Christmas Day we got up and got ready to head to Dugway to have lunch with Brent and the other officers and guards who were also working. All of Santa's presents were opened there and Jayden got even more spoiled with gifts. Her favorite thing of the day was chasing Brent's captains' little dog all over the building. Both of them got a lot of exercise. She absolutely loves dogs and goes crazy whenever she seen one. We had a great lunch and visited a while and headed home. Jayden slept almost the entire way she was so tired from chasing the poor dog.

Later that night, we celebrated Danielle's 23rd birthday. She hates having her birthday on Christmas but I always remind her that it was her choice to be born on Christmas. She was actually due on New Year's Day. Anyway, I think it would be kind of cool to celebrate my birthday on the same day that we celebrate Christ's birthday. Brent put the candles on her cake in a "23". Do you think she blew them all out at once? No and we were surprised. I think Jayden may have had a little to do with it since she was reaching for the candles.

For me, the thing I wanted most for Christmas was to talk to Kyle. We called him at about 6:30 (he actually called and reminded us to call him - like I would forget that). They had gotten about a foot of snow over Christmas Eve and were snowed in. That means no Christmas dinner appointments or anything. He and his companion spent the day at the church which is just across the street from their apartment. Not exactly the kind of Christmas he was hoping for but what do you do. Luckily this was their week to have the car so they didn't have to drive home Christmas Eve on their bikes. It was white-out conditions on the way home. Yuck. But he sounded good and it was great to talk to him. It kind of made me meloncholy but I'm so proud of him for serving a mission. He'll be a great missionary.

Christmas Eve 2009 found us unwrapping presents from family. We do this because we don't want to get up at 3:00 a.m. on Christmas and open them before Brent goes to work. That's way too early. Once Jayden got the hang of opening the presents, she wanted to help everyone. It was way fun to watch. It would have been a quiet Christmas Eve without her around. She was really good about picking up all the little pieces of paper that she had thrown everywhere. Somebody in our house is very spoiled, but that's fun too.

December 22, 2009

We were very lucky yesterday to get two letters from Kyle. The first was one I'm sure their mission president had them write when they got there so the parents would know they arrived safely. He said the flight was awesome but uncomfortable. He said the president's wife is a really good cook. They stayed at the mission home for a couple of days. Right after they got there, they did a service project for a neighbor so he went right to work.

The next was actually an email from the library in Parsons, Kansas, where he is serving. Before he got his call he dreamed he would serve in Kansas. Hmmm!!!

His companion is Elder Argyle from Spanish Fork. He plays the piano and violin and they get along pretty good so far. He is on his bike for now, but they trade every other week with another set of missionaries for a car so he is excited for that. He says his butt and legs hurt!

They have a branch there of about 150 members. The branch has a goal to feed the missionaries every day. The Young Women also had a food drive for them so they have plenty of food. He sang in the choir last week and said it is almost the same size as our ward choir. Sounds like we need to get more people coming to choir.

They have about 30 investigators right now. They met a man named Glenn and he talked to them for about an hour and a half and completely laid out the Plan of Salvation before they even told him about it. He thought that was pretty awesome.

His mission president has a rule that they have to have a part in their hair. Well, if you have ever noticed Kyle's hair, it grows straight out and won't stay parted until it's quite long. So that should be interesting. I'm looking forward to some pictures because I can't even imagine his hair staying parted.

Sounds like he's doing well and emjoying his experience so far. We are so proud of him and know that he will be blessed for his service. I can't wait to talk to him on Christmas.

Jayden had her first experience with meeting Santa. We were sure she would cry and scream just like her mom used to, but she was so excited to see him. She sat on his lap and had a little conversation with him. I'm sure she was telling him what she wanted for Christmas. Then the kids all got to frost and decorate a cookie; then best of all was to eat them. Yummy!!

Kyle called from the airport at about 5:15 a.m on Wednesday, December 16. He hadn't been on a plane since he was about two years old, so he was kind of looking forward to that experience. He was also more than ready to get to the mission field.

I called the mission home today so I could get an address where I could send his Christmas package. His first area is in Parsons, Kansas. It's about 2 1/2 hours north of the mission home in the southeast corner of Kansas. The population is about 12,000 which is close to what the population was in Lehi when we moved here over 13 years ago.

His address is:

Elder Kyle Joyner
3610 Gabriel Avenue, Apt. 332
Parsons, KS 67357

I'm sure he would love to hear from anyone. Thanks to all our family and friends for all their support of him and our family. We love and appreciate all of you.

Saturday morning we woke up to about three inches of snow. My first thought was that Brent had already gone to work and Kyle wasn't there to clean the driveway so I was going to have to do it myself. Yuck. But I bravely put on all the warm stuff I could find and headed out to get a shovel. I hadn't gotten very far before Jill Heaps and Shellie Struthers showed up and helped me. They are quick! The entire driveway and sidewalk were done in probably half an hour. I was so grateful for their help. I worked on cleaning out a place for the mail truck to get to the mailbox because I knew I would have a letter from Kyle and I didn't want there to be any reason they couldn't get to the mailbox.

I got the mail and there was a thick letter from Kyle. If you know Kyle, he is not a man of many words, so this was surprising. He had written a letter to me, both of his sisters and all the Young Men and Women and their leaders who had sent him a package earlier. So I played mail delivery person and got them to everyone.

He flies out on Wednesday (the 16th). They leave the MTC at 3:00 a.m. If you know Kyle, he is not an early riser, but I have a feeling he will be up and ready to go. He said he could call us from the airport or on his layover in Dallas. My thought is "how about both" but I will be thrilled with either. I would more than gladly wake up at 4:00 to talk to him (Brent would already be up at that time). He didn't mention anything about flights or times but I guess that doesn't really matter since we can't go to the airport any more. I'm just excited that I get to talk to him this week and next week for Christmas.

Another Letter

We got another letter from Kyle. I was very disappointed when there wasn't a letter in the mail on Friday, but jumped for joy when there was one on Saturday. He was made district leader on November 29. He is still singing in the choir and says it is "awesome". They sang a song called "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" and it was great. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke on Thanksgiving and Sister Cheryl Lant, General Primary President, spoke on Monday.

He and his companion have taught the first and second lessons to their "investigators" who are very well versed in the Bible. He says it has been a great experience for him.

He was able to go to the Provo Temple for a 7:00 a.m. session on his first p-day.

He says he loves in at the MTC, the spirit is SO strong. They pray about 20 times a day. That probably has something to do with the spirit being so strong. He feels he has a long way to go before he will be ready to start teaching and wishes that he had studied "Preach My Gospel" more because there is so much information in it.

We are so proud of him and can already see a tremendous change in him. I personally think he is more ready than he thinks he is. He will be a great missionary. He has a way with people (he gets that from his dad) and he has a good, pure heart.