Happy Homecoming!

On Thursday, January 10th, Pat, Rachel, Wendy and I took a half-day off school (not Wendy; she took a half-day off from sleeping in... she was on vacation!) to go to Tucson International Airport and pick up our son Scott. He returned from Oklahoma after serving an honorable two year mission there for our church. We stopped on the way at a store to get balloons, markers and poster board for the big welcome. Carlie and Trevor (and baby Ellena) had gone ahead in their car. As we were pulling into the airport parking lot, Carlie called to say that Scott was already at the baggage carousel with Trevor. His flight had arrived early! We hurried in and there he was. There were kisses and hugs all around. As with all missionary families, we had spoken to him by phone only twice a year, received weekly emails and seen snapshots for the duration of his service (two years) but had had no face-to-face visits.
One of Scott's companions from the mission field, Robert Caranza, who is from nearby Marana, Arizona and had returned some time before was also there with another friend. Scott had already told us that the first thing he wanted to do was to have lunch at In-and-Out Burger so away we went.
That evening at 6, Scott had an appointment with the Stake Presidency to be officially released (meaning that his tenure as a missionary with all the attendant rules and responsibilities had officially ended). He received some counsel and a blessing from President Ric Nielsen. He went home to change into some "civilian" clothes and we all went out to dinner at Midtown Molina's, an old and popular Mexican restaurant.
Now, he is home and settled in to his new room. Wendy took off for the Sundance Film Festival and then home to Seattle and it was fun having her visit. I think it was also fun for Scott to have her here during the day to do stuff with. He is closing in on a job and plans to take some Pima Community College on-line courses. He reported his mission in our ward's sacrament meeting on January 20th. He gave a fine talk and we were so happy that several of our dearest friends and family members were able to be here. We are proud of him and are so pleased to have him among us again.