Goodbye my boy

We had so much family and friend support last weekend. 

Elijah absolutely hated giving a farewell talk but did a really nice job. 

One of ElIjah's biggest trials in life is that he doesn't have a brother. 

But, he has cousins:

These are the kinds of poses cousins strike in front of the temple. 

Because they are holy.

Dumplings for lunch

Ok, I gotta say that MTC at home was not my favorite. I found this quote by Marlin K Jensen on the first page of my missionary journal: "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes a quest, Heavenly Father will endow us with great power." The beginning of home MTC made me feel like an irritant. But towards the end, we all relaxed a little. Maybe a lot.

 Business on top and party on the bottom:

I'm pretty sure this class was a metaphorical comparison of soccer to the plan of salvation.

The last few days were filled with running errands. We had to buy a bigger suitcase because there were 2 special (and very big) blankets he insisted on taking. One was made by Grace and I'm pretty sure she gave him the other one also because it had already traveled around the world with us this summer. Running errands with him was a lot of fun. He kept calling me the "worst driver ever." My most heinous infractions were going the speed limit and not running yellow lights which inspired me to stop at as many yellows as possible and then cackle as I watched his reaction of horror. On the way home, I pulled out in front of a car and he was so proud of me.

We also got in a lot of ping pong. I was on a roll and beat him for several games 2 days in a row. Elijah: "What happened? You used to suck, now you're decent." The stakes are always back massage for him and if I win, cleaning his room.

Claire: I'll be able to bench more than him by the time he gets home.

David:David: It will be hard for me because if we don’t love worthy of the spirit in our home, the only other male force I have here with me is a castrated dog. 

This could very possibly be the last picture of Elijah posted on this blog for the next 2 years. I have a testimony of his hatred of pictures and fully expect him to send pictures of trees and maybe a stray dog or 2 after we threaten and beg him for pictures. I'm so glad that our last family photo was taken in front of a men's bathroom. There's gotta be some deeper meaning in that.

I slipped a letter into his carry-on. It had 2 songs that Sybil had written that I found on the counter the day before he left:

Song 1  

Elijah is the 

One I love. Elijah. 

That is, he is about to leave 

Which is good but bad. 

I am sooo sad. Just why 

Why why? 

Song 2 

Elijah is someone I love. 

He is my favorite brother 

When he leaves that is a 

Teardrop in my eye. I love 

Him so much that he is going 

To be my favorite sibling

PS She has already told several people that he is her favorite sibling because he is fun and her sisters are sassy.