THE PHONE CALL

Our Favorite Christmas Eve Activity Was ...

A family phone call from RYAN!!!!

When the phone first rang at 7:00, I enthusiastically grabbed it only to have it stop ringing prematurely. I screamed thinking that we had lost Ryan ... only to see Shawn with the other phone in his hand and a mischievous grin on his face, as he sheepishly answered ... "hello". 

Autumn and Ryan spoke their own teenage "language" as she paced around every room in the house screeching and hooting out loud.

Andrew (Ryan's brother from his step-mom Kelly) got very little phone time in and rushed through stories of home and teenage life.

Brennan and Ryan chat in Spanish (showoffs). These brothers (and best friends) haven't seen each other in two and a half years. It's tough but they both surely understand the return on service and time in the mission field.

Ryan's favorite phone call of the night was with Cody who eagerly asked, "when are you coming home Ryan?" That was a hard question to answer for a four-year-old who has little concept of time.

Happily being pull away from a plethora of culinary maternal duties ... I got my fix. But it was short lived and I'm already starving for more.

Dad goes last and gets comfortable while the two swap missionary stories and laugh 

We waited all day for the scheduled 7:00 phone call from our missionary in Peru. We all got a chance to talk to him. Brennan and Andrew even came over and got some phone time. Brennan and Ryan talked Spanish and the rest of us had to settle with the only language we knew ... sad little English.

We talked of everything we could think of and kept him on the phone as long as possible. We miss him so much! 

Our Christmas package got to the Mission Home but he wont receive it until next Monday ... Ahhhhhhh! But he has a good attitude and is excited about the prospect of receiving our gifts and goodies as well as our second box (Dowdle Puzzles) that he can wrap and give to others for Christmas. He loves Dad's puzzles ... as long as he's not in an assembly line shrink wrapping and packing the pesky little things.

So, we'll wait to hear about Ryan's Christmas for a while and in the mean time, enjoy our own ... without him ... sniff ... sniff. Oh my heart.

One thing's for sure ... 

Ry absolutely has a family

that loves him! 

You can't buy and wrap that.

MERRY CHRISTMAS RYAN