Tanner Starts the MTC

With only one week to go until he entered the MTC and no cabin trips on the calendar, Tanner begged, pleaded, and convinced Zac to take a day off of work and Ashlyn kindly agreed to keep track of the kids at home so that Zac and I could go for one last cabin overnighter and boat trip before he started his mission.

With no kids to take up all of the turns on the boat, I decided it was time to dust off the water skis and remind my body that I used to know how to ski!  I even was able to drop one to prove to my kids... who can't even get up on two skis that I am the GOAT at water skiing in this family.

It ended up being a magical day to have that one-on-one time to connect and laugh and do something we love to do together.

And Tanner got to take the boat out for one last spin to tell her goodbye.

Sunday night, Tanner got set apart and our family was all able to bear our testimonies and tell Tanner how much we love him.  And he bore a very powerful testimony to us.  The Spirit was so strong and we knew that he was ready to go!

Monday morning bright and early he was logged on and figuring out Home MTC.

Home MTC lasted two long weeks, where we tried to make our home as much of an MTC as possible with no music, TV, or movies.  We got to take Tanner out on brief outings, so long as he was dressed as a missionary and wearing his badge.

We went to Grandma Kris and Grandpa Rich's house for dinner.   On the way to Grandma's, we stopped by the Manwaring Center and found her old office.

The door to her office has since been bricked in and the building has been remodeled.  Bronson is standing right where the door went.

Meeting with Grandma one last time was very tender as she was struggling with cancer and both she and Tanner knew this was likely the last time they would see each other in this life. 

One of the things that made home MTC more bearable was the fact that Ashlyn was home.  She wasn't able to move in to her college apartment until two days after we dropped Tanner off at the MTC.  So it was really fun having these two home together and I even got to take them to lunch at the Teton House, which was especially significant since Tanner had done the demolition work to transfer this old bar into a beautiful restaurant.

Finally, time was up!  No more packing or stressing about what was on the packing list.  It was time to grab the suitcase and put on the suit and head out the door.  The kids skipped out of school and we headed to Provo to drop Tanner off.

We made a few stops along the way to check out the Conference Center which had started construction as Zac left on a mission and was just finished when he got home.

And we gazed at the Salt Lake Temple which has been under construction for a couple of years and will finish up as Tanner is getting home!

And when it was time to say goodbye, no tears for Tanner.  He bravely met his escort and walked off without a look back.  And he really loved the MTC.  It has been so fun to be able to talk to him every week and watch him grow and mature and do amazing things.  We can't wait to be reunited in August 2024!