{sister taylor nelson..}

taryn made this necklace for both her and taylor to wear while they are gone. one side of the locket has a map of seattle, and the other side has a map of vancouver. cutest thing ever.

 i bawled when taryn told me about it. 

 isn't she the cutest?

 today was hard. like really hard.

you know they are doing the absolute best thing of their lives, but MTC day is so bitter-sweet. mostly bitter... but still sweet. my heart was ripped out watching my two little sissie's saying goodbye to eachother, because they have a connection that nobody will ever understand. and it kills us all seeing them separate from eachother. after the MTC, we were all sitting at my mom and dad's, and taryn leaned over and laid on my shoulder. and all of a sudden, i felt her tears roll down my arm. of course, that got everyone else going. we all just sat around and cried for a while. she's gonna kill it out there in seattle though. we love you taylor, girl. go get 'em!

{the sissie mishie's...}

i don't know if i've ever been more proud of my little sissie's, than i was today.. at their farewell.

i have always known that they were good girls, who had testimonies. but not until today, did i know how deep their love for the Gospel, and for our Savior Jesus Christ was. I especially was so impacted by their stories of how they decided to go on missions, and their deep conviction of how they needed to share their love of the truthfulness of the gospel, with the world. i was truly taught by my little sisters today!

im so proud of them. and as hard as this separation is going to be, (you guys know how much i love my sisters, right?) it couldn't be for a better reason.

love you little girls. 

{he's home! he's home!}

alright.. so im a week late. but the excitement has not let down, because the elder is home!

and even though he hates us, and just wants to go back (its okay jens) we still love having him back.

our family just wasn't complete.

and just in case you missed the story of where he went. you must read it. cause its too funny.

the nephews are quite excited to have their uncle jensen back.

my sister said that little crewbie was saying his prayers last week and said,
"please bless jensen could be a good missionary in monta..... oops!"

they are as sweet as can be.

rowan: "wait.. wha? who is this guy?"

so happy to have you back, stinka!

see ya in two....

my little jens is gone...
and although i know there is nowhere else he should be,
two years is a looooong time, and im sad that he's not here.
but we're so proud of him.
if you didn't hear the story of where he's going, click here. cause its dang funny.


this was his farewell...

{flirting with the chica's while he still can....}

you know when my mom is involved with any sort of party/get together...
she gives martha stewart a run for her money.
and this was no exception.

and yes, the cougar in the corner, and the bear ARE REAL. well, they were once upon a time.
an avid hunter in our ward kindly let my mom borrow them for a day. they were scary!
but it played in well with the theme of montana :)

my sisters are honestly my best friends.
{but i promise we don't coordinate outfits!}

and then feb 10 came way too fast.

because of the new rule at the mtc of not going in,
my parents almost made us say goodbye at the house.
but we wouldn't have any of it.

and after a few hard goodbyes,
and alot of tears,
he turned around. and never looked back.
which is just the way it should be.

see ya in two, elder.

its gonna be billings, fool.

my little brother jensen got his call last wednesday....
and because its the funniest story ever. it needed to be posted.
{although you cant even begin to understand how funny this really is}

2 months ago, as jens is preparing his papers:
my family was gathered talking about the most random place he could go
lindsay {sister}: its gonna be billings montana.
everyone starts laughing... billings montana. thats definitely random.

everyday inbetween:
everyone starts cracking the jokes. "jens is going to billings montana"

two weeks ago:
lindsay: i bet brooks {other brother} is going to open jensens call himself and just text jensen and say "you're going to billings fool"
the jokes continue.....

last wednesday:
i knew jensen was getting his call so this is what happened through texts:

me: you're going to billings, fool
jens: i already opened it, and im going to riverside california
me: what? no you didn't. its only 10 in the morning... the mail hasn't even come!
jens: i promise. the family is already here. sorry we didn't wait for you to come down.
me: dont lie to me jens, there is no way that you already got it!
---i immediately got on the phone to call my sister, and it was confirmed that he was lying.---
me: you're such a fool jens. i hope you really DO go to billings.

an hour later:
jens: paige my call really is here, can we please open it?
me: you cant wait til im off work and drive down?
jens: please dont make me wait!
me: okay.... but im at work, so let me go outside so i can hear you guys.

jensens friends show up at my parents house to see him open his call and my sister lindsay opened the door and said, "he already opened it, he's going to billings, fools." obviously she was being facetious. cause he hadn't opened it yet.

i get a call about 10 minutes later.
twinner: he's opening it right now!

{of course i start crying... as he starts reading elder jensen miles nelson... you have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are hereby called to serve in the......

i immediately stopped crying. "there's no way!"
all i heard was screaming through the phone and nobody could hear ME screaming to tell me where he was really going. they HAD to be playing a joke on me. after about five minutes my mom got on the phone and said, "he's really going to billings montana."

i made them send me pictures because, of course, i didn't believe it.
i mean, come on people. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!?!?!?!?!

after i saw the call myself, i realized that it was true.
so jens is really going to billings, montana.
and although we have tried to cover up all our rounds of jokes {because we feel so bad!?!?}
we are so proud of you jens. and we now know that billings montana was your call from the start. {and at your homecoming, you can all tell us that we are the fools, cause it was the best place that you could go!}

congratulations elder. you will be THEE best missionary. {and feb 10 will come too fast.}
we love you.