So Long, Elder Tom...

Yesterday was a big day...

Nate had the kids to himself, and I went up to Utah for a quick drop off at the MTC.

We said goodbye to my brother, Tom. (Here's Tom, Asher, and Evan at Tom's Batman-themed Rockband goodbye party.)

He's leaving on a 2 year mission for our Church. He'll be up in Oakland, California. I comfort myself by remembering that my college roommate and her family live around those parts--her parents are right by the temple! They'd watch out for Tom, and Tom could get a break from tracting and say they're investigators. We had Dave do the same thing with Nate's Aunt Gail in Vienna.

We won't be able to visit him, and we can only talk to him on the phone for Christmas and Mother's Day.

Frankly, sending a missionary off has left our whole family a little down in the dumps this week. We know it's a good thing, but it's still hard. We'll miss coming home and seeing Tom's car in the driveway--a perk of having the XBox 360. Tom would often come by after a night of teenage craziness, or he'd be by in a flash when I had a babysitting emergency. Sigh, two years feels like a long time...

While I said bye to Tom, Luke put his head through the living room window. Luke and Asher always enjoy sitting on the living room windowsill and banging their heads against the glass (nothing wierd about that, right?).

Luke must have guardian angels--he doesn't have a mark on him, despite falling glass, and you know, putting his head through a window or maybe Luke is already reaping the blessings of having an uncle go on a mission.