Carter's Farewell

 On Sunday August 24th at 11am it was Carter's Farewell! The summer flew by and the preparation was tough! I had NO idea how much time and effort is put into getting a missionary ready to go out into the field! The paperwork alone is CRAZY! We made it through and he was READY! He was given the topic of "Faith in Every Footstep" which he was very excited about! He spent a lot of time in front of the computer listening to the MOTAB and researching LDS.org to make sure he would give a great talk.

 Brianne also had a lot of preparation to do! She sang a beautiful arrangement of God be with you till we meet again. The arrangement was done by Sister Pease from our Ward- she is AMAZINGLY talented! Brianne worked on this song for over a month with her voice teacher to make sure it was good... and it wasn't good.... it was FANTASTIC! Just like her brothers talk! Carter did such an incredible job! There was over 250 people there- our chapel was FULL!! He was true to himself and gave a funny, yet spiritual message. Just what I knew he would do!

 There was a few people who traveled far to be there including Swen and Tammy! I was so grateful they were able to come! I was especially grateful for Tammy- she helped out A TON! The open house wouldn't have gone as well without her help!

After a successful talk, a wonderful open house with good food and a ton of people we went over to Chan's parents home for a yummy dinner. Tom, Kathy, Brooke and Dakota all made it to his farewell which meant A TON to all of us. But we were able to listen to the recording of it at their house so those who weren't able to make it could still hear his talk and Brianne's song. It was a wonderful day- a bit emotionally overwhelming- but mostly I was just PROUD! I have an amazing kid that is leaving to serve the Lord for 2 years! I am one lucky Mom! One highlight of the day was that Tom took a moment to share how proud he and Kathy were of Carter. He got emotional (which he never does) and told him how grateful he was that they have been able to share in all he's going through. It was really wonderful! Honestly, I couldn't do this without the love and support of ALL our family! They have been amazing through all of this!