Elder Leavitt Enters the MTC

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Elder Cameron Leavitt offically entered the Provo MTC. He will be there for two months as he learns Tagalog language. Here are the few pictures we took when we dropped him off.
Me and Cam in the truck before we got to the MTC. I was still smiling. After I took this picture I asked him what he was thinking because he was real quiet. He said he felt like he was going to throw up. Nerves.

All of us trying to smile as Colby takes our picture.

Elder Leavitt and his Big Bro. It was hard for all of us.

Cam and Colby saying good bye. Colby was great to keep us trying to enjoy the moment. And that was all we got was a moment. As soon as we unloaded his bags, the missionary greeting us started to walk away with Cam's bag. I said "That's it, he has to leave now", and the answer was yes. We all took a last hug and watched him walk away. He is so ready to be a missionary and serve the people in the Philippines for the next two years. We are so very proud of his decision to serve the Lord for the next two years. We are looking forward to his first letter and we will keep you updated on his service and experiences. Ohh, the video is from the kids practicing the song they sang at his farewell. This is for you Grandma Haupt. Enjoy!

One Crazy Weekend...Cameron's Farewell

Cameron's Farewell was yesterday. It was a perfect day. The kids all sang and Cameron did an excellent job on his talk. We know he will be an AWESOME missionary. We had more than enough food to feed everyone after the meeting. We wished we could just have the day never end. Thanks to all the family and friends that took time to come to his farewell. He really appreciated it. Missionary Cameron ready to preach. A rare moment, Steve and both his boys in suits. He wanted a picture to prove that mircles do happen! Saturday night we celebrated Christmas, just a few months early. We had a great Prime Rib dinner and then played the "White Elephant" Game. Kennedy really loved her gift she opened, a teacup with flowers. Perfect for her play kitchen. Courtney snagged the "Snuggie". Her and Grandpa Leavitt really went the rounds for this coveted gift, but Courtney won it. She was so excited. We all had fun stealing everything that Grandpa opened. It was a fun night.

The kids even made the gingerbread house for me. I am soo excited to have this all ready for our Christmas decorations.

Saturday afternoon we met at Gardner Village and Jessie, a friend of Kandace's took a few family pictures for us. We can't wait to see her copies, this one is just on my camera. She took some great shots. We'll be saving for our Christmas card. We know that that the next two years will be such a blessing in our lives, and Cameron will have the adventure of his life. We are so glad it was such a fun weekend. One we will always treasure. Thanks everyone! Here's to Elder Leavitt!

Temple Adventures continue....

Yesterday Cameron, Courtney and I drove down to Manti to go to the Temple. It was a beautiful drive and we had a great time there.This is us on the side of the temple were the Manti Pagent is presented. This is Cameron and Courtney frolicking along the side of temple.In front of the temple. Cameron and Courtney on the side of the temple...where.....

Cameron was practing his tracting, again no answer, hope this isn't a trend! I was trying to get a picture of the red bushes and the temple and the sun came popping through. Wow, it was soo cool.

We had a great day, and stopped at a fun hamburger place in Fairview that reminded me of the "Burger Barn" back in my teenage days. They had a great grilled chicken wrap.

This is "Thanksgiving" last Sunday, we are celebrating all the holidays before Cameron leaves.

Tomorrow is "Christmas" at our house, and then Sunday is Cameron's Farewell. We'll keep you all posted on the fun.

Hamptons Half Marathon....

After six months of training the time has come and gone (my cute sister-in-law) and I set out to NYC to enjoy the city then head to the Hamptons for our Half Marathon. We got to NY bright and early Thursday morning. We both took red-eye flights, Austin came from Las Vegas, and we meet at JFK. We rode the subway to our hotel and they said our room would not be ready until 3 PM, it was 9 AM and we had 6-hours to kill. We headed out to see the sites. I think we covered more mileage than a marathon. We saw World Trade center, Wall Street, The Staute of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Canel street and headed up to Rockefeller Center, then Time Square where we purchased our broadway tickets to see "Mary Poppins". We went back to our hotel and took a quick shower and napped for a couple of hours before our play.

Here we are in front of the theater were we saw "Mary Poppins" Yes, we both look exhusted. The play was awesome, but if you ever go request balcony seats, you'll have to see the play to find out why. We went out for NY style cheesecake after, yummy!

The next morning we continued out site seeing by going to the Empire State Building, Central Park (us at the park) then......The Children's Natural History Museum, we both love night at the museum so it was a must! Then we rode a train to "HicksVille", no lie that was the name of the town where Austins friend Kim picked us up and took us to the Hamptons. We picked up our race packets then headed to "Nick and Toni's" a fabulous restaurant that the Barefoot Contessa recommended. I don't like pasta but loved the Arugula pasta that I order. I wish I knew how to make it. After dinner we headed out to the cool house that Kim had found for us to rent for the weekend. The house was soo cool. I felt like we were in Ikea. It was all black and white, no window coverings and very modern. It would be soo cool to rent for a week and stay in the Hamptons. I was pretty tired from all our travels, and my feet were completley swollen. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to run the next day. Austin helped me tape up my ankles, then I took Ibuprofen and headed to bed. I woke up feeling so much better and most of my swelling was gone. The weather could not have been more perfect. I turned on my ipod and headed out. This is part of the 2,000 runners that ran that day. It was such a beautiful run. The roads were lined with trees so we were shaded for most of the run.I just had to stop and take this picture of "Friends of Karen" , it was at mile 11, thanks everyone that wished me luck and supported me these last 6-months. This really did boost me when I saw it.Here I am at the bay. I had someone snap my picture for me. I figured I wouldn't have another chance, so what the heck. I met my goal of making it in 2:30 hours, I came in just barley after that. I was soo tired, but it was so incrediable to achieve a goal I never thought I could achieve. WOW!So here we all are after the race. All the gals and Gavin. L-R- Kathy, Katie, Darlene, Kim, Austin, Me, Gavin, Amy and Lizzie. Such great gals, and guy.This is all of us after we showered and went out by the pool to relax for a minute. Here we are in South Hampton. We ate at another awesome Italian resturant then walked the streets in the quaint town.We came across this funny sign, we wondered what "Proper Attire" means. I guess we were all dressed to code. After our stroll in town we headed back to the house and stopped at the wonderful produce and flower market.The fall colors were amazing!The fall beauty just never ended! Look close at the bumps on pumpkins in the middle row. So fun! The next day were were going to go to the beach until we had to head to the airport, but we woke up to pouring rain. So Kim just drove us by all the mansions on the beach. They were astounding. It was so beautiful there, I will have to take Steve back to see everything. Speaking of Steve. He and Cameron met us at JFK on their way home from their 7-day cruise. We all had a fabulous time and made such wonderful memories. I am soo glad that I survived my race. I am doing a 10K in November, then Austin and I will have to find another goal to achieve!