My Nephew Payden's Farewell

The first grandchild and my first nephew got his mission call to Chihuahua, Mexico. It is crazy to think that my nephews are getting old enough to do this. My nephew Payden was born when I was only seven years old. I am closer to him in age then my five oldest siblings. We have been very close and he has been more like a brother to me then a nephew. His farewell was August 19 so we headed down to St. George on Friday to spend some extra time with him and the family. Most of my family got there on Friday so we just hung out at my sisters house. One thing I love about our family is we can just sit, talk and enjoy being together. We don't have to be doing anything to have fun, we make our own fun! On Saturday we went back to my sisters house and hung out for a while and then decided to go walk around the outlets for a little bit. It was so hot! I melted every time I went outside, but it was fun to walk around. We went back to my sisters house and made lots of yummy cookies, breads, and brownies for Sunday.  We had a bbq that night with our family and Doug's family that came down that day. 

On Sunday we went straight to the church and our family and Doug's family took up 4 rows in the chapel. My sister lived in Las Vegas for a very long time so they had quite a few families come to support Payden also. It was great to see how many people love him and support him. He was overwhelmed when he started his talk because of all the support. He was very grateful and I was very grateful we could be part of such a special event in his life. I cried the moment he stood up and then did really well and then when he started bearing his testimony I cried. When the closing song came around, I was just blubbering. We sang "God be with you 'til we meet again." It was a horrible song choice! I couldn't even sing the words because I was crying so hard and I knew I would see him again before he left!  

There was an absurd amount of people at my sister's house afterwards. No one wanted to be outside because it was so hot so we all smooshed inside the best we could.  After all the friends had gone we stayed around a little longer and then finally decided to say our goodbyes. I know Payden will be a fantastic missionary. Even though he is going to one of the scariest places, I know he will be just fine. The Lord will take good care of him. I love you Payd and I am so proud of you!