10 Days to her Mission!

 I can't believe we have reached October and there is only 10 days until Alysha starts her mission.  Where has the time gone?  We've been able to go back to the temple 4 times with another temple trip planned for next week!  It has been so much fun going to the temple with her and feeling the spirit of peace.  I have really needed that because I feel like satan has been working overtime on me to feel despair, depression and hopelessness this past month.  It has been such a blessing after not being able to go to the temple for over a year and a half to be able to go to the temple 6 times in the past 2 weeks.

We decided to do a fake Christmas last Saturday on Sept. 25th since Alysha will miss the next 2 Christmas'.  The kids slept out in a tent the night before while Roland and I decorated a surprise tree that they wouldn't get to see until our fake Christmas morning.  We had a blast playing with our "toys" but I also had made some serious gifts for them too.  Each of them received a little teddy bear and a card with pictures of them with Alysha on it.  My tree was "bear" themed to stand for it is going to be "beary" hard to have you leave, we are going to be "beary" sad, and sometimes angry "bears",  and at times feel like we can "bearly" hang on, but we know that we can "Bear" all things through Christ who will strengthen us to endure the next 18 months.  We decorated ugly pumpkin cookies, played games, and watched a movie.  It was a fun fake Christmas!  The tree will stay up through the holidays!

Alysha received her first letter from her mission President and her mission nametag this past week and I put our missionary wall together.  Things are getting really real now!