I Miss my Daniel!!!

So...I haven't written in a little while...I've been busy sending letters to my missionary son, Daniel, through dearelder.com. lol

I write to Daniel every day...I don't want to miss a day...and sometimes I write to him twice. :) I am dealing with my emotions and my missing my dear son. I know that Daniel is where he is supposed to be. I am so grateful to him for being willing to sacrifice his life as he knows it to go and serve the Lord for the next two years. We discussed this before he left and how he felt like it was forever and I explained to him that it is only two years and not that much time that is required of him, especially compared to the amount of time we are given on this earth. We never know how long we will be here but we owe everything to our Heavenly Father so it's a wonderful thing when a young man or young woman choose to serve. So...I write to Daniel every day and encourage him and make sure he knows how much he is loved.

So...my birthday was September 3rd and my dear friend, Elaine, went to Disneyland with me for it. This year you get to go to Disneyland for free on your birthday and I thought this would be a lot of fun. I wanted to be adults only so Christina couldn't come with me with the grandkids...Catherine had to work...so Elaine and I went together. You can only choose one park so I chose California Adventures. The attendant questioned if this was the park I wanted to go to but yes, this is where I wanted to go so Elaine and I went in. We took our time...went on a few rides...called Christina and got the first email from Daniel read to me on the phone while I sat there crying...and wandered around some more. It was such a fun day and I am so glad that I went and that my good friend Elaine was with me. We ended up getting home at 9:30 but it was such a wonderful birthday, especially hearing from Daniel...that was the icing on the cake, or so I thought! So...the next day we got the mail and there were letters from Daniel along with a birthday card for me from him. Oh my gosh...I sat and read his card and letters and just cried some more. It was so amazing to be able to hear from my son.

On the 4th we had a family celebration where we met Christina, Ray, the kids, and Catherine at Olive Garden for dinner. It was a delicious dinner and then we went over to Christina and Ray's for cake. Ariana, Alex, and Camden made a wall banner for me that said "Happy Birthday" and it was so neat! I loved the drawing that they did on it. They did a great job for grandma. We just sat around and visited and had such a nice time. I had a wonderful birthday and got lots of cards and all day at Disneyland I was wished a Happy Birthday...it was such a great day.

Well...I miss my Daniel, and that's okay. It's okay to miss my Daniel even knowing that he is where he is supposed to be. I look forward to these two years being over but I also look forward to the journey and the growth that we will all go through. I love the Gospel and I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love it that my son is continuing in following the examples of his father and brother in serving a mission. I love the Lord and I love my family and am so glad that we can be together forever!