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!

 

Working backward

I once read an article about journaling which said that when you have fallen behind it's best to start at the present and work backward.  I am only a few months behind in our "family journal", but a lot has happened.  To keep it from being overwhelming, I will work my way backward.  Just pretend like you are watching a movie in reverse. 

The weekend before we dropped off Brandon at the MTC we were lucky to have both sets of grandparents visiting us for Brandon's missionary "farewell."  We appreciate all their help in getting Brandon ready for his mission (labelling all his missionary clothes with his name, finding simple recipes he will be able to cook in the Ukraine, sewing a red X on the toe of each of his socks so he will be able to distinguish them from every other missionary's black sock, etc, etc!)  We especially needed and appreciated their help in pulling off the open house. We invited friends and ward members to stop by Sunday evening. There was a great turnout and it was so much fun to see everyone.  Grandparents kept the food replenished and the garbage emptied.  (Thanks Mom for taking pictures of the open house - it didn't occur to me, but it is so nice to have them!)

After church we had taken pictures of all the family and then we immediately started making Sunday dinner (ham and all the fixings).  The moment dinner was done we all launched into full speed, preparing the house and food for visitors.  Above, Brandon makes yummy strawberry dip and Grandpa made batch after batch of Molasses Crinkles (Grandma Lucile Springer's recipe!)

 The spread of treats.  Several friends also brought goodies to share.  

 The grandmas, helping to prepare (and maybe getting a bit of that yummy carrot cake?)

 

 I am positive that Bailey was cutting herself a piece of cheesecake before the visitors arrived.

 Dad (Grandpa Springer) was tireless in his dish cleaning and garbage emptying.  Both crucial components of a successful open house!

 

 Elder Porter, holding his official missionary booklet and looking so handsome.  Right, we hung two Ukranian flags in the house.  It's a pretty unimaginative flag, don't you think?

Below, Brandon with friends of our family.  They gave him some great advice.

I'm so glad to see that Grandpa sat down at some point!

It rained off and on for most of the day (thwarting our plans to take some family photos outside) but it cleared up in time for the open house.  It was cool, like a typical Washington May evening, but nice enough to sit on the deck outside.      

Our kids want to have an open house every week. Seriously - what could be better for a Porter child. All your friends come to visit on a Sunday night, when normally we would be doing boring things like Family Home Evening and talking to each other. And the adults don't care or are too busy to care when you jump on the trampoline and run through the yard and house like wild banshees on Sunday. Lots of food to eat, including a plethora of sweet goodies. And if you are Joseph and awaken from a late nap, you get to skip dinner altogether and just eat cookies. Awesome. 

 Here is proof.  I did sit down at least once during the open house. 

Brandon greeted many people in the living room, where he had laid out a map of the Ukraine with his mission outlined.  The living room was a popular teenage hangout all night.

       


The kitchen and family room were packed with people visiting and eating.

Brandon and his good friend Calvin.

When Grandma and Grandpa left our home Sunday evening to return to the hotel, they said goodbye to Brandon for two years!

What a fun day.  I didn't mention yet what a wonderful job Brandon did giving his talk in Sacrament Meeting.  He talked about why he believes in Jesus Christ.  I know I am biased, but I thought his remarks were easy to understand, well spoken, and filled with true testimony.  I felt the Spirit very strong as he was speaking. I was so proud to be his Mom!  (In typical Brandon fashion he didn't tell us anything about his talk beforehand, formulated his talk in his head with only a few written notes which he scribbled down the morning of the talk, and gave us all a scare when he didn't hop into the shower until 8:40 . . . . and church began at 9:00!  But, it all turned out great.)

Monday morning both grandparents flew home. At 11 a.m. Brandon was set apart. What a beautiful experience that was. Afterward Dan, Brandon, Joseph, and I ate at Olive Garden.  Big news . . . Joseph decided he likes some of the food at Olive Garden, so we have added another restaurant the whole family can enjoy. (The girls were in school. They were much more mad about missing Olive Garden than missing the setting apart.)

The rest of the day on Monday and early morning Tuesday we worked hard to finish packing.  Packing a missionary is really a challenge.  They are so limited in what they can take by space and weight constraints, yet it's important to take everything that will be needed for two years (it is really expensive to send packages to the Ukraine and not everything is available to buy there). So, we worked and worked until we all felt that he was as prepared as he could be. During this time, Brandon came down with a cold and felt lousy.  I'm sure the stress of the week finally broke through his defenses.  

Regardless, we finally were prepared, and we had arrangements for each of the other kids at friend's houses while we were gone overnight to Utah.  Next stop, MTC!

And he's off!

Elder Porter is on his way to the Ukraine! We packed and re-packed and picked up last minute items until literally the last second, but somehow managed to get ourselves on a plane to SLC on Tuesday, May 17th.  That evening we ate Cafe Rio (Brandon's "last meal" request) with Grandma and Grandpa Springer.

Brandon had a hard time sleeping Tuesday night.  He had caught a bad cold which kept him up sniffling, and he had plenty to think about.  We spent many hours that evening/night talking, reminiscing, and enjoying being together.  Brandon has always done his best thinking/talking at night, so missionary life will be a rude awakening.  Hopefully he has made the adjustment!

Wednesday morning we loaded everything into the suitcase for the last time and then left from Grandma and Grandpa Springer's house for the MTC.  It was a truly lousy weather day.  For most of the day it was pouring buckets of rain. The thermometer never climbed past the 40s. Ironically, in rainy Washington it was a beautiful 70 degrees on that same day!

We arrived in time to have lunch at Zupa's in Provo . . . . . along with probably every other missionary/family going to the MTC that day.  The restaurant was full of young men in suits/young women in dresses, surrounded by their family.  We watched the nervous missionaries leave, one by one.  Each missionary is given a "report time" for the MTC.  We had one of the later times. 

We stopped by Shopko to buy two umbrellas and then arrived at the MTC after lunch with about 1/2 hour to say our goodbyes and take a picture by the MTC sign.  Except the sign is gone.  We asked a nice man directing traffic, and he said that the city of Provo asked that the sign be removed about a year ago because it was a traffic hazard.  So, we didn't have a good spot for a photo op.  We walked through the rain to the street across from the MTC and took some last pictures together. 

 We found a sign next to the field adjacent the Provo Temple which at least mentioned missionaries, so we had to do one more picture.

We said goodbye in the parking lot because we knew that that the drop off at the curb of the MTC is fast-paced and doesn't allow time for hugs and tears.  I didn't want us leave until the last possible moment.

I snapped this picture to show that we still had three precious minutes left before he reported!  After our official goodbyes we slowly drove over to the MTC queue, where we would be directed to our drop off spot. 

This was beginning to feel very real for Elder Porter.

Once we parked at the curb, a current missionary greeted us cheerily and engaged Brandon in conversation while helping to grab his luggage. 

 And then they were off . . . . and that was it. 

It was a strange thing to drive away from the MTC without our oldest child. We stopped at the BYU Bookstore for a little fudge therapy.  Can you read the Tshirt above?  It says "Wheat for Man . . . Chocolate for Woman."  In this photo I look as wrung out as I felt.  Whew . . . we made it.

After we returned many people asked how we were feeling about having said goodbye to Brandon.  This is my answer.

I feel happy and excited for him and I know he will make an outstanding missionary.
I know that his mission will be challenging, and I know he can handle it and his experiences will make him stronger.
I feel sad for us to not get to spend time with our awesome son/brother.
I feel empty and at a loss because I spent the last few months really focused on getting Brandon ready and enjoying interacting with him.
I feel proud of our remarkable son. It is a privilege to be his mother, and I'm glad to have had a part of raising him.
Finally, I can't wait for the first letter (Wednesday is P-Day), so we can hear that he is doing all right!
We love you, Brandon!

Where to begin?

I feel like we have been running a race for the last month or so and we have reached the "finish line."  Yesterday we dropped off Brandon at the MTC in Provo, Utah.  He will be there for 12 weeks learning Russian before leaving to Donestsk, Ukraine.  It was very happy/sad, and ultimately wonderful.  I'll have to elaborate later.

It has been an amazing month.  It has been an exhausting and busy month.  The emotional rollercoaster we have been on makes me dizzy. 

I seriously don't remember sitting down at all during several of the days last weekend as we prepared for Brandon's farewell, open house, and enjoyed having both sets of grandparents in town.

Today I feel drained.  Kind of empty.  I have no will to get anything productive done right now.  I figure that we have been so productive over the last month that we deserve a lazy day. So I wore my pjs until noon, watched two hours of home decorating shows on TV, and ate most of a pound of fudge (which we bought from the BYU Bookstore yesterday.) Joseph played video games for two hours before I shooed him outside to play.

I have a lot of updating to do and lots of pictures to post in order to document our lives. In the words of Scarlet O'Hara, "I'll think about it tomorrow". Tomorrow is a new day.  I will start a new list (now that we crossed everything off the list "Preparing Brandon for a mission.") Soon, maybe starting tomorrow, I will begin to address all the things I have put off.  Bailey said recently that she wanted to make me a Tshirt which read "After Brandon is On His Mission," since that has been my answer to everything for the last few months.  I am pretty sure that tomorrow I will rescind Joseph's unprecedented unlimited video game time (I'm thinking that he has probably played enough Lego Batman to last him the rest of his life.)  The video game controllers might just get accidentally lost, starting tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will set new goals, make a new to-do list, and refocus my attention.

If any friends or family members want to write Brandon while he is at the MTC (until the first part of August), the address is:

Elder Brandon Scott Porter
MTC Mailbox # 101
UKR-DON 0803
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Another great way to write him is on dearelder.com.  You will need to create a free account and enter Brandon's MTC mailbox # and mission name.  Then you can very easily write him a letter anytime.  The dearelder.com people print out the letters every day at noon and deliver them right to the MTC (the service is free).  So, although the missionaries can only receive and send email to family on preparation day, they can receive and enjoy "dearelder" letters any day of the week.  He would love to hear from you!