He's Home!!

Yes, he finally made it home! Thursday was an exciting morning as I anticipated seeing my brother again after two years. His welcoming party included my dad and 9 girls. My older brother and his family couldn't be here because they live in Kansas and my brothers-in-law had school and work. So, accompanying my dad was my mom, my sisters, five nieces, and me. Welcome home Kenny...be surrounded by girls. :)

As a downer to all of the anticipation, Kenny was sick when he got home. He started not feeling well the last few days in Uganda and traveled home that way. But, it was great having him home.

In an attempt to help him feel more at home, my mom bought a Uganda and Ethiopia flag for our flagpole. The wind was blowing just right so that they were out as he pulled up. It looked pretty awesome. :)

On Friday after work, I headed back up to Kaysville. On the way I took a little detour to the airport to pick up my older brother and nephew. Kenny didn't know they were coming, and it was lots of fun being able to help with that surprise. It was great to have all five kids together this weekend.

He gave a great talk today in Sacrament meeting and tonight I got to hear him and two other cousins report their missions in our extended family night. In addition to Kenny in Uganda and Ethiopia, there was Clark who served in Ukraine, and Nathan who served in Colombia. It was fun to hear how different, yet similar their missions were.

1 Day!

Reason number 1 that I am excited for Kenny to come home...Just over two years ago, Kenny went to the temple and I was unable to be there, but everyone else was. Just over five months ago, I went to the temple and Kenny was unable to be there, but everyone else was. I'm excited to get to go to the temple with Kenny...hopefully this weekend, but we'll see how timing works out. If not this weekend, then sometime very soon.

P.S. He's somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean right now between London and New York!

2 Days!

Reason number 2 that I am excited for Kenny to come home...I'm pretty sure that I will have many a conversation with him about BYU football this fall, and then we'll throw in some basketball in the winter. I'm excited to have one more person to talk to about these sports that I love watching. It will be lots of fun to see what we will have to say this coming year in the change with BYU sports.

3 Days!

Reason number 3 that I am excited for Kenny to come home...He's bound to have lots of good stories about Africa, and probably some pretty awesome things he bought. I look forward to hearing him talk about his mission, the people, the culture...all of it. He's been a great missionary, and we got his last email today! His last Sunday was complete with a baptism, and I am excited to hear more about it and all the other amazing people he taught.

4 Days!

Reason number 4 that I am excited for Kenny to come home...The last two years, whenever I get together with my family, it's my mom and dad, my siblings and their spouses, all the little ones, and me. As much as I absolutely love everyone, and we definitely have fun together, I'm looking forward to another single adult around...someone to be my partner when we play games...someone who is not married. It will be nice...even though he is going to Rexburg for school.

5 days!

Reason number 5 that I am excited for Kenny to come home...He can pop my back better than anyone else (aside from a trained chiropractor, but who wants to pay for that!) and that sounds so good tonight. My back is definitely not happy with me right now. I probably cooked and cleaned and played the piano a little too much today...all three of which put too much strain on my back. Anyways...I'm excited for Kenny to be able to help me with my back in just a few days!

Day Four, cont...

After dinner, Brian took me to get ice cream. He said he wanted some Brian and Krystal time since we hadn't been able to do anything for my birthday. It was a very quick trip...we left the parking lot at 8:15 and pulled back in at 8:39. My thoughts were along the lines of: "Great...thanks, Brian. Here we're doing something since we hadn't done anything for my birthday and you gave me a whole 24 minutes of your time. Yes, the ice cream was yummy (we went to Cold Stone), but that's not exactly what I had in mind for Brian and Krystal time."

As we walked up toward my apartment, I realized the lights were off and I was surprised that my roommates had left. Then I walked in the door, turned on the lights, and lots and lots of people jumped out at me! I'll tell you what...I was so confused. It probably took me a good five or ten seconds to realize that this was a surprise birthday party for me. I sat there staring for a while trying to figure it all out. Then, I caught on. I think it all made sense when I looked over to the counter and saw this...

It was a fun surprise. And I had been clueless. Everyone did such a great job of keeping it quiet, and they pulled it off great! Thanks everyone for a great party!!

Final product:

Final note: Melissa