My {Soon-to-Be} Missionary Son

I took Parker and his friend Dillon for a pre-mission photo shoot last night. Parker leaves May 23 (yes, that's soon!). He will be serving in the Mexico Cuernavaca mission. Dillon leaves in June for the Micronesia Guam mission. I still need to edit many more photos, but here is probably my most favorite!

How can you not smile looking at that happy face?


:)

Viva Mexico! {Elder Evans....the Sequel}

For those of you who are faithful followers of my blog (c'mon raise your hands...I know there are one or two...), you may remember when my oldest son Nate served a mission in Edmonton, Canada.


Well, last week, my second son Parker received his call to serve in the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission! He leaves May 23 and will serve for two years.


The build-up to receiving a mission call is unlike anything else. It involves doctor and dentist appointments, wisdom tooth extraction, and in Parker's case meniscus surgery following an incident involving running and slipping on wet grass. Add to that interviews with his ecclesiastical leaders and a bunch of paperwork...and there you have a mission application.


Once a prospective missionary submits his or her papers, the wait begins for the call to arrive. In our area, mission calls arrive in the mail on Wednesdays, so it was pins and needles time for our family as I set up a vigil by the living room window waiting for the mailman to arrive. In recent months, our mail has been arriving much later than it used to. Last Tuesday, it wasn't delivered until 5 p.m.! There was no way any of us could wait that long on Wednesday!


Parker is currently a student at BYU, about an hour from our home, so I was instructed to text him AS SOON as the mail came. Luckily, it arrived earlier than it had on Tuesday-- around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The envelope we were so eagerly awaiting was there! I texted Parker immediately. He said he would drive up as soon as his next class was over.


We set a time for family to gather at 6 p.m. for the opening of the call. It was so nervewracking, and so exciting all at once. We were lucky to have our Arizona relatives be there with us via Skype, as well. Parker was a bundle of nerves, and I thought he just might explode as we waited for everyone to arrive so he could open the most important envelope of his life to this point.


Here are some shots I captured from that evening!!! Smiles all around.

Talk about an anxious man!! Yes, he was sooooo nervous!! (I must have been nervous too...a little camera shake made this one kind of blurry...but I had to include it!)

Opening the envelope!

Here it comes!!!

Dad's looking a little anxious as Parker begins..."Dear Elder Evans......

"Mexico Cuervnavaca!! Yes!!"

Map of the mission

Consulting the atlas for more information.

The Elders Evans study the atlas while Dad talks to the AZ relatives on Skype

Does he look like a happy boy or what?

Ready to be a missionary mom again!!! (And man, I look short in this picture! How did my boys grow up so much? Parker's definitely grown a foot or two. :)

:)

Welcome Home, Elder Urry!

There's nothing like the charged atmosphere at the airport when a missionary, who has been gone for two years, is coming home. 


I got to share in that excitement -- and feel again the bubbling-over emotions I had when Nate came home 6 months ago. (yes...can you believe it's been that long?).


My friend Shantel and her family welcomed home Elder Urry yesterday. Such an exciting time.


I was there to capture the arrival, enabling Shantel, a fellow photographer, to just enjoy the moment without worrying about her camera. My awesome friends Janae and Tracy did the same for me when Nate came home, and it was wonderful. I was more than happy to be there for Shantel. 


Happy tears all around.


Welcome home, Elder Urry!

:)

Green Green Grass of Home

Just a couple more shots of Nate's homecoming day.

Prior to his arrival, we decorated the house and yard with posters, balloons and a banner. On August 1, I had a countdown poster in our front window alerting everyone to how many days were left -- eh.

And here's the first thing Nate wanted to do when we arrived at our house....get reacquainted with his quad. Looks happy, doesn't he? He had a chance to ride it just a few days later when he, Derek, Parker and Alex took a trip to the sand dunes.

I just can't get enough of this smiling face.

:)

Welcome Home, NATE!!!! Returned with Honor

It's been almost two weeks since Elder Evans AKA Nate came home from his mission in Edmonton, Canada. It was an amazing, joyous homecoming beautifully documented by my good friends Janae Cooper and Tracy Wagstaff. They were both so kind to drop everything else in their lives to come and spend an hour or so at the airport awaiting Nate's arrival and then photographing it second by second.

The anticipation and excitement in the air were palpable. I was pretty much beside myself by the time I saw him step foot on the escalator toward baggage claim, where we were waiting at the bottom. I screamed, I jumped up and down, I hooted and hollered. It was the most incredible feeling to see him again.

It seemed like it took forever for that escalator to descend, but the second he stepped off, I ran and enveloped him the biggest hug imaginable. Two years ago as I hugged him goodbye at the Missionary Training Center, I remember not wanting to let go...and thinking that hug had to last him...and me two years. How wonderful it was to see him return and to and give him a HUGE hug again!

Nate was only home for a few days before he started school at BYU. Those days he was home were wonderful and seemed to fly by. I was very sad to have to say goodbye to him again when we dropped him off at his apartment in Provo, but now at least he is only an hour away and he can call, text, e-mail, visit!

His mission was a wonderful experience for him We said goodbye to our 19-year-old boy two years ago and welcomed home a 21-year-old man on August 24th.

We are so happy he has returned with honor.

Here are some of my favorites of the airport-a-palooza!!!

:)

Sister Smith -- Called to Serve

This is Toshia, It's been fun watching her grow up, and now she's getting ready to leave on an 18-month mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She is such an outgoing, friendly girl, I know she will be a successful missionary.

:)

Elder Lindsay

Hard to believe, but in the next few months, my neighbor Kyle will be leaving on his mission. He was so excited to come to my house the other day for a photo session. (Well, maybe excited is a little too strong)...Anyway....he came. :)

Here are some of my favorites from his session. Can't wait to find out where he's going!!

:)

Kyle and his proud mom!