See you in Two

Jonah's flight left at 10 AM Monday morning.  We left our house a little before 7 AM to make sure we had plenty of time. 

It was surreal knowing we would be sending him off for two years. I just can't wrap my mind around that.

We were dreading the goodbye.

I know Jonah was nervous, but he never shows it. 

I asked someone to take our picture while we were waiting to check his bags. 

The line was very short so it didn't take long.

After that we walked with Jonah to security.

We had plenty of time for pictures, which my kids were thrilled about.

I'm so proud of Jonah.  He is going to be a fantastic missionary.

And also, I didn't want to let him go.

We are all going to miss him so much. 

Keith wasn't ready to let him go either.

Jonah may be having some real concerns about if we were going to let him go at this point, ha!

Caitlyn wanted pictures.

So did Hallee.

The boys not so much.

But they did it for me anyway.

I went back for round two.

It's so hard to let him go!

We got a couple of family pictures.

Then Jonah was ready to go.  He could see some of the other missionaries go through security and I think he was ready for the goodbyes to be over. 

I cried while I watched all the kids hug goodbye.

It was tearful goodbyes for all of us.

Especially for Wyatt.  Poor Wyatt just laid in Jonah's bed and cried most of the day.

Then it was time for Keith to say goodbye.

It was emotional for both of them.  They are going to miss each other so much.

Then it was my turn. I was a hot mess by this point and had already given him multiple hugs, but knew it was time to give him one last hug.

I thought my heart might break right there.  How can you be so happy for him and proud of him and so sad at the same time?

Seeing him walk away crying was so hard.

He turned around for a minute.

He put a smile on his face and gave us one last wave.

We watched him turn the corner and then we left.  I am so proud of him.  This is such a hard thing he is doing, but he is doing it anyway.  

While we were pulling away from the airport I got this message about Jonah's Air Tag.  It was like rubbing salt in the wound, the van already felt so empty without him.  I tracked his flights all day and checked the credit card to see that he got food in New York.  He flew from  Salt Lake to New York and then from New York to Manchester.  It was over a fifteen hour travel day for him. It was an emotional weekend for all of us and we were all exhausted!

Farewell Lunch

Jonah had a lot of people at his farewell.  So many of his friends and their parents were there to support him. It took us a while to get him out of the church and over to our house. 

Matt, Lori, Katie and Ben left after Jonah's talk and went and got all of the food set up and ready.  It was such a relief, I didn't even have to worry about anything. 

When we got to the house there were already lots of people there enjoying crepes.  We ended up having plenty of food and I think everyone enjoyed it.

It was so fun to have the Beck's there.  We loved living by them all those years.  It's sad how rarely we see them now, but when we do, it's just like old times. 

The OG's.  When we moved in across the street from Beck's we just had the four kids between us. These four spent so much time playing together. 

Emilee had the twins and we had Wyatt while we lived there and the Beck's moved shortly after Kenzee and Hallee were born.  I'll always miss them being our neighbors!

I remembered to get a picture with us and Jonah, but I forgot to get a picture of the whole family.

Keith's aunt Linda and uncle Duane came all the way from Grantsville.  It was so nice of them and so great to have some Looslis there.  I know Garth and Pat are very excited and proud to have their grandson on a mission.

Jonah loved having the Hixon's there to support him.  This is his second family.  He spends a lot of time with them and he loves them all very much. They have told me how much they love Jonah and are so grateful for how well he treats Sawyer.

It was weird for Jonah and Sawyer to see each other again after that hard goodbye, but I think it was good.  This goodbye wasn't as hard as the week before. 

Jonah loved having all of his friends there.

Christian came by for a bit. It is fun to see them together as missionaries. 

It was so hot. I'm glad we had the shade tents, but it was still so hot outside. 

Jonah and Colston.  

I was worried the goodbyes would be so hard all over again, but they weren't as bad this time.

Jonah and Maddox.  They have been great influences on each other. 

Jonah has been blessed with amazing leaders and mentors in the ward.  He has spent a lot of time with the Beesley's over the years.  Everyone cleared out by noon, which was my goal.  It was great to have everyone here, but a little hard to share my last day with Jonah.

These guys were amazing and took care of all of the food and I didn't do anything or worry about it once. It was so amazing to just be able to visit and not have to worry about that.

My family hung out inside where it was cool.  It was perfect so they could visit and stay cool and their was plenty of tables and chairs outside for Jonah's friends. 

I came in a couple of times just to cool off. It was so hot! I loved having my family here.  They are all so supportive and I appreciate it so much.

Kyle and Paige are moving to Oregon. I'm so glad they got to come to all of this before they left.

It was so sweet of Alexys to come. I know that was really hard for her to be in Provo for 9 AM church. We loved having her here.

Matt jumped in every picture I took and I love them to much not to add them!

Matt can always make us laugh!

Mel and Earl and their family have been such a great influence on Jonah.  He has always looked up to EJ and Elijah and they always make him feel like a million bucks. 

Every picture with Matt makes me smile.

Tiff and Paul have been a great influence on Jonah.  He loves all of them and has had fun hanging out with Damon at grandma's over the years.

It got funnier with every picture that Matt got in.

Grandpa Ham, they just don't come better than him. I'm so grateful that we lived by my parents and my kids got to grow up with them.  They loved their grandkids and have been a great influence in their lives. It was hard not to have mom there.  Caitlyn gave me a necklace with a picture of me and mom in it and I wore that to the farewell to bring my mom to it.

Keith took over for Matt and jumped in their family picture.  We are a funny bunch!

Matt and Lori have had a huge impact on Jonah's life.  All of these years of our families spending weeks together every year have created strong bonds that I'm so grateful for.  I can't wait for Jonah and Cody to be reunited after their missions. 

Elena pointed out that she wouldn't see Jonah for three or four years because she will leave for her mission while he is still on his.  That was kind of a sad realization. It's hard to watch these kids grow up.

The Carr's have done so much for us over these past few weeks.  They are so generous and kind and have given up so much time to help us. We love them! 

Sawyer stuck around for a final game of Sky-Jo.  After that she stayed and helped us pack up Jonah's things. I had everything downstairs and ready, so the packing wasn't too bad.  We were worried about the weight of the suitcases, but it ended up being fine and we fit everything in without a problem. 

This is Garth's cousin, Greg Loosli.  I'm friends with him on Facebook and when I posted about Jonah's farewell he started messaging me and said he would like to come and also record it for us. We saw him at the church and talked to him for a minute, but he didn't come over after.  About 4 PM he started messaging me, but I didn't see it because I was packing with Jonah, so he started messaging Caitlyn.  He wanted to come over.  We assumed it was just to drop off the recording so we said it was okay.  Me and Sawyer stayed downstairs while Jonah and Keith went up to talk to him.  Jonah had already showered and changed so we could get him packed up.  Greg had brought Jonah ties from his mission when he served in France over 50 years ago.  He insisted that Jonah pick one and take it on his mission, then he wanted him to change so they could get a picture in the tie. Jonah came downstairs frustrated, but put on his suit and went up for the picture.  He said Greg tickled his stomach instead of shaking his hand, so it was a bit awkward, ha! Jonah got the picture and then came back downstairs so we could finish packing.

Jonah's farewell was on Father's Day.  Sawyer stayed until dinnertime and then she went home to eat with her family.  I think it was nice for them to have time together after such a hard goodbye.  I could be wrong, but I don't think it made it harder on them like I feared it would. I made a roast and sour cream potatoes for dinner.  One last family dinner.

After dinner Kelly showed up.  All the surprise Loosli guests were a little hard on our last day with our boy.  She wanted to say goodbye to Jonah and she didn't stay long.  

That night Jonah set up a group chat on messenger.

They started doing filters and AI images. It was a lot of fun.

I was so tired that I could hardly keep my eyes open. I laid down in bed while they were all laughing and talking.  Keith asked me if I wanted them to go out and I said no. I wanted to listen to them laugh and have fun together while I laid there.  We had an early morning the next morning so we needed sleep, but we didn't want the night to end.  I loved going to sleep to the sound of my kids laughing together!