My baby brother...all grown up and serving a mission!

Alright so the MTC wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made it sound!! People told us it was like they rip your heart right out of your chest, that we'd better plan an activity for afterward, that we'd just want to go home and cry on our beds for hours, that we'd hate the system in our church, that we'd despise the MTC, that we'd probably want to sleep in his bed for a few nights, etc etc. Well for us those things didn't apply. We decided that this was because of several things:

• Nathan has already lived away from home for a year,
• I've been "gone" for several years,
• We were expecting it to be horrific and thus prepared ourselves,
• He wasn't straight out of high school,
• We are all so excited to have a missionary in the family, and
• He's SO ready and prepared to go.

So, even though there were PLENTY of tears, we still feel like we have our hearts in our chests and we haven't cried ourselves to sleep for the past two nights. :) I'll list the tender moments that did bring out tears though in case anyone is feeling like I'm heartless right now.
During Nathan's farewell talk on Sunday he made us all cry (not including Wendy or Tyson cause they're tough like that) when he started his "shout outs" to all of us. It was very sweet and the cutest part was that he shocked himself and got emotional about it too. He never cries either so it made it extra meaningful.
On Tuesday night when we went with Nathan to have him set apart, the Stake President asked if anyone would like to share any thoughts or feelings. It was so special to be all together (minus Tyson who had to work) in the room and to get to share our testimonies and love for Nathan and the gospel and missionary work. This time even Wendy broke down and cried a little bit which then made Nathan start which then of course made my pregnant self and my mom cry even harder. They weren't sad tears though, just happy and loving and spiritual.
For me, singing Called to Serve in the MTC started my emotions. Everyone else was under control though and I finally got a hold of myself by the 2nd verse. It was good to hear how the schedule for the rest of the day would be, and to watch to cheesy and super old movie. Then of course when it came time to say bye we all cried while we told Nathan how much we loved him and how proud of him we are. After a few minutes he was out one door and off to start his new life and we were out the other to be without him.
So today is Nathan's 3rd day as a missionary and I know he'll do so great. He's such a good example to all of us and has always been such an outstanding guy. I'm very proud to claim him as my little brother and just like everyone else in my family I can't wait to get his first letter!