Being set apart

Tuesday, June 30th

We got an envelope in the main for Ethan.  He opened it and it had his tag, manuals, and a couple other things in it.  Wow!

Ethan had an appointment to be set apart that evening.  We went to the Stake Center to meet in the High Council Room.  It was a beautiful blessing.  Ethan received some amazing promises and the Spirit was very strong.

Here he is after he was set apart.

Pies & Goodbyes

Years ago I had a friend who was talking about what she wished she would have done when her son left on his mission.  She told me that when it was time for Ethan to go on his mission, I should do a "Pies and Ties" activity for people to say goodbye to him.  She explained that after the farewell you would invite people to come to your house and they are invited to bring a pie or a tie.  She was so excited about it and I wanted to do something along that line but wanted to change it a bit.

I didn't realize what was going to happen in the world but it turned out okay.  I changed it to "Pies & Goodbyes" for the Pack family since they weren't able to say goodbye to Ethan before he went on his mission.  So I made invites, bought small pies from Walmart, shipped them to the family, and then we set up a Zoom meeting for the Pack family.  

It was a great night.  Bryan and Ethan logged on and then all the family got on to give Ethan advice, eat pie together, and say goodbye for 2 years.  Ethan said it was a lot better than he thought it would be.  He enjoyed talking to everyone.

Cereal bar

We have a sweet family in our ward who brought the MTC cereal bar over to Ethan.  They said that was the best part of the MTC and they didn't want Ethan to miss out on it.  It was sweet to see their little family on our doorstep.

Ethan always has to make a goofy face when I ask if I can take a picture.

Then I get a good picture from him after he gets it out of his system.

Ethan's farewell

Ethan gave his farewell talk on June 28th.  It wasn't our alphabet's turn to attend Church but we went anyway to hear him speak.  He was asked to speak for 7 minutes but he only spoke for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.  He was happy with his talk and I thought he did a great job.

Here it is if you want to listen:

Moonwalking Courtney

Courtney figured out how to moonwalk.  It was hilarious to watch her when she figured it out.  She tried to teach it to Ethan but he just didn't get it.  Congratulations to Courtney!

I don't agree...

The kids had a discussion about how Bryan let Ethan drive the truck the day before he turned 15 when he didn't have a learner's permit.  Courtney made an argument that she was treated unfairly.  She wanted to have Ethan to drive with her when she was learning so Ethan told her he would take her driving before he left on his mission.

I told them to do it when I didn't know about it because I don't agree with her driving before she is old enough and has a permit.  So one day they went out and this is what happened...

You need to click on this link to see the video.  It's too large for Blogger to let me upload it.

Video of Ethan and Courtney

Getting room ready

We had to get Ethan's room ready to be an MTC classroom.  We took things off the wall, cleaned the closet out, put all the books downstairs, sent clothes and toys to DI, put all the Legos in a bin downstairs, and cleaned.  It was a long project but Ethan ended up getting all his stuff in 2 bins that we put downstairs.  We brought up a desk from downstairs and Bryan got a computer ready to go.  Now, his room looks more like a dorm room.

This is Ethan's pile of mission stuff.  His suitcases are somewhere under that pile.  We put the stuff that he doesn't need until he gets to the field in his suitcases.  Then we put them in the closet.  

We moved the dresser to the wall with the bed and put the desk in his room.  We had an old desktop computer that Bryan cleaned off and reformatted then put in the room for Ethan to use.

Fishing

Grandpa Oman had to get in all the fishing he could with Ethan before Ethan left on his mission.  So they went fishing a few times a week for a couple of weeks.  Their favorite place is Upper Enterprise Reservoir and they had great success.  

Ethan figured it out

Ethan finally figured out how to sit on a couch:

When you are 6'2" tall, it's hard to sit on a recliner because your feet hang off the end.  Ethan has tried laying across it, hanging off the end, and then he figured out how to comfortably sit on it.  He puts his head on the foot part and then hangs his legs off the top.  It seems to work for him.

Father's Day hike

We usually go on a hike for Mother's Day and Father's Day but this year things have snuck up on us.  But we decided to go on a family hike for Father's Day.  We went to the trailhead and then took off on a trail that was near the Santa Clara River.  We found some cool places that would be great to swim in.  There was water but not as much as there would have been in the spring. So we checked out the trail and made a note to come back in the spring to swim in the river or float in a couple of places.  It was an easy and fun hike.

Mission letter

Ethan received a letter from his mission president.  It gave some more instructions that he would need to think about and also had a letter for us.  We were asked to fill out a confidential questionnaire about Ethan so his mission president could get to know more about him.  It was easy to fill it out but it's the first time we got mail with "Elder Ethan Pack" on the front.  It was kind of exciting!

He's a graduate

Ethan received his DSU Associates Degree diploma in the mail today.  Yeah!!

Now we are waiting for him to get his high school diploma from Success Academy.

Grilling

I think we need a new grill.  I put hamburgers and bratwursts on the grill, set the timer for 8 minutes, and went inside.  Soon, I noticed black smoke coming from the backyard.  I ran outside to see flames coming out from underneath the lid of the grill with black smoke coming out everywhere.  It was crazy!  I turned off the gas but the fire and smoke kept coming.  Luckily, the grill wasn't too close to our house or it probably would have set the house on fire.

When it stopped flaming and Bryan was able to get the lid open, this is what we found:

We would out to dinner that night.

Award money

Ethan worked really hard on his portfolio for Sterling Scholar.  It was a lot of work and a lot of time he put into preparing for the competition.  And today it all paid off.  Each Sterling Scholar is given a $200 check.  He was pretty happy to get the money.

Blanket ladder

We have blankets sitting all over and it was driving me nuts.  I did a Google search to find something I could make that would organize all the blankets.  I found some really easy instructions to build a blanket ladder.  Courtney and I went to HomeDepot to buy $6 worth of wood and then I spent the morning making the ladder.  It was super easy and pretty fun.  I think it turned out cute and now we have the blankets organized.

I think I'm going to make more of these and put one in each room so things are more organized. I found instructions to make a modified ladder that goes over the toilet and has shelves.  So I may be making one of those soon.

He is bugging her

Ethan is trying to get all his teasing in before he leaves for 2 years for his mission.  He was doing his best to bother Courtney as much as he could.  It was hilarious to watch.  He will lay on her, sit in the seat she was sitting on, lean on her, read over her shoulder (which she does to him just to bug him), etc.  She doesn't know what to do with him.

It's hot!

Haha!  This is why you proofread what you type. ;)