He's Home!

For those who may not know, we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  In our church, when a boy turns 19, if he is willing, he goes on a 2 year mission.  It is a huge sacrifice, with contact to family and friends only through letters written once a week and calling home on Mother’s Day and Christmas.

This last weekend we drove down to my parent’s house to welcome home my brother, Brent, who just returned from his mission in Montevideo, Uruguay.  We missed him dearly but are SO proud of him and the decisions he has made to live a worthy life and go on his mission.

On Friday the 25^th we drove to the airport and waited patiently for him to arrive.  It was kind of a big deal. :) (Kaili made him the card she is holding.  It looks like a dress shirt with a tie and name tag.)

Of course, my mom was the first one to hug him.  She was sort of super excited!

After waiting patiently, Averi and I got our turns to hug him.  Averi wasn’t even conceived when Brent left so he only knew her from pictures and stories.  Luckily, she liked him.

My sister-in-law, Cherish, and her little cutie Alaina.

There are certain luxuries that aren’t available in Uruguay so we celebrated by going to get milkshakes and then eating pizza.

Averi was only allowed to lick the condensation off the outside of my mom’s cup, poor thing.  Having no dairy sucks, trust me, I know.

After celebrating, we went to the church so Brent could be released from being a missionary.  Averi snuggled right up with my grandpa.  Are they not the cutest things ever?  I love my family!

We spent the rest of the weekend playing games, listening to Brent’s crazy stories, throwing a picnic, and just hanging out.  It was so much fun to have everyone together again.  Brent, we love you tons!