Colby has been home for his Spring Break this week. It's been nice to have him, and he and David got the dentist all taken care of. The dental papers have been mailed to Colby's bishop at Snow, and I guess we now play the waiting game. One week? Two weeks? THREE WEEKS?? I just might lose my mind.

I did find on facebook a group of missionary moms...they just might be my best friends for the next couple of years. One said that she's sending out her fourth son, and it still "freaks her out" to send them. It will be nice to have a place to share my anxiety, pretty sure it won't be with David =)

SO... I'll update things when we hear anything! until then... =)

Last night we all joined together (David's side of the family) to hear Stewart open his mission call! (Stewart is my nephew, Colby's cousin, on his father's side) after some waiting and adjusting of all the audio/video equipment, Stewart began to read...

"Elder Stewart R Perry, you have been called to serve in the...

MOZAMBIQUE MAPUTO Mission

for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Africa!! Not what I expected for Stewart at all! I envisioned him going somewhere like Paris, or London. He speaks French, so I guess I anticipated him actually using that language on his mission. We did a little research on the Mozambique area, and the speak Portuguese, Swahili, and other local dialects. He will be a great missionary there, and I'm excited for all that he will learn while serving the Lord.

I will admit, when I first heard him say "where" I was relieved it wasn't Colby. My first thoughts were, Africa? Hot, lots of walking, very rural, and very dusty. Maputo is actually a fairly large city, right on the Indian Ocean. The pictures we looked at were of a very pretty area. I'm sure there will be plenty of walking, plenty of heat, and plenty of dust, but there will also be plenty of help, plenty of opportunities for service, and plenty of support for him.

Colby's papers will be officially submitted in two weeks. I figure three weeks until he gets his call? I wonder where he'll be headed to serve the Lord...

I have officially finished my part of Colby's mission paperwork. I filled out the information for the health insurance, and even uploaded a copy of our benefits summary so they have that on file, just in case. Now we just have to get two small cavities filled and his bishop can hit the "submit" button. I'm slowly getting excited =) When I picture him out there working hard and doing what he's supposed to I get a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling inside. When I think of me, with him gone, and no project to keep me busy, I start to get anxious. Guess I better get a project lined up. Any ideas?

We skyped with him again yesterday. It seems to have become a ritual, Sunday evenings between 6-7 pm. This time our video stream couldn't keep up with the audio stream, so we just talked. His stream was fine, but ours seems to be SEVERAL minutes behind. The wind must have been blowing the wrong way... =) He's doing well. Had a PE test today, and a presentation in his public speaking class tomorrow, but that seemed to be it for the week. We are trying to get him home for President's Day weekend, so that we can celebrate his birthday. I also need to get a package together to send to him for his ACTUAL birthday. A party in a box, kinda thing. Better get working on that...

We skyped with Colby again on Sunday, it's always fun to chat with him. This time we invited Lindsay and Lauren Greer over for dinner. Linda, Brian, Hailey, and Ally were out of town for a family wedding, and we didn't want Lindsay and Lauren to have to eat Sunday dinner all by their lonesome. They thought it was pretty weird that we ate dinner "together" through skype. I need to find better speakers though. This time Austyn brought up her ihome, and we plugged the laptop into it. It was better, but still not ideal. It cuts out sometimes, and then I only get about every third word Colby says. I have stupid hearing anyway, and that makes it even more difficult for me to understand what he's saying. We'll work on that =)

Colby is doing well. He isn't a fan of his Public Speaking class, but then we knew he wouldn't like it very well. He presented his first "speech" last week, a group presentation, so it wasn't AS intimidating. This next presentation is also a group, and they get to present a children's picture book! He called me to see if I had any ideas =) I love it when I get to collaborate with my kids on projects! He also sent me a paper he's working on, to edit and punctuate. That's always fun. I think I should be a book proof-reader. Now THERE'S a great job! =)

We are trying to figure out some fantastic way to celebrate Colby's 19th birthday coming up...he has class on the actual day, but I need to do something fun for him. Any and all ideas are appreciated! I would love to order a pizza and have it delivered to him, but I don't think there's a pizza place IN Ephraim. Party in a box?? Send balloons, goodies, etc. in a box and have Chris (his roommate) set it up for him? HELP!!

On the mission front, I've updated his file online with all the insurance info, so that parts done. just a-waitin' on that darn cavity filling appointment to turn in final papers. A co-worker took her son to the MTC this last week, and I was waiting anxiously for her the next day to hear her report...how she survived, etc. The first words out of her mouth? "Jeana, it was awful!" Great. Something to look forward to. =) She was impressed that so many families were sending children. "What great faith from so many, to send all those young men and women out into the world." I hope I have some faith by then...

Austyn's Birthday

Sunday was Austyn's 15th birthday. She was hoping we could get Colby home, but two weekends in a row is tough on his studies and his calling (he is the 2nd Counselor in the Elder's Quorum) so we settled with just skyping him. He "joined" us for dinner =) meaning we ate our Hawaiian Haystacks (Austyn's favorite) while Colby ate his microwaved ravioli. Chris and Stephanie had gone to the Badger Den for dinner, but Colby didn't want to. So we sat the laptop on the dinner table and "ate" together. It was fun! i need better speakers, we have a most difficult time hearing him when other conversations are going on, and no one seems to notice when i put my head right down by the computer to hear him. That should be their "sign" to stop talking, but they don't get it. We chatted for a while after dinner, Chris and Stephanie came back to the dorm after dinner, and settled down to chat with us, too. They are cute. We have a great time each Sunday as we gather around the computer to catch up on the happenings of the week. Britanee took pictures of us all talking (Rian joined in too, she was pretty darn funny) and I will try to get those up soon.

Colby really enjoys rooming with Chris. He's a funny guy, and I'm sure Colby enjoys his humor and the fact that they have similar interests. His classes seem to be going well, and after his successful first semester (3.6 gpa) I don't worry so much about his study methods...they seem to be working fine =)

I ran into Kyle Denney at Macey's the other day and he said that he would be sending in his mission papers at the end of February. We need to get Colby's cavities filled before we can send his in, and that won't be until the middle of March. Stewart (my nephew) said that four boys on his floor at BYU just received calls to Helsinki, Finland! Wow! Four? Crazy, I wouldn't mind tho if Colby went to Finland...I'm hoping for someplace exotic, so we can go and pick him up when he's done =) Australia, New Zealand, France...I'm not too picky. =)

Our Weekend

We've had a great 3-day weekend! Chris (Colby's roommate) brought colby home friday for the long weekend. It's been so nice! I thought we would have to wait until Spring Break in March to see him, but NO, we got a wonderful surprise! We are hoping he can join us for President's Day weekend as well, and then we can celebrate his 19th birthday! We haven't done anything spectacularly fun this weekend, just enjoyed being together. It's been wonderful... Tonight we did all get together for dinner...Britanee, Brian, Rian, Ashlee, and Steven came over. We kept it simple with sloppy joes, chips, and salad. It's great to all be together and sit around the table and talk and laugh. Again, it's been wonderful...

I usually look forward to the start of a new year, a new beginning...however, this is a year I've been dreading for quite some time. I know I should have a better attitude about it, and I'm really trying, but it's difficult. Maybe "dreading" is too harsh, but I haven't been looking forward to it. Sometimes we have to do hard things. I think this might be my motto for the year...

"I CAN DO HARD THINGS"

My emotions have been running high today...our lesson in Relief Society didn't help =) It was about simplifying our lives, putting the most important things first and foremost in our lives, to slow down. Interestingly enough, before church today I was online checking to see if there were any employment opportunities at our local Target store, and the local Macey's. My thinking being that I somehow need to pay for Colby's mission, AND keep myself busy while he's gone. The lesson let me know that an additional job was not the answer. I still don't know what the answer is, but I'm trying to be open to guidance and inspiration.

We drove Colby back to school tonight. It was great to see his new room (bigger) and get him settled in it. We hung his art prints that he received for Christmas, and the room looks great! He seems excited about the new semester (with the exception of his 7:30 am pe class) and about his new roommate, Chris. I'm excited that he's excited =)These are pictures from Colby's first new years...he loved all the confetti! This was the new years that we celebrated at 10:00 pm instead of midnight. The kids didn't even know, and we all got to bed at a normal time =) Too bad we can't get away with that still. I have pictures from Colby's 18th new years and will post those as soon as my camera battery is recharged =)