My family headed down to St. George friday afternoon and arrived just in time to eat the famous pasta dinner at the convention center. The marathon took place Oct 4th at 6:45am, and yup you guessed from the title, in the rain! In the 32 years the marathon has taken place, it has only rained twice. The second time was this year! Overall, the runners weren't a fan of the rain. It slowed times down and chilled them, as you can see from my brothers picture. Yet, they perservered and finished still. My brother Bryce leaves on his mission in 3 weeks to San Fernando California. My dad and him trained for this together, and I know they really enjoyed doing this together before he left.
After the marathon, the girls went shopping. I bought a really cute jacket that was a steal of a deal. And while the boys were at priesthood, the girls went and saw "Les Miserables" at the Tuacahn Outdoor Ampitheatre. It was an amazing show, yet like the marathon, the show went on in the rain! We looked at each other 3/4 through the show and just burst into laughter. "Are we crazy to still be here," we asked each other. The wind was blowing so hard it blew rain panchos onto the stage and almost hit Jean Valjean in the face. Then the rain just pelted down and while others were booking it out of the theatre, we endured it (with the help of our umbrellas). We were lucky though, as much as we would've like to have sat closer, our seats were on the very top row, which meant we were able to use our umbrellas. Well it was a great weekend, and I love my family so much. I love spending time with them!
Well he's officially a missionary now! He was set apart Tuesday, October 28, 2008 by Stake President David Miles. The family started the morning off by eating at Bryce's favorite restaurant, IHOP. I ordered my favorite thing on the menu, Cinnamon Swirl French Toast. When we got there, we noticed two other missionaries and their families. Come to find out, ingoing missionaries to the MTC receive their meal free. What a deal! He was to report by 11:30am, so we got there a little before 11am to take pictures, of course! And then we finally entered the building. I think we all did okay until the final saying good-bye scene. We were all crying, Bryce was going down the row giving us all hugs. I was the last one to get a hug and by chance I glanced down the row right as he gave Neal a hug. Now these two boys have become so close over the past couple of years and Neal just burst into tears. Now this made me cry even harder and you know when you can't control your crying and you snort. Well some people do and if you don't, I guess your lucky. But I did, and it was actually humorous! But just seeing them two saying good-bye was heart renching. He then looked at mom and said "I'm going". I think he told her this because one of the branch presidents had just got done telling us that saying good-bye is like a band-aid. The quicker you tear it off, the less pain you feel. So he said "I'm going" and then passed me. And since I was the last one in the row, and he gave me another hug. And then we watched him walk out with the other missionaries, down the hall, and around the corner. I'll never forget him walking out...it was like he was marching with the 2,000 stripling warriors or something. A man of God. He's in His hands now and our family is comforted in that knowledge. I love you Bryce, you'll do great and the family and I are praying for you everyday! 
