So long, farewell...

My babiest brother Jeffrey is finally off to the MTC, then to Mexico City for his 2 year mission. Sound familiar? It's probably because I was just rambling on about my other brother (bryan) getting home from his mexican mission only 5 short months ago. I can't believe Jeff's time has already come, and no one was more excited about it than he was.

We pretty much had a 2 week long send off, which was kicked off by a visit from my awesome uncle Kenny (let me make a sidenote here that Uncle Kenny is THE MAN: the type of uncle that randomly sends you cash when you are single in college and just about to starve. Every last one of us love this guy)...
Here are the fellas after hearing Jeff talk in church, a couple of future missionaries...

Jeffrey spent as much time at our place as he could before he took off. It mostly involved playing games and eating Blue Bell ice cream, but there was the occasional tea party too... And the occasional ingrown toenail surgery performed by yours truly (now that's love)...

But finally it was time for him to fly out, and of course his flight left at the crack of dawn. We all trecked up to the airport bright and early for our final goodbyes. Carver's really don't do mornings OR goodbyes, so instead of the typical somber tone of a missionary send off, it was more of a sleepy "see ya later" type of feel. It was a little easier to avoid the emotional stuff too since my mom was already in Utah waiting for Jeff.

Check it out, here he is all ready - complete with a missionary haircut (the mohawk just wasn't gonna cut it anymore)...

This guy is definitely a fan favorite among the grandkids...I'm hoping Ryan won't be coming home from basketball quite as beat up as usual with Jeff gone. Brothas...Too early for makeup...

So, like I said, everyone was holding it together pretty well (myself included) until I snapped the pic below. I caught them just at the moment they were closing their eyes and smiling...

And I'm not gonna lie, it made me tear up a little bit. These two are the babies of the fam and things won't quite be the same when they're both gone for good. I'm just a little irritated that they have to grow up like everybody else...can't their be an exception to that whole rule? Just imagine how I'll be when it's my kid in the suit...

Anyway, I was thinking about how quickly Bryan's mission seemed to fly, and how quickly my kids and my own little family grew in the process. All of this thinking made me snap one last pic of each of my kids so I could remember exactly how they were right in the moment (all of my kids except for Carver of course who wouldn't let me near him with a camera)...
Who knows what changes might take place for us in the next 2 years. But for Jeffrey, ELDER CARVER, I know those changes will all be great ones.