Look Out, North Dakota!

My youngest brother, Ryan, entered the Missionary Training Center yesterday! He'll be staying there for a short while for some training, and then he'll head out to North Dakota (and the surrounding states) to spend the next 2 years of his life sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm so proud of him, and I'm so glad I was able to pick him up from the airport and spend a bit of time with him before dropping him off at the MTC. Nicole gave him some snuggles, smiles, and laughs. I gave him some chocolate chip pumpkin cookies to take with him. I treated him to lunch, snapped a couple quick pics outside the MTC, and that was that.

I helped him get the luggage out of the car and gave him one last hug.

My last sight of him was as he walked away beside another guy who was pulling his suitcases along for him.

See you in two years, Elder Pease! You'll have the experience of a lifetime!

California and Such

Nicole and I were able to fly out to California for a week to see my brother Johnathon get home from serving a 2 year mission for the LDS church! I've never waited in an airport lobby for someone to get off an airplane before, and it was fun to see him come striding down the hall in his suit with his hands in his pockets while my mommy cried (and, let's face it, she definitely wasn't the only one).

^^^First time meeting Uncle Johnathon

Reunions are so sweet. It was great to spend so much time with my family. There were lots of family dinners and Me'n'Eds pizza and All-American Chocolate Cake from Costco and Nicole demanded to keep me in her sights at (almost) all times. Someone's developed some stranger/separation anxiety! Sweet baby.

Speaking of Nicole, she was much more receptive to going swimming this time around. We were also able to put her in this super handy baby tube, so she spent half the time chilling in that... but we all love holding her, so she didn't stay in there for long.

Aaaaaand now you get to see my beautiful farmers tan. Whoot.

 ^^^The only downside to splashing... sometimes, you get water in your face :P

Nicole's hands and feet got so wrinkly in the pool! I just about died. Cute, wrinkly baby feet and fingers. GAH!

We went to Morro Bay the very next day after Johnathon got home. It was Nicole's second time going to the beach, actually. I never mentioned on this blog that we joined Doug at the end of his latest business trip a couple weeks ago and stayed in a beachfront hotel in Pacifica for a day. It was rather chilly there, but it was very hot and sunny at Morro Bay.

And I neglected to put on sunscreen.

The backs of my legs were on fire for several days. You'd think that after living in California for 18+ years of my life, I would know to never skimp on sunscreen.

Oops.

On the plus side, we found lots of sand dollars and sand crabs, and I got clam chowder for dinner! Nom.

 ^^^HUGE sand crab!

The trip was worth every minute, even with the pain from the sunburn. Ha. Those ultra white legs of mine needed some sun anyways.

It was Ryan's (most likely) last time seeing Nicole and me in person before leaving for his mission in October to North Dakota. We all keep telling him that he's going to be freezing! He doesn't even know. I mean, it never snows during the winter in Fresno! He doesn't even know.

Goodbye, little brother

This picture of my siblings and me was taken over a year ago, right before I got married. And it's probably the last professional photograph of all of us together for the next 4 or 5 years.

My brother Johnathon, the second oldest child, just entered the Missionary Training Center yesterday to prepare for a 2-year mission for our church. He will be chilling out on the East Coast for the next two years teaching people about Jesus and the gospel. He is only 19 years old. Most young men in the church choose to serve a mission (starting at age 18), and an increasing number of young women (starting at age 19) too. I think it is a powerful testimony of our love of the gospel that we're willing to dedicate 2 years of the "prime time" of our lives to serving the Lord. But that's another post :)

My other brother Ryan will likely leave on his own 2-year mission before Johnathon gets back from his, and so it will be at least 4 years before we're all together again, if not longer. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Bubba, I'm so proud of you and your decision to serve a mission. I could totally sit outside the MTC all day and see if I can catch a glimpse of you, since I literally live right next to the MTC... but I think that's against the rules. You'll be heading east in just two weeks anyways. I'll see ya in two years! Go knock 'em dead in West Virginia!