The Stripling Warrior Gang

I know i should have posted this a long time ago but alas, I fell into the "my life is too busy" rut. as you all know, the Golden Boy left for his mission last week and i had the honor to take him to the MTC. Please don't be offended when i call him the Golden Boy. usually, this nickname refers to a child whose parents adore him above their other children. In our case, this name and meaning stretches out the the rest of the family. He is "golden boy" to all who know him. He is the shining example of strength, patience, friendship and love. He makes everyone around him light up because of his personality. everyone who knows him instantly loves him. The last two days i spent with him before he entered this amazing new adventure were the hardest, most emotional, most happy days that i have ever had. I picked Jordan up from the airport at around 9:30 and we drove around Salt Lake while i showed him the temple, my old school and we said goodbye to his friend Gina. We drove to Matthew and Leslie's where they had stayed up to greet us. (thanks by the way..it was way late) We talked the whole way to Benjamin and that was way nice to spend time with just the two of us. When we arrived my Nichols bladder got the best of me and i couldn't move let alone walk inside the door. As i hysterically laughed, the situation got worse and Jordan thought this was the most hilarious thing ever. Finally, i ran behind a huge tree while he told me he was going to tell everyone about it. The next morning we woke up and hit the trail for all the errands we had to do. We went and got him all of his necessities from the Springville Walmart( which made me really miss my mom since we stop there all the time during education week. Can't wait for this year!) We ran around Provo looking for a bank to get him a debit card and finally found one. After that we hit the Quilted Bear(not his favorite store, but mine for sure) and then the dollar store since he wouldn't pay $1.98 for a lint roller when he knew there was one for a dollar. (Thanks mom for teaching us how to be thrifty, but i wish he would have just let me buy it seeing how it cost probably $5 in gas just to get to the other store) We then went to lunch at the Pizza Buffet called Docs. It was $6 for all you can eat salad, breadsticks, pizza and ice cream. Jordan did not waste that money for sure. We were the only ones there and they had to keep making pizzas. We finally decided he had had 13 pieces and the biggest ice cream cone ever. When i asked him why he needed such a huge ice cream he told me we were only allowed one cone and so he was going to make it the biggest cone ever. oh did we get looks! We went and visited Brent and Tiana and their family and we got to see Stacie also. We had dinner with Carrie and Ralph and Cassidy and Kali. It was so nice of everyone to come and Jordan really appreciated it. Wednesday we woke up and went to BYU for Jordan's scriptures. We then went to lunch at an amazing Brazilian Grill called Tucanos. (one needs to be opened in Bakersfield along with all the other chains) Grandma and Grandpa Nichols came and we had so much fun. We also met a missionary at the restaurant who was going to Paraguay also.
Finally, i had to take him to the MTC. I had been so brave and was super proud of myself for not crying about it until then. My wonderful dad sent me a text message saying "There's no crying in Baseball or the MTC." Encouraging. We put his bags up and he went and got his missionary tag. We took pictures and then went into the meeting. It was nice to sit there with him and here people talk about how well the missionaries are taken care of and how so many people love them at the MTC and on their missions. When they told us that it was time to go and missionaries go through one door and families through another i couldn't hold back the tears anymore. (Sorry dad) I think having to find the right words to say was the hardest thing ever. Of course there were I Love You's, but i wanted to give him some of my 20 year old wisdom. Needless to say there was nothing good. I tried to say all positive things and be super strong, but when he gave me a hug and told me he would miss me and that he loved me, i don't think i have ever had so many mixed emotions. I wanted him so badly to stay with me and protect him like i always have felt i needed to my whole life, but a bigger part of me saw what a great young man he had grown to be and remembered him telling me how badly he wanted to go and so i hugged him close and bawled my eyes out as i watched him walk though the doors. I was so nervous for him and thought that i couldn't cry anymore when he turned around one last time before walking through the door. I just stood there with my cute cousins Stacie and Brock and sobbed. it felt good to know that one of his best friends Eugene would be looking for him and i knew he would be fine, but holy cow was that hard. He is such a great example and a rock for our family. He will be greatly missed but this is such an amazing and exciting time for him. So sorry about the sob fest, but here's some pictures to go with this novel.

Some Funnies from Elder Urmston

• He asked me if he could say 1,000 different words including "Flaming Homosexual and Fagot"
• Aunt Carrie saw his Stripling Warrior Ring and thought it was his class ring and Jordan preceded to tell her how this was his second ring because the first one got stolen. We then decided that there is probably a hardened criminal starting a Stripling Warrior Gang.
• he tried to tell me about a place that was "caddy corner" to the school. i thought it was called "kitty korner" and he assumed i was right and told me he said "catty corner" because its farther away and a cat is bigger so its called "catty corner"