On our way... Hello Utah

I just had to post this picture of Dave when he played for Dixie College in 1972. His mom had it sitting on her table when we got to St. George.  Mr. Tough Guy. 

He has said numerous times that it was a good thing we didn't meet until the season was over

when he had mellowed a little bit. I'm sure glad our paths crossed on that day in January 1973 

and we decided we needed each other. What a handsome guy! 

We arrived in St. George Monday evening, August 26th to say our farewell to Dave's mom. She was so sad to see us go, but we had some good talks about how we felt the Lord needed Dave's special skills to help the missionaries in the Europe Area be able to have more successful missions. His special skills and the love he has for the youth of the Church will be a blessing to many of those young missionaries. We know it will be hard to be away, but with the technology of today, we will be able to stay in touch. We have decided to use WhatsApp so we can video chat and text from afar!

It was a teary goodbye, but we felt Jeanette's love as she wished us well and promised she would pray for us every day. We confirmed that she would also be in our daily prayers. What a tender time.

We had a couple of days to spend at Will and Val's in Provo before reporting to the MTC.  Here Sebs is getting the pool filled up...looks like he may (or may not) have turned the hose on his Pa. 

Z drew us a picture to take with us on our mission. Such a sweet thought. 

Oh how we are going to miss our family. Especially our sweet grandkids.

Will and I had a great time together at the BYU / Utah game.  BYU stunk it up for a bad loss to Utah but it was wonderful being there with Will.  Thanks for arranging it Will!

Father and Son. All smiles, despite the outcome of the game.

Will started a new job as VP of Sales with Cobalt Robotics in July. That cool robot will be helping companies in ways I can't even fathom. Will is putting together a sales team in Provo...and he is so excited about the future. He has been traveling a lot to make things happen. It's a fabulous opportunity for their family.

After showing us around the new office space we ventured out in the HOT afternoon sun to check out the farmer's market. So many cool things...but we opted for ice cream inside. 

Sebs was ready for a nap, so Val decided it was time to head home and get ice cream another day!

I have a hard time being in Provo without stopping by my grandparent's home at 542 N. First East. Elf and C.S. hosted many family dinners here over the years. I have LOTS of fond memories from my early childhood to when Dave and I lived just a block away when Dave was going to BYU.

If those walls could talk...the stories they would tell. 

Three Generations: Joanne, Will and Alexander (Z).

Auf Wiedersehen Spokane

Closing my counseling practice was a much harder endeavor than I had anticipated.  However, I saw my last clients on Friday, August 23rd. 

Saying goodbye to good friends was really hard. So many people have touched our hearts in the six years we have lived in Spokane Valley. And we had some angels come to help clean ... 
Jenny, Karen and Dena ... thank you so much for coming to the rescue.

Jenny and Johnnie Johnson invited us over for Sunday dinner. We still had plenty of odds and ends to finish up, but she insisted ... and we're so glad we accepted. It was such a wonderful meal. 

Of course, Jenny made us a German chocolate cake for our send off. Oh so good!

Auf Wiedersehen!

       Here is our packing station. We moved our bed downstairs a few days earlier to make room 

      for the Molters to move in. We came up with the great idea to put up tables for our suitcases.

  It made the packing process much easier. Getting the weight to exactly 50 pounds was a challenge. 

Our Stake President, Geoff Julian gave us very special blessings as he set us apart as full-time missionaries for the Church.  I took comfort in his blessing of health as he blessed me that I could finish my mission.  He also gave Joanne a special blessing as a part of her setting apart that moved us both spiritually.  
We were so grateful that the Spirit was in abundance.

Monday morning and we're ready to head out of town!

I didn't get much sleep the night before as I wanted to have the house all ready for MaryLynn and Dick to start moving in. We felt so blessed to have them be able to rent the house. 

It was a win-win for both of us. We just had to move our personal things downstairs 

since they wouldn't be using it very often. 

Here's Joanne in front of the rental car we used for the last three weeks. Since we sold both of our cars, it worked out well to be able to just drop it off at the airport. We had decided to sell the Subaru and the Ford pickup so we weren't paying insurance and taxes on cars that would just depreciate in value.

Even Delta Airlines knew we were ultimately headed to Germany...

Next stop is St. George, Utah to say goodbye to my mother.

Farewell Sunday

We SO enjoyed having our family be such a big part of our Farewell weekend.  Joanne and I had been assigned to speak about how to become more committed disciples of Christ.  Joanne did a great job on that topic and bore a sweet testimony and I tried to do the same.  I had a tough time not getting emotional as I looked into the faces of our children and their spouses and our grandchildren that we will miss so much.

It has been a tradition in our family for the closing hymn to be, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" as missions begin.  It was sung at my farewell as a young man, and for Candice's, Will's and Tom's.  I had a hard time keeping it together as I looked at our family and sang the lyrics, "...Keep love's banner floating o'er you...God be with you till we meet again".

While it seems at some levels such a sacrifice to be so far away for 18 months, we know that we are called by a prophet of God to help build His kingdom on the earth.  As we serve with all of our heart, might, mind and strength in our assignment, we know it will bless our whole family.

Elan brought this giant sheet of plastic and made a Slip'n Slide for the kids.  The kids just kept at it forever. SO MUCH FUN! We just love having the space for everyone to play and enjoy each other. 

A family BBQ was a must and seeing all five of our children and Cassidy out hitting the volleyball was a lot of fun. Joanne even joined the fun a little later.

Darci put on her playlist and the singing began ... oh how fun it was to watch Tom and the girls belt out the lyrics as they were helping with dinner. If only the videos would post ... it was a sight to behold.

Joanne just couldn't contain the smiles as she watched the interaction. Thank you Cassidy for capturing the whole thing. 

And did we mention that the dinner menu was German themed? Brats, warm German potato salad, cucumber salad... so much good food.

And we celebrated Cassidy's 15th birthday with a yummy chocolate cake. Where are those pictures?

           

What is a family BBQ without Smores to top it off?

Farewell Weekend - Saturday

The family started arriving on Friday night and we were finally all together at 

Lake Coeur d'Alene on Saturday. A colleague of Dave's was able to arrange a day at his family's cabin. The setting was perfect for hanging out and playing on the water.

The five kids haven't been all together in two years 

Roger & Candice, Will, Alison, Brenna & Tom and Darci & Elan.

We really missed not having Ali and Will's family. 

At least we be able to see them all before we leave.

 I have wanted to go kayaking for a long time. It was so fun... especially once I got the hang of it. 

Andrew Thurber hosted and drove the boat … a few may have been dumped off in the turns!

 

 Oliver loves the water and Tom didn't mind taking him out, either.

 Will missed having his own boys there, but enjoyed taking his nephews out for a spin

 Little Theo was all smiles as Will took him for a ride in the Kayak.

 

Cousins ... Ollie, Derek, Riley, Cassidy, Kayson and Myles.

Kayson, Oliver and Derek

Riley, Myles, Derek, Kayson and Elliot just hanging out.

Saying Goodbye

 Our first stop was to visit our family in Nebraska since they start back at school in mid-August 
and couldn't attend our farewell.  We took some family names to the Ft. Collins, CO temple 
and performed baptisms with the family.  
What a beautiful experience with Brayden, Alison, Matt, Drew and Ella.

 A big hug for my sweetheart

 This photo is on our front page, but this version showing more of the wheat field is cool.  
Our efforts in a different harvest is about to begin.

Steve and Ellen Kallberg, old and dear friends from North Bend, WA came over for a few days and helped us get started packing and organizing. They were such a huge help. 
We enjoyed a session at the Spokane Temple where Joanne and I had just finished
serving as ordinance workers every Wednesday for two and a half years. 

Tony and Linda Yanez also stopped by in their travels from Medford, Oregon to say hello and goodbye.  
It was wonderful catching up with these good friends who we miss a lot.  
We used to home teach them in Snoqualmie.