Little Brother

Well we dropped off this not so little anymore guy at the MTC. I am so excited and proud of him for choosing to serve the Lord. He will be awesome. Our week leading up to the event was full of fun.

   
Blaine flew up to Spokane to spend a week with me before he left. It was a good vacation for him and I think he enjoyed himself. The week was full of boating, canoeing, eating, and outdoor movie adventures. We spent one night sleeping under the stars after watching the first Lord of the Rings outside with a projector and sheet, complete with everyone's mattresses. I slept awesomely so we decided to try it again the next night, with Nathan's parents joining us. Well...that night ended at about 2 in the morning when the sprinklers went off and soaked everyone and their beds. Everyone was a little grumpy the next day. Gotta love those fun adventures.

After the week was over, Blaine, Elizabeth and I drove up to Utah to drop Elizabeth off at the BYU track and field camp for pole vaulting. She was a fantastic assistant driver in the front seat. She would unwrap my Kit Kats for me and everything.

Elizabeth making art with her pretzels

Nathan flew up a couple days later just in time for Chance's baptism. He was so adorable and so ready to be baptized. It has been a while since I felt the spirit as strong as I did when I watched my youngest sibling make the choice to be baptized. I am so glad I have the two little ones in my life. Our family would be sadly incomplete without them. Chance was a good sport the whole time even though he hates being the center of attention. He inherited that trait from his oldest sister ;)

I loved Chance's "little man" pants. So cute.

Blaine's mission farewell was a resounding success. He gave an incredible talk on family and made me, my mom and Erin cry like babies. He had so many people there to support him and it was a great day spent with our awesome family.

Monday night we got to go to the Spanish Fork rodeo. That is my favorite summer activity and I was so excited to take Nathan and Elizabeth to their first rodeo. I think overall they enjoyed it. The weather could have been a little cooler but it was still an entertaining night.

On Wednesday we packed up for the drive back to Washington. Luckily my awesome husband was there this time so I didn't have to drive the whole 11 hours. We also brought Erin back with us to spend a little time away from Utah. And we had to say a whole lot of sad goodbyes to Blaine. But I am so proud of him and wouldn't want him to be anywhere else. Look out Fort Worth, Texas, Elder McMurray is going to change your world!