New School Year

The first day of school arrived!  Ruby headed off on the bus for 4th grade (her teacher is Mrs. Espinoza), Ella walked to school for 7th grade with Audrey and Taylor, and Tyler had to resort to riding the bus this year (with Spencer gone) for 10th grade.  So far they're all doing great!  Spencer arrived at his "new school," the MTC, and had a great companion and a great time there.  Then, after three weeks, he arrived at the mission home in Philadelphia.  He was happy to see Elder White there when he arrived!

Finishing Up the Summer

And just like that summer was over.  It seemed like we were busy running around from place to place, and getting Spencer packed and ready for Ghana and his mission, but everything went by so quickly!  It's always such a bummer when the summer ends, but the girls were starting to get excited about seeing and making friends, and Tyler was feeling pretty excited about Soundsations.  So we squeezed in a few last bits of fun - including the solar eclipse (61%...yuuuhhh!!), hurricane prep, and wearing out poor Bryan - and said goodbye to summer! 

 

 

Girl's Camp

Immediately after dropping Spencer off at the airport, Ella and I loaded up the car and headed up to Girl's Camp.  Not ideal timing, to say the least, but it definitely helped take our mind off of being sad.  Ella had a great first time at camp, and I loved being there with her.  All of the girls and leaders were awesome, and I was so glad that things went so smoothly.  Another year of camp, DONE!

Time to Say Goodbye

The time had come.  It was time to say goodbye to Spencer for two years.  He gave an incredible farewell talk at church, and we knew he was excited and ready.  So who can complain?  We had an open house that evening, where Spencer had the chance to say goodbye to his friends.  In the final two days he was home, we did a lot of packing and final meals (his final request for dinner was crepes, with Bryan cooking them.  Hahahaha!).  We busted open his old missionary bank that he'd been saving money in since he turned 8.  It's a good thing we didn't have to count on that $78 to pay for his mission, but it was really fun to see all that money that he socked away for this day when he was just a little boy.  The night before he left he was set apart as a missionary.  It was a very awesome blessing, and an emotional night.  We said our goodnights for a final time, and then headed to bed.  I set my alarm for 5:20am, and when I got up I saw Spencer sitting out on the couch in his full suit.  He was ready!  So we drove to the airport and said goodbye.  It's hard to explain being so sad and so proud at the same time, but that's how I felt.  Spencer was met at the gate by the Whites, who happened to be flying to SLC on the same flight.  Bonus pictures!  Masen met Spencer in Salt Lake, and they went to In-N-Out for lunch.  After a final Facetime with all of us, Masen took Spencer to the MTC.  The two years have begun!