And she's off!

...to the Brazil João Pessoa Mission!

Last weekend we were able to travel back to the homeland (doesn't that make Sacramento sound epic?) to see our littlest sister Laura off on her Mission.  It was an amazing experience filled with so much love, and family, and friends, and food!  Laura ended up having not only two of her four brothers, both of her sisters and their families, but also SIX of her BYU friends come stay to say goodbye.  It was awesome!

The Woodlands
(minus Mark and Philip's families - we missed y'all!)

Laura is the youngest of Matt's siblings (there are seven total) so to say that this was an extra special experience would be an understatement.  Laura also has 12 nieces and nephews (any takers on the over/under for how many she will have when she gets back from Brazil??) and they could not have a better example of a smart, strong, spiritual, and stunning lady!

These are some lucky kids

As I mentioned, Laura and Darren took some of their visitors out to Old Town Sac to visit the old schoolhouse and see the river...it was really so special that these kids drove the 12 hours from Provo to see Laura!

Road Warriors!

The second night we were in town, Matt's family had Laura's open house and we saw people that we had not spent time with in years!  It was neat to see how many people's lives Laura has touched in her little life so far, and what a sweet and special gal she is...

Aunt Barbara and Uncle Lee

One of Matt's longest friendships - The Favero family

One of the obvious benefits of all of the visitor distractions for me was stealing babies time with the nieces and nephews.

Nothing to see here...I promise...

The entire weekend was just the best, and we couldn't be more proud of our little Laura.  I have to say, she will be a great end-cap to the Woodland kids' Missionary experiences!  Although, if you ask me, she had some pretty exemplary siblings to pave her way!

Alicia, Laura, Angela

Matt and Laura circa 1999

We love you Laura, we cannot wait to see how the next 18 months of your life change the lives of others!