Elder Norman (and Keaton is 11 months old!)

On Wednesday, July 27th, we said an emotional goodbye to Curtis before dropping him off (quite literally) at the MTC.

It was hard to watch Curtis say goodbye to Keaton. Keaton really loves Curtis a lot (and vice versa). It's really crazy to think that Keaton will almost be 3 years old when Curtis comes home!

Over the past year, while Curtis was living in Orem and going to UVU, Justin and I were able to spend a lot of time with him, which was so great, but I think it also made it harder (especially for me) to say goodbye cause I felt so much closer to Curtis than ever before.

To be able to spend some extra time with Curtis before he left for his mission, Justin and I decided to come home on Friday, July 22nd and spend the whole weekend (Sunday, July 24th was Curtis's farewell- and Curtis gave quite an amazing talk on being steadfast and unmoveable) and up until Wednesday with Justin's family. And while we were there it was fun to watch how much Keaton loves the dogs. Especially Roxy. (Although I am not sure the feeling is mutual. :) )

A LITTLE SIDE NOTE: On July 24th, Keaton turned 11 months old. Is that just crazy or what?! So, here's a little update... Keaton now weighs 17 lbs 3 oz and it 27 inches long. :) Keaton is now pretty much an expert on sitting up (except for when it comes to reaching for things that are just out of his grasp... but, we are working on that). Keaton can hold his own bottle now but, only does when he isn't being lazy. :) Keaton said "ma ma" for the very 1st time a little over a week ago and now says it all the time. :) I love, love, love it!!! It makes me smile every time that sweet word comes out of his mouth. Also, his very 1st tooth just popped through! (He hasn't been too fussy about it... maybe a little, but not horrible.) Keaton FINALLY can/will roll over from his back to his tummy!!! This is an exciting/fun thing for us since Keaton has always HATED his stomach. (He still isn't too sure he wants to be on his tummy for too long, but it's a start right?!) Keaton thinks it is funny when we try to help him to crawl- he just giggles uncontrollably. Keaton is now drinking from a faster flow nipple in his bottle... I've tried switching him to the faster flow nipple several times, but it has just always drowned him, but now it's nice because instead of it taking him 30 minutes to drink his bottle it only takes him about 10 now. Since about the end of June Keaton has been sleeping in our room in the play pen. (It is just too hot for him to sleep in his room and we have a window unit in our room that we can turn on at night to keep it cool... cross your fingers for me that Keaton won't have a hard time adjusting back to his crib once the summer is over!) Keaton is still our happy, loving, fun baby. He loves to play with his toys, be tickled, scared, and teased (he giggles all the time now over the silliest things and he has the cutest laugh ever!), look at books (especially touch and feel board books), stand on our laps, jump like a crazy man in the jumparoo (seriously, this jumparoo has been life changing for Keaton), scream in the bathtub (how knows why, but that is what he likes to do), eat his soft cookies, and talk, talk, talk his little baby gibberish. We love our little chubby cheeked Keaton so much and just can't believe in one short month he will be 1 year old!

Although our goodbyes were a little tearful, we are all very excited for the adventure that is in store for Curtis. We all know he will be a fabulous missionary and we also know that our family will be blessed for his service.

After a yummy breakfast at IHOP we headed to the temple to take a couple of pictures and say our final goodbyes.

Elder Norman- the people of Columbia, South Carolina are waiting for you- even if they don't know it yet- so that they may learn the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I read this quote recently and it really touched me and completely explains why a young boy of 19 would go on a mission- "A missionary leaves his family for two years so that other families can be theirs for eternity."