my sister & I through the ringer for his pictures & announcements -- but we love her attention to detail because everything always turns out great.  She had the idea to include a picture of Kevin with his friends on the back & the biggest problem was narrowing it down to 7 or 8 people.  If there is anything he has in abundance, it is friends.  5 of the 8 in the picture have been in school together since kindergarten.  Love that.

 

Going to his actual graduation brought back so many memories for me.  I'm glad to have another alum in the family.  He is beyond prepared for college & life in general.  So very proud of him.

congrats Kev. love ya.

Fruits of Our Labors

I am using the words, 'our' very liberally, as really, I'm not included in any of the labor of this little photo shoot.  So really, I should say the fruits of Lindsey & my mom's labor, but that doesn't have quite the same ring.  No?

Anyway...Kevin.  Senior Year.  In Photos.

 Are you loving the purple shirt?  I am.  And I should mention that I tried to veto that shirt saying it was too girly, but, as always, my mom was right.  Put that purple shirt on the gray wall...it's love.  You should also know that I am probably doing something completely idiotic behind the camera right now to get Kevin to smile 'naturally.'  And you should also know that my sister probably opened up his eyes a bit in photoshop.  Really, what did we do before photoshop???  Oh yes, I know...we had ugly pictures!

Love them.  Love Kev-Dawg.  And am going to be real sad when he goes away to college & has his own life that is infinitely cooler than mine.  boo.

For more delightful pics...