Sister Christensen

I mentioned at the end of my last post that my family and I headed up to Utah for our final get-together with Amy before she was off on her mission.

My mom and I drove in on Friday and didn't get in until around 10 p.m. We caught up with Amy and Jill a little bit and then were off to bed. We were pretty wiped out!

Saturday, my dad, Amber and the Clark's (cousins) drove in from Vegas from the river trip that I mentioned in my last post. We ate a quick dinner (at Dairy Queen..haha) and then got to go to the Stadium of Fire :) It is put on every year in the BYU football stadium.

It was a little long for me and my pregnant self (we were pretty packed in there), but all in all it was a really fun time!

At the very beginning some parachuters jumped out of a plane way, way up in the sky. They were very patriotic! They each landed in the stadium while "I'm Proud To Be An American" was playing. I felt very proud in this moment, as cheesy as that sounds. Everyone was so united :)

You can see 3 of the tiny parachuters in this picture. One has the flag with him.

So beautiful!

We then all got to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance together and sing the national anthem.

Then the performances began. There were dancers throughout the night.

Amy, Jill, Amber, and I. Just missing Jen. The Clark's were sitting a row in front of us.

David Archuleta performed next. We were pretty far away so he looks tiny.

Jimmer sent a message over the webcam :)

Lastly Brad Paisley performed.

And then the fireworks began! And they were just incredible! So well done! They had the fireworks synchronized with music at some parts. So cool!

Here's just one picture since fireworks pictures never turn out quite right. I won't bore you with anymore!

During much of the fireworks the dancers were performing and ended up positioning themselves as the Statue of Liberty.

Family picture at the end, minus my mom (and Jen). Mom left the stadium and waited in the concessions area during Brad Paisley because it was too loud for her..haha. She's getting old ;)

Sunday (I didn't get any pictures) we went to church, ate, napped, spent quality time together, watched "Return to Me" and played cards. Just an easy-going Sunday :)

Monday, the 4th, we walked down to the Provo parade for a little bit. There were some pretty impressive floats!

We also got to talk to Jen in Africa via Skype for a while and we did some shopping.

These next pictures probably seem random, but Jill has a bird's nest down in her garage with new birdies. You all know how I love little birdies from this post last year :)

Look at how tiny they are! 5 little birdies crammed in a nest waiting to be fed!

That evening we actually didn't bother going to fireworks because we got to see them Saturday at the stadium. We ended up going out to frozen yogurt after dinner and then played cards again :) Always a fun time!

We played Nerts and Kemps. It got intense! This is the only picture I have with Bryn and Tori in it and we're not even looking at the camera. Whoops!

Tuesday was the day before Amy went into the MTC so she was making her rounds saying good-bye to friends and taking care of her final preparations before her mission. We packed up the car since she had to be moved out of her apartment the next day.

That evening we had a final family dinner at a cute new waffle and crepe stand in Provo called Awful Waffle and then we were off to have Amy set apart (given a special blessing to name her a sister missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

Me and my little bump at about 19 1/2 weeks, before we were off to dinner.

I prefer this picture because it's outside and so pretty and green, but you can't see my bump as well..haha.

Amy was given such a beautiful blessing. It had me crying by the end, hence the pink nose in the picture below. I can't believe she's a missionary now!

My dad and I got changed, said our good-byes to Amy, and got into the car to drive through the night back to AZ. We made it home yesterday morning at 6. My mom and Amber are still in Provo because Amber is finishing up a BYU lacrosse camp she participated in this week.

Yesterday my mom, Jill, and Amber dropped off Amy at the MTC. I guess tears were shed :( None of us can stop thinking about Amy. We can't wait to read her first email! She will spend about 3 weeks in the MTC and then head to California to serve the people of Carlsbad :)

We are all so proud of Amy and know she will do great work!

She would love to hear from anyone who is willing to write. You can find her address in the info section of her Facebook. Let me know if you don't have Facebook and I can get her address to you.