Rose and I put together a going away party for the Wilson family and tonight was the night we tricked them all! Well, kind of......they started to figure out something was going on towards the end. Two weeks ago Tricia and I had a girls night out (with a few husbands) for Amanda the night before she left. Rose and I knew that we couldn't get away with doing the same thing and making it a surprise so we tricked her! Rose told Tricia that we weren't even going to try and surprise her and asked for a good day for a bunch of us girls to get together. So, we told everyone about the supposed "girls night out" and to just play along. Instead, we all showed up (whole families this time!) at the Wilson home for a big Family Home Evening! We had over 50 people show up tonight!

Rose did a wonderful job with putting together the FHE lesson on what seems to be dearest to the Wilson family's hearts; service and missionary work. I haven't seen so many people cry in one setting in my life.....well, maybe other than a funeral! Tonight was proof to the Wilson family just how loved and missed they will be.

This picture touches my heart more than anything. Last week, the boys had a play date over at the Wilson home. As I was taking them home that day, Brigham started crying about how he wanted to move back to Utah and how much he was going to miss the Wilsons. This lead to Levi crying and them telling me how much they miss Grandma Adams and how we could live next to the Wilsons if Daddy could find a job in Utah. It seriously broke my heart but I thought for sure it was because they had stayed up late the night before and were just emotional. But for the next few days they would not leave David alone about finding a job in Utah. So fast forward to tonight. Towards the end of our FHE, I look down at Brigham and he is just crying and crying and crying. He tried to hide it and I felt so bad for him....then I realized that Preston was crying just as hard. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to look at this picture and not be able to feel just a twinge bit of sadness.

I love my Anna so much......and so does Tricia! Tricia wasn't here for too long before Anna moved away but as you can see, they are very close. But that just tells you the effect that this family has on people.

Our high councilman came all the way from Arkansas to see the Wilson family off.

Just wanted to share something that Rose told me tonight.

Rose Bass has become a surragate Grandmother to the Wilson kids and a best friend to Tricia. If you see a Wilson, there is a good chance that Rose is with one of them. That is how close they all are to her. Tonight, one of the Wilsons gave Levi a stack of Christmas photo cards to hand out to everyone. I guess he kept passing Rose. She already had been given one before the party but wanted to tease Levi and said, "Hey, why aren't you giving me one?" He replied very honestly, "But, you are a Wilson..."

This is why I love the Wilson Family!