Alex is Home!

Alex flew home from his mission in Salta, Argentina on October 19th.  We were so excited to see him!  It was another pretty crazy day for us.  We signed about a hundred or so papers that day and closed on our house (yay!)... actually right before we left to drive to the airport.  Alex's plane was supposed to land at 4:40, and with everything going on with closing on the house and getting to the airport, our kids unfortunately didn't get naps.  They slept in the car for a little bit on the way to the airport, which actually made them more tired and ornery.  Matt was in charge of taking pictures on his mom's camera, which left me in charge of our camera, while trying to juggle two crying kids.  Needless to say, I didn't get very good pictures.  Don't let this face fool you...

Now when I say, "Alex flew home"  I actually mean, "Alex made a pitstop in SLC for a day before flying home."  Oregon is really home for him, although I'm sure Utah holds a bit of home nostalgia for him since he did live here for so many years and has so much family here.  We were so glad that he was able to fly here and spend a little bit of time here before heading home to Oregon... Otherwise we still wouldn't have seen him!  And it really was SO GOOD to see him!  There were lots of hugs...

And smiles... (except from my kids)

The kids finally cheered up when Grandma bought them some juice... that'll do the trick!  After that, they both were more willing to be nice to others and see Alex.

I just hope Alex knows that our kids aren't always like that... After the airport we headed over to Nana and Papa's house, where we had pizza and met up with more family.  It was so fun to spend the night with Matt's family.  We've been able to see them a lot in the past couple months and it has been nice.  We especially loved seeing Alex's pictures, souvenirs, and tasting the candy he brought back.  It is so fun to hear mission stories and learn more about the culture from other countries.  We only wish we were able to spend more time with him, instead of just a few hours! We know that he was such a great missionary and are so grateful for his example and service, and we are so glad to have him home safe and sound.

On a side note... the other day Sydney pointed out an airplane in the sky.  She asked where it was going, and we told her the airport.  Then she asked, "Oh, do we have another missionary coming home?"  I thought it was pretty funny!  And now when she prays, she'll bless the "missionaries that are home now."  We are trying to teach her that there are many other missionaries who are still serving, even more from our family :)