Cody's Farewell

Cody was called to the Chiclayo Peru mission.  Jonah has been dreading this day for a long time. Cody is his best friend, his go-to person for everything.  They talk on the phone almost every day and tell each other everything.  Cody is the only person that Jonah opens up to and wants to talk about things with. I'm so grateful that he has Cody and that they are so close.  Jonah is going to miss him so much.

 

Jonah and I were able to fly up for the farewell.  It's so convenient to fly from Provo to Mesa.  We flew out first thing Saturday morning and flew home Sunday evening.  

Mom and dad were already there and Sandi flew in that day as well. We had fun visiting and getting things ready for the next day.  At the end of the day on Saturday I told the boys I was disappointed I didn't get any pictures of them, but Jonah already had his shirt off ready for bed. Cody told me that was no problem and took off his shirt and they both posed for me, ha!

Matt said he had the urge to pick Jonah up, ha! Saturday evening Jonah and Cody sat and talked with us and gave us parenting advice.  Sandi and I had a lot of questions for them and Cody talked to us about what made him want to make good choices in his life and how his parents did a great job trusting him and helping him.  It was so fun to hear and so helpful. 

Sunday morning Matt and I ate breakfast on the patio.  

I never take pictures with Lori, so I got one with her before church.

Cody showing grandpa his Peru pin.

Caitlyn took a screenshot of Cody speaking for me.  He gave an amazing talk.  He is so wise and a very deep thinker.  He talked about conversion and related it to restoring cars.  He talked about feeling lost and depressed as a teenager and that a turning point was going to Sandi's (his birth mom) wedding. Sandi has always been very close to their family and visited often over the years.  Cody talked about feeling like he belonged at her wedding where he met all of her family.   He loves his adoption story and feels so grateful that Sandi placed him with his family and that he can belong both places.  It was just beautiful and so touching. I'm so glad Sandi was there to hear it.

I loved spending the weekend with Sandi and getting to know her better. She is so much fun and so easy to talk to.  

Jonah knew some of Cody's friends that were there. 

Grandma and grandpa loved being there with Cody.

It was a really quick trip, but I'm so glad that Jonah and I were able to go.

These boys are sure going to miss each other.  Hopefully Cody will be able to call him sometimes.

After church we went home and ate lunch and relaxed for a bit before we went back that afternoon for Cody to get set apart as a missionary. 

President Beardall is their really good friend so it was nice to have him set Cody apart.  He went around the room and had us all say something to Cody.  It was really cool, but really emotional. We are all going to miss him so much.  This is going to be rough for Matt, Lori and Elena.  They are so happy for him and so proud of him, but it's going to be hard to say goodbye for two years.

Here he is putting on his missionary tag after being set apart.

I think Jonah cried more that weekend than he has his whole life.  He kept saying, "what are we going to do without him?" It broke my heart to see Jonah crying and know that this is so hard for him and there is nothing I can do to make it better. 

I love being Cody's aunt.  He has been such a special boy from day one.  He is so sweet and cares about everyone. He is kind, wise, hard working and so much fun to be around. He has a strong testimony and he is ready for his mission.  He is going to be a fantastic missionary. 

I'm really struggling accepting this new phase of life.  We have so many good memories over the years of visiting Matt and Lori and taking fun trips with them.  Our kids always got along so great and didn't care what we were doing as long as they were together. Keith and I love visiting them too and always have so much fun.  I'm not ready to be done raising our kids together.  It has all gone by too fast and it's so hard to accept that the kids are growing up and starting their own lives.  I'm so grateful for all of the amazing times we have had together. 

Sunday evening they had an open house for Cody.  Jonah and I had to leave for the airport shortly after it started, but they were able to get a picture with some of the boys from their EFY group.

We will get to say one more quick goodbye to Cody next week when they bring him to the MTC in Provo. We are sure going to miss him!