Matt to the Missionary Training Center - December 9th and 10th, 2008

We all woke up early on December 9 to hit the road to Utah to take Matt to the MTC. There was Brad, Me, Kayla, Stephanie, Jeremiah and of course, Matt. DJ was there in the morning to say goodbye and take the picture for us and off we went!

First stop was McDonald's where we got some breakfast to go! Then on the road with a stop in Cedar City to deliver some presents purchased from Zappos.com for Heather and Quinn. We got to see the babies and visit a few minutes then we had some lunch and hit the road again. Matt drove part of the way from before we got to Beaver the rest of the way into Provo. We stayed at the Residence Inn in Orem which is very close to the MTC. After unloading the car and freshening up we hit the road to Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square. It was very beautiful but cold!!! We also took some pictures inside the Tabernacle. Then we made a stop at a Deseret Book Store to buy a few things.
After that we met up with Roger, Melissa, Caitlin, Jessica and Maria for dinner at this neat Brazillian restaurant called Rodizio Grill. Yummy food. I highly recommend it, but bring plenty of money! We had a fun time there and then we headed back to our hotel where we were off to bed.
The next morning we decided that we would go to IHOP for breakfast. Same place we had breakfast before we took Steven to the MTC. We really missed Steven and were sorry he could not come but he had finals at school in San Diego. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to load up the car with all of our stuff and went to the MTC where they unloaded Matt's stuff and we went inside. Matt got his official name tag - Elder Kitchen - and we took plenty of pictures.
We gathered in a room with all of the other missionaries who were reporting at the same time and their families. They played lots of those sappy commercials about family that bring tears to your eyes before the meeting started - so I was already teary eyed as the meeting began. We got a little card with Matt's address at the MTC and they told us a little about what he would be doing for the next few weeks while at the MTC and of course we sang, "Called to Serve" which I had a hard time getting through.
Then it was time for goodbye hugs and Matt went out one door and we all went out another. Of course, I cried. We stopped at another Deseret Book and bought a card to send him before we left. We all wrote a note in it and found the post office (with our Tom Tom) and mailed it.
I cried off and on all the way home. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in St. George for dinner and purchased some fun treats to mail Matt in a care package. It was a good trip. We are so proud of Matt!