Happy Birthday to our Ben! Tomorrow will be one year since he entered the MTC to learn Mandarin Chinese and then off to the California Arcadia Mission! In so many ways it is hard to believe it has been a year...
Last year we spent a sweet, tender few days together as a family celebrating his birthday and preparing to say goodbye for 2 years. All five boys spent a "guy" afternoon and went bowling (one of Ben's favorite things to do!
We all went to Tucano's for his Birthday Dinner! They had him stand up on a chair while we sang to him...
One of our family traditions is to go up to the MTC hill (between the MTC and the Provo Temple) right before the boys leave for their missions. The challenge this time was that it was snowy and FREEZING!! But we bundled up and went anyway! We sang "Called to Serve" and our family song "Golden Roads" (that Tyler wrote)... James, Tyler, Brad and Cami shared missionary advice and testimonies...
It was a wonderful, unforgettable experience!
The morning he left, he spent a few last moments on the guitar... and James gave him his mission ring...
Kalvin tried to pack himself into Ben's suitcase...
We all loaded into the car to take him to the "drop off"... for our final goodbyes...
Then he was off... on his mission adventure!
We got into the car to leave... Ethan was just sobbing... Noah put his arm around him and said "I guess I will have to be the favorite brother now"... Ethan responded "Not a chance!"
Ben has spent the past year serving the Lord with all his heart, might and strength. We love him and we are so proud of him and his dedication! Keep up the good work!
No comments:
Post a Comment