It's Official!

Elder Ryan entered the MTC today!

Yesterday was a weird day.
We sent Marianne off to YW Girls' Camp for the first time and we took Ryan to the airport, knowing that it will be two years before we see him again.


It didn't feel like we were sending him off on a mission because he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. But I knew that his suitcases were full of white shirts and ties!



My brother David picked Ryan up at the airport and was his companion for almost 24 hours.
This morning he dropped him off at the MTC.

John's sister Susan came to play the role of surrogate mother. She gave Ryan a hug from me and even shed a few tears on the way home. She is an experienced missionary mom, so she knows the routine. Her grandson Josh came along too. He and Evan will be missionaries together in about 8 years!

We love you Ryan! You'll be a great missionary.

Come and C

I thought you might like to C what we've been up to lately.

Camping

We had a great time with Marianne's Girl Scout Troop.
There were a few drips that dampened the fun a bit.
Here is a picture of the more photogenic drips.
We decided not to take pictures of the drunk guys who kept us up till 1:00 AM.

Camera
Aaron has been enjoying his birthday present!
To be specific, he got half of a Nikon D60 for his birthday.
Fortunately, he had enough saved to pay for the other half!
Now he's trying to decide which macro lens to buy.

Cavity

Ryan had his pre-mission trip to the dentist
and got his first real filling.
He is blessed with really strong teeth.
Despite his childhood habits of candy eating and forgetting to brush,
he's only had one little cavity up till now.
He'd never had novocaine before and couldn't believe how weird it felt.

Car Crash
Fortunately John's wasn't quite as serious as this,
but he was rear-ended at a stoplight.
He's been to the chiropractor (a bonus "c"),
but his neck is still sore!
Cowboys
Here's cowboy Evan just before our performance of
A Midsummer Night's Dream
We set it in the old west and the costumes were a lot of fun.

The mechanicals were cowboys and the fairies were Indians.
Evan was really funny as Bottom
and he looked great in his donkey-head costume!
Marianne and Aaron helped out on the stage crew
and I got to direct.

Marianne has been using her camera to take pictures of:

CATS
(this is Lorriane, that cat that Marianne gave her cousin Emma for her 8th birthday.
The hardest part was convincing Emma's parents that she needed a cat!)

CLOUDS

and her Cousins' Chickens!

You can check out her blog for cute pictures of
Cupcakes and more!