After we got Ryker from the airport Kefford and I took him to the Temple so he could see his Grandparents. Bob is in the Temple Presidency and he and Alison were on shift that day so they were not able to come to the airport to see Ryker. It was nice to be able to take him into the Temple so they could see him.
The Stake President was not able to meet with Ryker to release him until Saturday in the early evening. Kefford was not thrilled with this but we didn't want to throw a fit so we let it be. Ryker wanted to go to the Temple to do a session so he and Kefford went on Saturday and then would be done in time to go get released. As the time to meet with the Stake President got closer and Kefford and Ryker were still not back I decided to just get changed and drove to the church to meet them there. A small part of me thought that I wouldn't put it past Kefford to just take Ryker on his own if they were pressed for time leaving the Temple. It was a big deal for me and my family who were there to be a part of it so we just got changed and went to the church to wait. I got a message from Kefford shortly after we left saying they were on their way and I told him where we were and to just meet us there.
President Kroft met with Ryker on his own first and then came out to talk with all of us. He would have had us in his office but there were too many to fit in so we met in the foyer. He talked with us about Ryker's mission and then gave us all a opportunity to talk about the blessings we saw from Ryker serving. I went first and talked about how Ryker was blessed to become more positive and not to focus on the negative. I said more but I don't remember and everyone all spoke but I don't remember much of what was said. Mom started talking and as she was speaking I had the thought of how happy I was that my family could be here and be a part of this and I started crying a little. mom thought it was because she mentioned dad but it was just because of how happy I was that they were able to be here. We also told President Kroft how thankful we were that our ward still zooms the sacrament meetings because that us another way that my family could be a part of our lives. They were able to watch Ryker give his farewell talk and the ones who were not in town with us were going to be able to watch his homecoming talk which is such a blessing.
It was a good releasing and when we were done we went outside and took some pictures.
Ryker and Heather Ryker and Grandma Bonnie
Ryker and Erin Atticus, Ryker, Abigail and Ashleigh
