from Boy to Elder.

Well, this past week I experienced a life changing event.

Yes, my Ammon is now Elder Clanton!

But we shall get to that later.

For you see, the process of said boy becoming an Elder is really a story in and of itself.
(blogger is being weird and my pictures won't upload the right direction but i'm workin on fixin' that)

First we had to tackle THIS:

That's right, we had to him from Wooly Ammoth to human being.

I mean check out that mane!!

Yes, I did have to cut ALL of that. 

And yes, it did look like a small dog on the ground. 

The shadow from my camera makes Ammon's beard look like a hobo's.

After chopping off all his curly locks, the next to go was the scruff, and the sideburns.

We had a moment of silence for the sideburns.

And in a matter of an hour.... 

VOILA!! 

 

There you have it.

His missionary haircut!

(note: notice i did could not get a single serious photo.)

As our last Saturday night together for awhile, we went and saw Les Miserables at Gamage.

Here we are, in the 7th row!!

I'd never seen an show that close and I was so excited to actually be able to see the actors faces!

The show was incredible!

Val Jean and Fantine were my favorites. Their voices...guh. Amazing. I was seriously crying when Val Jean sang Bring Him Home. His voice and emotion were beyond incredible. 

Here is our pictures to prove that we went, even though you can barely see the poster. But we are cuter than that stinkin' poster right? 

Of course, we took some crazy car pictures.

Sunday Ammon gave his farewell talk.

He did awesome, I am amazed by him more and more everyday.

Here is his official missionary plaque.

Isn't he the cutest missionary you've ever seen?

I think so.

It was such a good Sunday filled with friends and family, my favorite things. 

Here we are before him and Ryan's open house.

The day before he left we went through all his stuff deciding what to save, what to take, and what to throw away.

It was so much fun to see all the things he saved and it brought back so many good memories.

Plus, I now have boxes filled with all his precious things.

It was a hard day for me.

I mean of course I was sad, and I am going to miss him, but I think the hardest part was just knowing that it was really here, that we only had a matter of hours.

Friends came over to give their goodbyes before he got set apart. In doing so, all us girls gave him a tie to take as a little piece of us.

He sports them so well.

One last final picture.

After everyone left, it was just me and Ammon.

I knew he had something for me.

Something he'd been working on for a LONG time. It was suppose to be my Christmas present, then my birthday present, then my Valentines day present.

I don't think it could have come at a more appropriate time.

Yes, he drew that.

Isn't he amazing?

I may or may not have burst out bawling.

This is one thing that I will cherish forever.

I love it so much and again, cannot believe the talents this boy posseses.

He also gave me a CD mix of songs that reminded him of me, one being the song he wrote and recorded for me for Prom.

Yes, he write songs and plays the guitar too.

Good thing I have 2 years to get some talents!:)

Our goodbye was perfect.

Of course, hard, but perfect.

And you know what, I never have to do that again.

Whew!!

As hard as the few days have been, they have been so amazing. 

I know that he is where is suppose to be, doing what he is suppose to be doing. I am so grateful for his sacrifice and willingness to serve the Lord. I know that I can't even imagine the blessings that are in store.

It is just another step in our adventure.

And what an awfully big adventure it is going to be:)