Australia!!!

Seeing your son open his mission call is more incredible than words can express.  I had no idea how of the spirit and special witness we would all receive as we watched Trey read the words written to him from the Prophet talking about how he has been found worthy to be a minister of the restored gospel and how the Lord will bless him to be able to seek out those ready to accept the gospel and that more blessings than he has ever received are in store for him as he humbly serves the Lord.

We were so grateful to have had all the Knoxville family gathered to experience this with us and that Brad, Susan and the boys were able to be with Trey as well.  Here are some of the thoughts the kids had that night:

Sydney:  "It made me realize how important it is to serve a mission.  And how much it strengthens your testimony.  I've never seen Trey cry before.  You could tell how much he felt the spirit."

Tanner:  "I felt the Holy Spirit so strong.  I just know that Trey is supposed to serve in the Australia mission and President Monson knew where to send him.  I know there are people there that he will convert to the gospel.  I wish I could go on my mission right now!!"

Connor:  "I felt so good.  I know Trey will be a good missionary.  It made me so proud of him"

Allie:  "I was so proud of Trey.  I felt really strongly that it was an inspired mission call.  I know he was meant to serve there.  I know that just like I want Trey here to take of me, the Lord wants Trey to take care of the people in Australia."

Trey's mission call predictions

When Trey came home for Thanksgiving he told us he wanted to turn in his paperwork for his mission right away and go right when school gets out in April instead of waiting until June (after the family reunion) as originally planned.  So when he came home for Christmas he had his doctor's visit/physical and dental appointment, filled out all the health history forms and other paperwork and thought that it was pretty easy and straight forward and not as daunting as I once thought.  And then the snags began......

First, his doctor couldn't run one of the tests, blood typing, so he had to go somewhere else to get that done.  No problem, we found a lab that said they could do it and have it back in a couple of days.  Well everyday we called the lab they said the results weren't back yet until finally the day Trey boarded the plane they called to say it had been delayed in shipping and therefore could not be tested. Ok, irritating but fixable.  I found a lab near Provo that Jenica so nicely took Trey to on the way back to campus to get his blood typing done. Ok, check.  Now he just needs his Bishop and Stake president interviews.

Bishop's interview:  check
Stake Presidents interview:  Trey shows up and is told that his paperwork is not all there from the Bishop, some of which they track down except for the dental form, which apparently his Bishop lost.  So, interview is postponed a few days but does not delay paperwork getting sent off to Salt Lake as they just do this once a week so "no time will be lost" as long as he can get his dentist to resubmit the form in time.

I get another form from the dentist, David scans it and emails it to Trey's bishop in time for him to have his interview Wednesday night and the Stake President to submit all the paperwork Thursday morning (the one day a week they submit mission papers)  to the Brethren to make the mission call, which happens on Fridays we are told.  EXCEPT, Trey's dentist filled out the form saying he didn't have his wisdom teeth removed! Ahhh!!!  SOOO, the stake president still lets him get his interview, and tells him if he can get a new form filled out, scanned and emailed directly to him the next morning it should still make it out in the mail, not delaying his call.  So we do just that, go back to the dentist Thursday morning, get a new form filled out, scan, email, etc....

But it was too late, he missed the deadline for this week.  He really wanted it to go in this week.  When he got back to school he thought he would have his call by now, but he will have to wait a few more weeks to find out where he will be serving for 2 years.  I wanted to write this all down so when my other kids serve missions and there is a snag with paperwork I'll remember that it's just the way it is sometimes.  Who knows, maybe the mission he is supposed to serve in is not filling any spots this week.

HERE ARE THE PREDICTIONS:


Trey:  Argentina or Jerusalem
David: Spain
Lisa:  California
Allie:  Argentina
Tanner:  Mexico
Connor:  London, England
Sydney: Arizona
Mom:  Seattle, Washington
Dad:  Argentina
Allen:  Germany
Julie:  Hong Kong
Carter:  Texas
Jared:  Venezuela
Claire:  Utah
Scott:  Africa
Lori:  France
Emma:  Australia
Ben:  Australia
Josh:  Australia  (They were not together when I asked the Cruze kids)
Lydia:  California
Troy:  San Francisco, CA
Dan:  France
Brad:  Curitiba, Brasil
Susan:  Rostov, Russia
Andrew:  South Africa
Joel:  Chile
Jenica:  Salt Lake City, UT
Jonah:  Paris, France
Silas:  Middle Earth (New Zealand)
Koen:  New York
Hale:  Utah

I haven't decided what the prize should be if anyone guesses it (besides bragging rights)......maybe a map or globe?  Hopefully we'll know the first week of February.

TREY comes home for Thanksgiving and surprises lots of kids!

Surprising the Cruze kids at the bowling alley:  David thought it would be hilarious to see if we could fool some unsuspecting cousins and tell them that Trey was actually a wax statue.  But how to do this???....He came up with a brilliant story: the bowling alley wanted to be a part of Hoops for Hope but they found out about it too late so they decided to make a wax statue of Trey and display it in their establishment.  Sure, what kid wouldn't fall for that?

Josh will reminded of his hilariousness many times for the rest of his life.

 Scott thought it was hilarious too!

BYU bound

The day Trey has been waiting for finally arrived.  He's officially a college student at BYU!!!  Trey was made for BYU.  There couldn't be a better fit.  We are still struggling to let go, but seeing how happy he is sure makes things easier.  He loves his roommate, has met TONS of new people and it has pretty much been a party from the time he stepped into the dorms.  The first night he stayed there he was out with people he just met until 1:30 a.m.  His favorite activity so far: sledding on cardboard boxes in a rainstorm.  Classes started this week and he loves his schedule.  David and I felt so grateful to be able to see him integrate into his new surroundings, meet some of his new friends, and see how ready he was for it all.

 The Sunday before Trey left all the aunts/uncles/grandparents, who have been such an important part of Trey's life since birth, spent some time together and shared memories of Trey and gave him advice.  It was such a special night and I know he will never forget it.  We liked it so much, the night before Trey left for BYU we had the kids give Trey some advice as well.  Here's what they said:

Connor:  Think hard.  And when you go bowling get higher than a 60. (he still remembers visiting the bowling alley in the Wilk and considers it a big bonus to attending BYU)

Tanner:  Study a lot, because tests are hard.  My teachers told me that.  And be nice like you always are.  And study

Sydney:  If there's an emergency, go to Brad's house.

Allie:  Have fun, date a lot, don't study past midnight

Trey at the bookstore

home sweet home

The Canon Center Cafeteria = all you can eat ice cream

Helaman Halls

And the HUGE extra bonus to taking Trey out to BYU is getting to see more family!!  A big thank you to the Lehi and Provo Barbers for letting us stay with you.  Thanks for helping make this transition easier and thanks in advance for taking over as surrogate parents!  We love you!

Wisdom Teeth

Trey, 30 min. post surgery, still loopy and unknowingly drooling frosty all down his chin

This was the summer of getting your wisdom teeth.  Pretty much all the teenagers in our ward from the ages of 16 to 18 got their wisdom teeth out this summer, Trey and Allie included.  I was completely impressed with the system in place for getting them out.  They think of everything nowadays (steroid packs that practically eliminate swelling, wrap around your head ice packs) and it really is a pretty simple event.

Allie went first because she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.  Trey had a busier schedule and finally got it done this week.  Allie did really well with recovery except for the dry socket!  (the Dr. said there is no real science as to what causes this, except that suction, say caused by a drinking a smoothie king with a straw bought 2 days after surgery, could be a possibility) I have to commend her on handling the pain.  I have often heard people say that a dry socket is the worst pain they have experienced.  Allie really was a trooper with the whole experience.  She had to go in 3 times to get the incision cite packed with clove gauze.

Trey only had 3 wisdom teeth. While Allie was a little frustrated and agitated coming out of the anesthesia, Trey on the other hand was talkative and happy.  Although I talked to him on the way home, picked up a frosty upon his request, he later said he didn't remember any of that.  I was talking to him as we went through the drive thru and then a few minutes later he "whoa, I don't remember getting that!" He kept repeating himself to me, which was quite entertaining.  For example, He was eating his frosty at the kitchen counter, and mumbled "oh, if I didn't already tell you this, thanks for the frosty mom".  Then he would just smile at me while I tried to hide my laughter and told him he just thanked me 5 minutes ago.  He also told me "oh, I do remember one thing, Dr. Brooks said I would recover faster than Allie".  (he was right...he went on a date the next night and is completely off pain pills on day 2)  Then about 10 minutes later he said the exact same thing to me with no recollection of saying it before.  When he asked me for the 3rd or 4th time if he woke up in the car because he didn't remember walking out to the car, I started thinking how this is what it would be like to live with some who had short term memory loss.  He also had 5 visitors within the first 30 minutes of being home, so they got to enjoy some of the goofy Trey as well.

Dwight David Sexton III, the graduate

When Trey started his senior year, I asked him if he wished he had already graduated and done with high school (which is pretty much how I felt going into my senior year).  He said, "no way, I can't wait for my senior year!"  He had such a fantastic time at Farragut High School.  He loved most of his teachers, was a part of Freshman and JV basketball, was a member of National Honors Society, loved being a peer tutor, enjoyed homecoming and prom, was voted "most integrity" by his peers, graduated with a 4.3 with straight A's and 7 AP classes.  As I looked through his yearbook autographs, it was clear that he influenced everyone around him.    Many people referenced him being a mormon or said something about one of his favorite sayings "come on man, don't swear."  I'm so happy that he is the kind of person who is comfortable letting his light shine.

I can't even still really believe that this chapter in his life is finished.


SENIOR PICTURES:

 SENIOR PROM:                                                        SENIOR HOMECOMING:

GRADUATION!!!

 Dinner at Cafe 4 before graduation:

 Trey, with Matt, Ross and Zach, his best buddies since middle school.

Graduation was fantastic!  Over 400 students graduated in under an hour and a half!  Yes!  (FYI:  The valedictorian had 16 AP credits and a 4.58 GPA!!!)  Thank you Grandparents for being a part of this special evening with us.
P.S. This was the 2nd FHS graduation Trey had been to.  The first one was when he was 2 and he went to his Uncle Brad's graduation.