Saying goodbye to Brandon

Brandon said goodbye to his sisters on Monday evening (May 16th), as he was set to fly to Utah before they got home from school. He said goodbye to Joseph as we dropped him off at a friend's on our way to the airport.

For Monday evening FHE we had "Brandon Appreciation Night."  We looked at pictures and watched home videos from when Brandon was little.  And there is a LOT of video.  Because he was the only child until he was almost 5 1/2 years old, Dan and I had lots of time to follow him around with a video camera.  We have lots of good blackmail footage of Brandon doing everything, including some shots of him playing in the bathtub and singing on the toilet.  So funny!

We ate Brandon's favorite dessert, chocolate lava cake. Then Dan gave Brandon a very sweet and wonderful father's blessing.  He was blessed with many things, including the ability to learn the Russian language quickly, the ability to get along with sometimes difficult people, and the patience to recognize "seeds" of the gospel being planted when missionary work is challenging.

This was a lot of talking for our six year old.  He started out hiding in a blanket and was cuddled up asleep on the floor under the blanket by the time the blessing was done.  (Note his new favorite outfit.  I think he calls it his "policeman suit", and it includes black Sunday vest and pants, soccer black socks, and black sports shirt.) 

After the blessing and family prayers we shared big hugs with Brandon.  For years now he has had the tradition of giving a crushing bear hug to each family member after family prayers.  We will miss those (painful) wonderful hugs!


 Finally, before bed he said goodbye to each of his siblings (lots of tears were shed), and then we had the official "handoff" of his cell phone to Aubrey and his laptop to Bailey. 

 

 

 

Bailey and Aubrey are happy to keep his electronic devices busy while he is gone to the Ukraine!

Tuesday morning Brandon said goodbye to his room and all his "stuff".  Dan and I had strongly encouraged him to pack up the things that are meaningful to him into big plastic bins (which we purchased and conveniently stacked in his bedroom) in preparation for us redoing the room for Aubrey.  But, somehow the room never got cleaned out.  Eventually we will need to tackle it, but right now the door is shut because it seeing and smelling the room makes us miss Brandon too much!

Leaving to the airport on Tuesday afternoon.  Notice the sun?  It has been a rare occurrence in Washington this Spring, but this day was dry and beautiful.  Little did we know that it was pouring rain in Utah!