Alyssa Leaves for the Philippines

It was unbelievably hard to say goodbye to Alyssa. What do you say to your child, or sister, as you say goodbye to her, knowing that you will not get to hug her again for 18 months. We got to the airport around noon and get her bags checked quickly. We had about an hour of sitting with each other in the waiting area before sending her through security. 

When it was time for her to go, she hugged her grandparents in the waiting area. 

The rest of us walked with her to security. This pictures make me so sad because the kids were crying all afternoon after saying goodbye to her.

I don't have the picture with me because it is on Danny's phone. We waved goodbye and watched her come out on the other side of security. Then we started to pray that she would arrive safely.

Alyssa made this for Camden before she left when he was sad and he carried it around with him for the next week.

 Three excruciatingly long days later, we found pictures of her on Facebook at the MTC. Shortly before we saw the pictures, we had a couple of emails from Alyssa telling us when p-day was and letting us know that she would be calling later that day to get our help connecting to her Facebook account on her new phone (she needed a code sent to her phone at home)

As you can see from the pictures, she was one of the few Americans in the MTC the whole time she was there. She was also one of the tallest (only a few elders and one sister were taller or the same height as her for the entire 9 weeks). Little by little, we have been able to get information from her about her trip there. The layover in San Francisco was long. She did a lot of pondering and crying, I'm sure Someone bought her dinner at the airport. We wished he had taken a picture of her and sent it to us, but oh well. She also had a guy on her flight hit on her and ask her to meet up with him when she gets back to the states. The flight was long, but she said she was able to sleep on it. When she got to the airport in Manila, her bags were not there. She filed a report with baggage claim and then had an awkward 2 hour drive with a driver to a hotel in Manila. Eventually, she met up with another American missionary (an Elder) and they walked around a bit to kill the time. That Elder ended up being in her district and they became good friends. She arrived at the MTC the next day and they told her they would send us word that she had arrived (but we never got anything). Her bags took 4 days to arrive, but her companion let her borrow stuff and the MTC Presidents wife gave her some clothing. Her district had 2 brothers from Africa, 3 sisters from Pakistan one of them ended up being her companion), the American Elder, a Sister from Austrailia, and a Sister from New Zealand. Once her bags arrived, things got much better for her.

Family Photo Shoot

About a week before Alyssa left, we got family pictures taken. We usually get this done about every other year, but who knows when then next time will be. We were happy with how they turned out.

We got shots of Alyssa with each of her siblings

The photographer was so good with the kids, especially Tyler who refuses to look at the camera in any pictures we take of him. At one point she even threatened to add a mustache to his picture if he didn't look at the camera. And then this was the first shot in the gallery.

I love looking at these pictures and preserving that time in my memory when all of my kids were home with us. We may never have that again.

 

Tyler Receives the Priesthood

On January 5, Tyler was ordained to the office of a deacon. Alyssa was 2 days away from leaving for the Philippines and Tyler was happy to have her there still. Gawbie and Grandpa were able to come, too. This was one of our last family pictures together before Alyssa left.

We moved the bishopric along quickly with Tyler's temple recommend, because Alyssa wanted to be able to go with Tyler the first time he went. We thought we would have a couple of weeks to fit it in, but with the change to Alyssa's MTC and start date, we had the morning of the 7th to have them go. We had to be to the airport at noon. So Alyssa, Ashley, Tyler, and Danny headed off to the temple at 6:30 am that morning and were back home with enough time for us to sit around and enjoy the last couple of hours with Alyssa. He enjoyed the temple and has been back multiple times since.

The first time he passed the sacrament was in the YSA ward. They gave him the easiest route and he did a good job with it. It was cute to see him standing up there with all of the YSA's. We are still getting used to having him in the young mens, but he seems to be enjoying it.
 

Summing Up the Holidays

Grandpa Miner came to visit the week of Thanksgiving. We took him with us to see "Wicked/" 

We went up to Steve and Pam's for Thanksgiving dinner. We played some football in the morning (not Grandpa), ate good food and enjoyed visiting with their family. We didn't have a chance to play 1 high.

Danny and I got to attend a Christmas party with Explore Utah Valley. They held their party at The Grid this year, which is an indoor racing track that uses electric cars. We had never been before, so it was fun to try it out.

We worked on a lot of puzzles during the holidays. I had just exchanged a bunch of kids puzzles for grown up puzzles, so we had a lot to choose from.

The boys made gingerbread houses one of the nights that Danny and Ashley were working.

We had fun at the YSA Christmas party. The boys liked the photo booth and wanted a few pictures with the different props.

On the last day of school before Christmas break, Ashley got to perform with her Improv class. It was fun to see her demonstrate some of the things she had learned over the past semester.

Camden's class during the Christmas sing. I had front row seats saved for me because I had won them in a drawing during the school fundraiser.

Tyler's class during the Christmas sing.

The kids got to visit with Santa at Gawbie and Grandpa's Christmas party.

Christmas morning stair picture.

More puzzles...

We went to Beauty and the Beast at the Hale Center theater right after Christmas. Everyone loved the show. The Hale always does an incredible job with their shows.

I don't have any pictures of this, but for Alyssa's birthday we gave her the gift of individual time with each of us. We each chose a place to eat and an activity to do with her. These included ice skating, an arcade, a mini escape room, a massage, and racecars. We all chose her favorite restaurants to eat at, too.  Shortly before Christmas, we found out that Alyssa's start date and MTC was changing from what her call said. She would be going straight to the MTC in the Philippines. This meant we would have 8 fewer days with her before she left and she would not be in Provo for those first 7ish weeks of her mission. This was a bit of a shock to all of us, but we adjusted our thinking. Her farewell was on December 29th.

Mary Poppins ar American Heritage

 The weekend after I got back from New York, was Ashley's school play. This one was kind of a disappointment, though. There were so many students in the play, that they were unable to put all of the students on the play for every group number. As a result, Ashley was only in 4 songs, which did not include "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" or "Step in Time/" I guess the good thing about it was that she didn't have to go to as many rehearsals. But it also meant she was only in like 15 minutes of the 3 hour play. She got to be a lady with a baby in a couple of the scenes. She was supposed to have an old fashioned baby stroller, but they couldn't find one, so she ended up having to hold the baby which she said got tiring. Here are some pictures from the play.

Ashley with her friends...

Ashley and Camden...

"Precision and Order"

"Let's go Fly a Kite"

She did a good job in the parts she was on stage and it was fun to watch her. Mary Poppins is not my favorite musical so I didn't enjoy the overall production as much as I normally do.