It's almost time

So much has been going on and there's so much to say, but no time to do it. I could maybe make the time, but my mind is spinning with so many details that I'm just not in the right frame of mind to put my thoughts together. Our family is on our two week missionary countdown. Sunday is Jordan's farewell. It seems surreal that it's all actually happening.

I have my 3 page pre-mission To Do/To Buy list all crossed off with my handy yellow highlighter.

Our trip to the temple was wonderful. Jordan picked the Jordan River Temple (because it has a GREAT name.) Pictures and thoughts are on his mission blog.

Farewell brunch food items are bought and assigned and my awesome friends helped me figure out how to decorate for it today.

White shirts are ironed. Clothes are all labeled. New shoes are broken in.

Is this real?

Do we really have just two weeks left with Jordan?

Everything is ready except for Me!

Somedays I cry and cry at the thought of him leaving and not seeing his smiling, crazy face everyday for two years. Other times I get so frustrated with him that I think to myself, "Can you just go now so that you can grow up and start to appreciate me a little more?" Then at times I find myself so excited for the opportunities and experiences he'll be having that I end up on my knees to thank God that he is worthy and willing and excited to serve a mission.

It really is a rollercoaster and I pray that the ups will outweigh the downs and that at the end of the ride we will all have big smiles on our faces and say, "That was AWESOME!"

What a blessing it has been to have Brendan tell me story after story of his mission (actually he talks about it all the time still, which I love) but has recently recounted many of them to set my heart at ease about all my fears and questions.

The other thing that has been a huge blessing at this season of my life has been the support from our missionary mom email group. Most of their sons are already in the field and their pre-mission expertise has been invaluable. Some of their missionaries are in El Salvador and others are spread out through the 4 missions of Guatemala. But they are ALL out there with one heart and one mind and one purpose. I treasure the stories of this mighty Army of God in this part of the world. I told one mom earlier today that it feels like we have 10 or more sons out there writing home to "us."

I'm thankful that my house won't be empty and that I have two other wonderful kids to keep me on my toes. I see Jake worshipping his big brother and am so grateful that they have had each other and are such good friends. Allison will turn 16, driving and dating, right when Jordan gets back and Jake will be almost done with his senior year in high school. Thinking of that helps me to know that time will fly during these next two years.

Right now I feel at peace. Right now I am grateful for this blessing and opportunity in our family. Right now I am anxious, but excited.

Tomorrow may be a meltdown day but I've learned that those times are brief.

Just a few Christmas memories

Our Christmas holidays were very blessed with lots of family memories and fun. Our Christmas Eve festivities started out at Brendan's parents for his mom's famous Chimichangas. We got to be there when his parents opened up their gift from all of their kids which happened to be a new Mac computer and monitor this year. A much needed and deserved present for them.

From there we headed off to my brother Ed's in Cedar Hills. We're glad that Carlos, Julie, Gavin, and Taylor were able to come up from California to be with us and make our family complete this year. We played our traditional White Elephant game and the money game. Nicole was the big winner of that!

We spent some time in their music room listening to Noah and Brendan play Christmas songs on the piano while the rest of us sang. I was surprised that we actually sounded good and in tune. Kind of a hard thing for the Sanches clan to do. It must have been the help of Maria, Brendan, and Nicole's vocal talents. We enjoyed another feast of Honey Baked Ham, yams, That Good Salad, homemade rolls, and Martinellis. We watched a video on the birth of Christ put out by the Church a few years ago. We then opened gifts from one another and the kids had fun playing with their new toys.

The oldest and youngest cousin... Ryder will be 2 1/2 when Jordan gets home from his mission.

Me and my brothers and Mom. Love them all so much!

We're thankful to have had my mom and dad back with us this year after 18 months serving their mission in Colombia.

Maria made my mom and I these beautiful aprons!

Jake and Noah took a test run of their new sleds out back and down the steep driveway! We all went to bed around 2 am.

Christmas morning didn't start until 11 am at our house. I woke up around 8 and expected Jake or Allison to come in at any minute. 9:00 rolled around and I got out of bed and decided to shower and get ready. Brendan got up around 9:30 and we made our bed, read our books, and sat and waited until Allison peeked in our room around 11. Sheesh!!! I never thought they'd get up. We went into Jake's room and he was beginning to stir. I ended up having to jump on top of Jordan to get him to wake up. Not quite the same having sleepy teenagers in the house compared to eager little kids that are up when it's still dark outside.

Some of our favorite things we received this year were:

Brendan: His Kindle for reading electronic books (I think it's his favorite gift ever!)

Leslie: A 3 inch memory foam mattress topper and a porcelain of Christ hugging a little boy from my mom to represent His watchful care of my little boy this coming year on his mission.

Jordan: New scriptures, ties and more ties, a journal, mission backpack full of supplies and a new digital camera

Jake: New grips on his golf clubs, a golf caddy, and a golf game for our Wii. Ya, he loves golf!

Allison: A big makeup bag full of nailpolish in all colors of the rainbow and a collection of new games to play with friends.

Brendan and I got caught up doing our Christmas week puzzle and finished it in 1 1/2 days.

It was a wonderful couple of days spent entirely with family and we're thankful for our many blessings we have received this year.