Goodbye Elder Lemley

Yesterday was very bittersweet! We said goodbye to our Davey Baby as he left for his mission. He will hopefully be serving in Recife, Brazil. His visa has not come through yet, so instead of flying straight to Brazil, he gets to hang out in Provo for a while. It was difficult to say goodbye, but I am so proud of him! He and I are very close and I am going to miss him terribly! I can't wait for his first letter! He will be an amazing missionary and I am excited to see how much he grows over the next 2 years.

Dave and his best bud Henry

Danny and David

Kelsey, David, and Vincent

David and the Troncale's (our other family)

Eric served in the same mission David is headed to. Eric can't wait to hear about Recife!

David and all the boys

Dad, David, and Mom

Katy and David

What cute sisters he has!

The Elders! Matt just got home and David is leaving.

David is such a good uncle! These kids are going to miss him!

When we took David to the MTC, Katy, Ben, Matt and Vincent tried walking in cause there wasn't enough room in my parents van. When they got to the corner, they were not allowed onto MTC grounds because they were not with a missionary. The rest of us were already at the curb ready to drop David off. We told the missionaries we would be right back and went back around the block and had the 4 extra kids jump in the van so they could say goodbye. It was a tight few minutes! (We broke a few laws.) In the back of the van was Henry, Andrew and the 3 grandkids. In the middle of the van was David, me, Matt, Vince, Katy and Ben. When we got back to the curb to drop David off, the elder waiting for him laughed as he watched people keep coming and coming as we all piled out of the van. He said he had never seen real clown car before! Leave it to the Lemley's!

Poor David smooshed up against the door!

Saying our final goodbyes

Good Luck Elder!!! We love you so, so much!!!

4th of July

We got up early again on Monday morning and headed to the 4th of July parade! I have awesome siblings who slept on the street to save us all a spot.

Adam was so excited when he got to break a board with his hand!

Now he talks about how much strength he has cause he broke a board. We are hoping he doesn't try that again on his own!

Our crowd

Vincent and Matt...not so thrilled after attempting to sleep on the street all night.

Katy and Ben

Mom and Kathleen

Tessa and David

Adam and David

Adam loves parades! He waved his hands and his flag at everyone!

We were lucky enough to have a horse stop right in front of us...then it started peeing. Then the pee started streaming down the street....right into us, our blankets and everything else we had. Poor Eric tried to get stuff to stop it from coming, but it didn't work. The rest of us weren't much help because we were all laughing so hard. It will be a parade we never forget!

Adam was sad when it ended. I think he could have sat there all day long!

After the parade we headed to my parents house for our annual 4th of July BBQ. We had quite the crowd this year!

Matt and Vincent

Adam and David

Vincent, Matt, and Danny

The kids enjoying their popsicle's

It was raining when it was time for fireworks, so we all watched from the carport while my brothers braved the rain. David declined his interpretive dancing this year. He said it wasn't appropriate for a missionary. We will miss his dancing the next 2 years. Tessa only agreed to come out and watch fireworks if she got to listen to music. The "Black Eyed Peas" kept her happy.

We still have several things going on this week, but it was nice to have a break from some of the craziness and spend time with family. We are thankful for our freedom and for those who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so much for our freedom! God Bless America!!!