Last day at the LONE PEAK Theatre Productions class...

Seriously, Wade has loved being involved in Theatre in Utah. These kids are the BEST! We took some fun pictures of Wade with everyone before he enters the MTC. These guys are great and we love them all!

BEST COCONUT BREAD EVER!

My friend Jenny from SugarLand sent this recipe to me months ago and I have been dying to try it. I can't even TELL you how good this is. I made it this weekend for Wade's farewell and wanted to post so everyone could share in the love. It was FABULOUS!

FAREWELL SUNDAY for WADE!

It's quite amazing we all made it through today. Wade was simply fantastic today. I was so proud of my boy. He sounded just like a missionary. I feel more than confident that he is ready. The day started out pretty weepy for me (of course). Every time he walks upstairs I seem to start the water works. I'm sure I'll be fine. Just really on the verge of crying constantly at the moment. It could be worse right? I could want him to leave! (haha) I sang "Greater Love" during Sacrament meeting. I chose that song because I thought of how much love I have for my son and thought if I can love this deeply I know the Savior must feel even MORE than me for my boy. HE suffered and bled for us individually so we could return to Him. He loved us that much. HE will watch over Wade and protect him for the next two years and I CAN trust in that. Our Savior has the GREATEST LOVE and that song describes that perfectly. It's a PURE miracle that I didn't break down. I ALWAYS cry when I sing church music. Add the emotional mother syndrome and it's a bad concoction! Heavenly Father truly answered my prayer that I could make it though that music and I did. :) Anyway, about the after party...I basically cooked for 3 days for the farewell "after" gathering. Good thing too, because we had over 50 people show up! Brookie (my niece) was the best thing since sliced bread this weekend. She goes to BYU and loves to visit often and WE LOVE HER TO COME! She stepped right up and cleaned, cooked, ran errands, made candy Lei's for me (with help from Kissy bug) and like 1 million other things while I stayed home and cooked, and cooked, and cooked. Here's the menu: Mango/BBQ shredded Pork sandwiches, Hawaiian Chicken Croissant Sandwiches, Chips/Veggies/Dip, Fresh Fruit/Dip, Baked Beans, Sweet & Spicy Coleslaw, and then desserts. Chocolate Cake, Coco Lopez Cake, White chocolate chunk Macadamia Nut Cookies (wade's favorite), Magic Bars (wade's other favorite), Banana Bread and Coconut Bread. Water with Sonic Ice and a pineapple sherbet punch with little umbrellas too! Yes, I'm a crazy baker and cook, but it's for my boy! Good thing I did cook for days because we only had cookies, a little cake and bread left! It's really gone! Amazing. The house even got HOT! That hasn't happened since we moved here. Many people make your house feel like Texas in the summer. Think I better have people over more often then maybe I wouldn't mind living here as much as I do! Anyway, It was wonderful to see so many people who have only known him for a little over a year support and care for him the way that they do. It truly was a magical day. Darci, my sister-in-law made us a few gifts that were amazing as well. She made the girls the "Fast sunday" glass jar countdowns that were adorable with each of their favorite candies AND a beautiful cork board with Wade's picture mission map and flag for us to track all the places he will serve. Every moment of today was truly sent from heaven. Now if I can just get through the next few days. Thanks to all who came and to all who support my sweet boy.

Wade's 19th Birthday Party at CHUCK E. CHEESE'S!

To say the least, I was surprised (in a small way) Wade wanted to celebrate his birthday before his mission with Chuck E. Cheese (and a few friends). He is always the LIFE of every party and wanted to leave for his mission with a BANG. Josie, Erika, Michael H., and Leanna joined him for a night of laughs and non-stop fun. He wanted a "pirate ship" cake and all. SO of course I made him the cake and even some "treat" bags. He was thrilled. You know, I started thinking that my son is 19. His WHOLE life he has never let me down. NEVER chose the wrong path. NEVER even questioned who he is or what his mission is in this life. He could have wanted to go out, get drunk with friends, or do something crazy, but NO, my son wanted to celebrate in style with his best friends and of course, Chuckie! I am truly blessed for such a son. I love him so much and can hardly keep the tears from flowing with love and admiration as I think about all he is and all he will become over the next two years.

MISSION RULES!

We have been reading this "white bible" (as we lovingly named it) each night as a family. Wade's mission president asked us to do this together to prepare all of us for the journey Wade is taking. There are A LOT of rules. Safety guidelines and such. Similarly the scriptures have "rules" or guidelines to follow. When we keep the commandments or "rules" we are promised great blessings. The ultimate one being that we will RETURN to our Father in Heaven. Wade's obedience will also bring blessings and by so doing he will RETURN WITH HONOR. I know this is true. I am grateful that we were able to read this together and fill the spirit testify that missionary work is hard, but worth every minute of every day. Six more days and he enters the MTC and the work will begin. My heart is full of so many wonderful things. How blessed we are to have had this experience of preparing our boy to serve the Lord.

Sunday Afternoon Activity

Wade has to bring baptismal pants on his mission. I have been putting off hemming them until today. Yes, it was emotional as I was thinking about my boy and all the wonderful experiences we have had "in white" as he has grown up and how many more experiences he will have in these. I am so pleased to be able to be a part of this simply by hemming his pants. Little things like this right now is what matters most.

Red Velvet HEAVEN...trust me.

I ADORE these cupcakes. See the picture below and TELL me you don't have a watering mouth at this moment! You can also use this recipe for red velvet cake. LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

WEATHER ALERT!

Funny story. One VERY cold morning I got in the car to take Leanna to school and saw that it was 0 degrees. As we drove it kept dropping! We were dying that it was so cold and continued to laugh and hate on UTAH that it was so cold. When I dropped Leanna off it was -14 degrees. I couldn't BELIEVE how cold it was outside. Then I went to pick up Krista ( by then it had dropped to -15 degrees) and take her to school. She gets in the car after I told her to get hat, scarf, gloves, double layer socks...ect. and said, "Mom. It's on Celsius not Fahrenheit!" I proceed to sound BLONDE and tell her "NOOOOO. It drops to Celsius after it gets below 0!" LOL. DUMB. Anyway, I found the right button on my car and it turned to Fahrenheit and low and behold it was only 6 degrees outside. STILL cold in my opinion, but none the less not AS cold. So feeling stupid I came home and made homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to make me feel "smart" again. After all, doesn't making something from scratch make you feel smart? Anyway. Just wanted to make sure I never forgot this experience.

MISSION PRESIDENT LETTERS CAME TODAY!

WOW. It is really hitting me today that Wade has only 24 days left before he enters the MTC. It didn't help my emotions AT ALL when I received a mail box full of mission letters. The parent letter from his mission President was AWESOME and I cried all the way through it. I can already tell his Mission president is incredible and will really love my precious boy. Wade is at work today so I have NO IDEA what his packet reads, but I'm sure I'll be crying again when he opens it. UGH! This is sooo sooo tough, but OH so rewarding. I love my future missionary with all my heart and know he is truly doing the right thing.

BYU Basketball game! WE WON!

Our wonderful home teaching family The Graf's, had extra tickets to a sold out game between the BYU cougars and the Air Force. We gladly accepted and brought Brooke along for the fun. We love hanging out with friends and family. It was especially nice since BYU won. :) It was frigid cold outside and we had trouble finding parking. After 45 minutes and a 25 minute walk we arrived at the Marriot center and watched the last hour of the game. After that we were again in traffic, but made our way to the mall for a soda and a chocolate Chik-filA shake! Perfect end. THANK YOU GRAF FAMILY!!! WE LOVE YOU!

We know we are back in Utah when...

To say the least we HATE traveling back home to Utah by car. We have done this more times than we like to remember, however when we get into Utah we always love seeing the Wilson Arch. It's just outside of Moab and it really is a beautiful site. The trip home was rough the second day due to ice and snow conditions, but thankfully Utah highways stay pretty clean and plowed. It was a whopping 10 degrees as we were traveling in New Mexico and into Utah. That reminder was like hitting us with a ton of bricks that we were back in "freeze zone" again.

Saying GOODBYE for two years...

Well this was the saddest part of our trip. Wade and Travis have been best friends since the day they were born. I think it really hit them they had to say goodbye when Travis got in his car. We were ALL crying watching the special bond they have as they said goodbye. As Travis, Mom and Gpa Tom pulled out of the driveway Travis rolled down the window and with tears in his eyes said "Hooray for Israel" (watch The Other Side of Heaven to understand). It was a very tender moment. Still hard to talk about. We continued the goodbyes with family and hated every minute of it, but know Wade and Travis are doing the right thing. On a lighter note, Leanna designed a tshirt (the green ones in the pictures above) for Lauren, Krista, Rachel and herself that had their nicknames. They are SO cute. Those four girls are the cutest! Of course it won't be 2 years before we see them again, but saying goodbye is always hard. WE LOVE YOU TEXAS FAMILY!

NEW YEARS EVE 2010!

After the temple and lunch we drove back to Vidor so Leanna could spend the evening with Krista and Lauren at the New Year's Eve Stake Dance. Wade bought some fireworks at the largest firework store in Texas I've ever seen and he and Joseph "Wow'd" us with all the lights. It was pretty cold but oddly enough we at BlueBell in the 50 degree weather while watching the sky! ONLY IN TEXAS!!!! After that Wade opened some presents from Great Grandpa Wade and Great Grandma Vivian. LOADS of white shirts, slacks, first aid kits, and such for his mission. We will be forever grateful for the love and assistance in supporting him on his mission.

TEMPLE DAY! December 31, 2010

NOTHING in the world is better than going to the temple, EXCEPT going through with your son for the first time. Rob was his escort and I pretty much cried with my mom and sisters throughout the experience. I am SO proud of my boy and the decisions he's made. I can't wait to have all my family in the temple with me someday. Those who were not there were extremely missed and those who were there will never be forgotten. My sweet friend Susie Newcomb came with her daughter and friend as well. She is like family so it made this day even more special for me. After the temple Uncle Daniel treated us all out to Pappasitos Mexican Restaurant. As my mom always says on special occasions...IT WAS A GREAT DAY IN THE HOUSE OF ZACHARIAS!

NATIVITY 2010

Mama worked SO hard at making this extra special for Travis and Wade's last Christmas until after their missions. They were shepherds, wise men and anything else she needed to make a great show. It happened to be FREEZING so Donny's barn and his warm hot chocolate filled our hearts with love. It is always amazing to see the little ones dressed as angels. Tamra and Paul were the perfect Mary and Joseph. I love this time of year.

Greta (Tamras daughter) singing...

We LOVE talent shows in my family. Greta is JUST like Tamra, I'm telling' ya! Tamra cracked us up dressing up at the end and dancing with her daughter. They STOLE the show. Natalya, Rachel, and others shined as well. Krista lost her voice and was very disappointed that she couldn't sing for Grandma. Once again I couldn't get a song out without crying. I miss my family so much and it was just too much to be singing about Christmas in front of everyone I love so so much.

Christmas Vacation 2010 - Stop #3

Next stop was TeeCee's (my sister Patrice's). VIDOR TEXAS is never without laughs and country living fun. Leanna had photo shoots with those gorgeous girl cousins and even captured the spirit of the city with a photo of Chickens (yes, chickens) in a tree! LOL We spent Christmas at Patrice's and LOVED LOVED LOVED watching the little girls open their gifts. Tamra and Emma are ADORABLE. I pretty much made the Christmas dinner and failed to take pictures of the awesomeness, however I think Patrice loved it the most. I loved her comments about all my pies. She tried every one! Leanna shot the picture of me cooking gravy as Grandpa Wade and I had a "in depth" conversation (which I always expect and love). Wade got to spend quite a bit of quality time with Gpa Wade as well and that was a special moment. Christmas couldn't be better ending with a family talent show before we headed to Donny's for an outdoor nativity. CLASSIC Hayes family Christmas.