Home for the next 8 weeks..

Hello, Missionary Training Center! The morning that Jake entered the MTC, Craig's awesome parents babysat Addy and Tucker so all the kids could take him to the Provo Temple. They had a great morning at the temple and then they went to lunch at a Brazilian restaurant where Seth ran into one of his mission companions! (So funny, because he went to Brazil on his mission. Go figure!) Then they took Jake to the MTC and dropped him off. There are so many missionaries coming in that you pretty much just drop them at the curb and say goodbye. So glad they were there for him.

Bye, Jakey!

So, today is the day! We knew we would have to get up early in the morning, so Jake had said his goodbyes to Gideon and Savanna the night before.  We took Jake to the Pittsburgh airport to see him off.  We were all doing great until we had to send him through security.  It was hard to say goodbye to him, but we know there's no better place for him to be going right now. 

 Brooke and Craig picked Jake up at the SLC airport and took him to the Bednar's to spend a couple of nights before he had to be in the Missionary Training Center.  He was so excited to see Addalyn!  Seth, Kirsten and Tucker got there that evening and Jake loved meeting Tucker for the first time!  They all had a great time together for a couple of days, relaxing and playing racquetball.  It was great that Jake got to see everyone before he left.
  

God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again...

Today was Jake's farewell at church.  The meeting was wonderful with our family singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" with the missionaries from the branch, and Kelsey singing "God Be With You Til We Meet Again", which was a major tear jerker.  Savanna, me (Mom), Steve and Jake spoke.  Jake really sounded like a missionary and we could all see that he is ready to go!

Family Fun!!

The weekend before Jacob was to leave we had a super fun family get together where we played games, shot skeet, lit chinese lanterns and had a bonfire.  We loved having everyone there for the whole weekend and for Jake's farewell at church the next day.

The House of the Lord

One very important event that needed to happen was Kelsey and Jake going through the temple. In temples, we make special promises with Heavenly Father and He promises us special blessings in return. Kelsey and Jake were able to do this for themselves in July in the Washington D.C. Temple. It was an amazing experience!