An event two years in the making has occurred. Thomas has come home from his mission to Seattle, Washington. Yesterday morning, Mom, Dad, and I headed down to the Salt Lake City airport to pounce on Thomas as soon as he came down the escalator. His flight was supposed to get in at 10:22 am and we arrived at about 9:40. We went inside around 10:00 and got our position at the end of the stairs and held our banner (made by Brett) high. As we were waiting, we noticed that we weren't the only ones waiting for a returning missionary. There were about two other families waiting with us and we chatted with them for a while. One of Thomas' young men leaders met us at the airport to be with the welcoming committee when he arrived. We found out soon after we found our spot, that his plane had already landed, so we thought that we wouldn't have to wait long. Well, every time a young man came down in a suit we prepared to see Thomas, but most of the time, they were just young business men coming home. We began to fidget and make jokes that maybe Thomas is just sitting on the plane teasing us and purposefully taking longer. By 10:30 we were getting pretty antsy when suddenly, there he came down the stairs. It was an awesome site! After two years, we finally got to see him, and it didn't look like he'd changed too much. As soon as Mom laid her eyes on Thomas, she started to tear up, and I grabbed the b
anner so that she could run and give him a hug. It was a tearful and happy reunion. After lots of hugging, we picked up his luggage and went home. On the way, we updated him on the latest news from the family and prepared him for the changes he would see at home. When we got home, I let the dogs out of the house to run up to Thomas, but Gir, didn't recognize him and started to bark and bark. It took Gir most of the day to feel comfortable with him again and I'm so excited that Thomas played with him and helped him become less shy from the start. We had lunch and began looking at all of Thomas' photo albums and hearing the stories behind them. After lunch, Thomas opened his belated Birthday/Christmas present (the airsoft gun he's been looking forward to his whole mission). For a couple hours we just sat around and talked about mission and chilhood stories, and the changes in the neighborhood. Around 4:00 Brett and Brenda arrived and reunited with Thomas. Thomas immediatly showed Brett his new gun and they had so much fun strengthening their brother bond. At 5:00 Chris came home from work and we all went out to dinner at one of Thomas' favorite resturants. We talked together until about 7:30 when Amanda and Liz came over for some rootbeer floats and to see Thomas released as a missionary. The member of the stake presidency that came over gave Thomas some great advice and said some really nice things about his mission. After he left, the first movie that Thomas wanted to see was Transformers, so, we watched it. He loved it!! He has a huge stack of movies that he's missed while away and is determined to watch in the next week. Well, yesterday was so much fun and we are thrilled to have him home again after a good and faithful service. Welcome home Thomas!!
An event two years in the making has occurred. Thomas has come home from his mission to Seattle, Washington. Yesterday morning, Mom, Dad, and I headed down to the Salt Lake City airport to pounce on Thomas as soon as he came down the escalator. His flight was supposed to get in at 10:22 am and we arrived at about 9:40. We went inside around 10:00 and got our position at the end of the stairs and held our banner (made by Brett) high. As we were waiting, we noticed that we weren't the only ones waiting for a returning missionary. There were about two other families waiting with us and we chatted with them for a while. One of Thomas' young men leaders met us at the airport to be with the welcoming committee when he arrived. We found out soon after we found our spot, that his plane had already landed, so we thought that we wouldn't have to wait long. Well, every time a young man came down in a suit we prepared to see Thomas, but most of the time, they were just young business men coming home. We began to fidget and make jokes that maybe Thomas is just sitting on the plane teasing us and purposefully taking longer. By 10:30 we were getting pretty antsy when suddenly, there he came down the stairs. It was an awesome site! After two years, we finally got to see him, and it didn't look like he'd changed too much. As soon as Mom laid her eyes on Thomas, she started to tear up, and I grabbed the b
anner so that she could run and give him a hug. It was a tearful and happy reunion. After lots of hugging, we picked up his luggage and went home. On the way, we updated him on the latest news from the family and prepared him for the changes he would see at home. When we got home, I let the dogs out of the house to run up to Thomas, but Gir, didn't recognize him and started to bark and bark. It took Gir most of the day to feel comfortable with him again and I'm so excited that Thomas played with him and helped him become less shy from the start. We had lunch and began looking at all of Thomas' photo albums and hearing the stories behind them. After lunch, Thomas opened his belated Birthday/Christmas present (the airsoft gun he's been looking forward to his whole mission). For a couple hours we just sat around and talked about mission and chilhood stories, and the changes in the neighborhood. Around 4:00 Brett and Brenda arrived and reunited with Thomas. Thomas immediatly showed Brett his new gun and they had so much fun strengthening their brother bond. At 5:00 Chris came home from work and we all went out to dinner at one of Thomas' favorite resturants. We talked together until about 7:30 when Amanda and Liz came over for some rootbeer floats and to see Thomas released as a missionary. The member of the stake presidency that came over gave Thomas some great advice and said some really nice things about his mission. After he left, the first movie that Thomas wanted to see was Transformers, so, we watched it. He loved it!! He has a huge stack of movies that he's missed while away and is determined to watch in the next week. Well, yesterday was so much fun and we are thrilled to have him home again after a good and faithful service. Welcome home Thomas!!
4 comments:
Great report Vanessa I almost feel like I was there with you welcoming home a great missionary. Did Thomas love his new green room, has he found Kermit yet? Have your parents come down from the clouds yet? If not that's okay, you'll all deserve to float for a few days.
Yeah, Thomas is back. It was so great to see him yesterday. Can't wait to start having a blast!
I think that my parents are still on cloud nine! It's been so much fun to have him home again!! No, I don't think that he's found Kermit but he's still looking...
So sad that I couldn't come...stupid work. But we can't wait to see Thomas at the next family dinner. Then he and Alex will finally be able to meet each other!
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