A Farewell To Travis

Oh how we miss our Travi! Last Tuesday morning (6/16), Travi boarded an airplane to Charleston, South Carolina, for 4 months! He is living with Pat & Kim (+ their 3 little brutes) for the summer while he works at a carriage company earning money for his mission. (Travi turns 19 years in March, and will be serving the Lord and preaching His Gospel for 2 years).

Travi came over Monday (6/16) wanting to play with the girls one last time before he left, but I had just put them down for their nap. I told Travi that we were going for a bike ride to Walker's (the local convenience store) to get a treat @ 4:00pm, and he should come with us. I also invited the neighborhood kids to join us, provided they ask their Mom's if it was OK (and I suggested they also ask for some $ so they could buy a treat too). 4:00 pm came and we had quite a crew for our bike ride: Me with R & MG in tow, Travi, Bode, Briggs, Reese, and Jaycee were in our group. Holly brought her two daughters, Lydia & Jill, and another neighborhood gal, Lauren. It was quite a sight seeing these little kids contemplate the treat they were going to buy!

We rode back to our house, broke out the treats, and ate every bite while we lounged on the lawn in the shade of the front tree. Travi, ever the Bug-Guy, found a beetle crawling up the tree and snatched it for a closer look. These are some of the pictures that followed.

Travi finds the beetle-bug-insect-creature-thing

Don't you love Rebecca's cute little hand on top of Travis' as he unveils the beetle he found

Rebecca & Travi share the same facial expression w/their furrowed brows

Travi gave the beetle a kiss, and then Mary-Gail leaned in for a kiss!

Mary-Gail wasn't a bit nervous when she held the beetle

And she even let Travi put it on her shirt! They watched it crawl up before Travi took it off.

Oh - we miss our Travi! No one does "up-a-side-down" like him! Have a great summer kid!!! Lots of love