Final Weekend at Home

Sister Bree's final weekend at home was a busy one!  We had an open house/farewell party on Friday night for friends, neighbors and church members.  It was so nice to celebrate Bree's next adventure with people who mean so much to us.  We finished most errands on Saturday, she went to the temple with her Dad and two of her sisters and she finalized her talk.  She gave a terrific address in church on Sunday about why we share the gospel of Jesus Christ, then spent the remainder of the day relaxing, sorting things from her room and making memories with her family.

Monday took Bree and I on an excursion to the St Louis Zoo.  She had wanted to go see the polar bear all summer and time had escaped us.  Even though there were so many things to do instead, we wandered the entire zoo and ended up loving the penguins most of all,  though, admittedly, the polar bear was quite cute. 

We picked up late lunch on the way home and jumped into the final tasks.  She delivered a beautiful, framed drawing to the Adams', the family she was a nanny for this summer and loves like crazy.  I'm so unhappy that I forgot to photo copy it! We ate her favorite dinner, cafe rio style burritos and prepared for our stake president to arrive for our family home evening and setting apart.  For those who don't know, the setting apart is a special blessing given before beginning a new calling or area of service in our church.  This setting apart blessing is specifically to be a missionary and includes words of direction, comfort and blessing.  It was a sweet experience for our family to be together for this and more than a few of us needed a tissue.

Then to the final business of last minute packing and room cleaning. Bree and I stayed up much too late, but finished everything and fit it all into her two suitcases and duffle - with weight to spare! Our heads didn't hit the pillow until after 1am, so the 5am alarm will be painful, but there are no regrets.  It was a fabulous, jam packed, full of incredible things and quite a few tears, four days.