Tim's Home!

Tim flew home from his mission in Cape Coast, Ghana on October 5th.  We were so excited to see him! I can't even believe that Cooper was only 2 days old and Sydney was almost 2 years old when he left.  They have grown up so much in two years.  His plane was supposed to land at 2:15, so we got to the airport just after 1:00.  When we got there, we found out that his plane was going to land 45 minutes early... (at that point in 15 minutes!)  So we started frantically calling everyone, telling them to "Leave Now!"  Everyone rushed to the airport, some literally running through the terminal.  We were afraid that no one would make it in time, but when everyone had shown up, we breathed a sigh of relief.  

So we all stood at the bottom of the escalator just waiting for the missionaries to come around the corner any minute.  People kept coming down the escalators and telling us that they "saw the missionaries up there," or the missionaries were "right behind them."  This made us even more anxious.  So many people told us that they were coming, we finally stopped believing them.  After waiting for an hour from the time the flight landed, we FINALLY saw them come around the corner!

  

As soon as they got to the top of the escalators they put on some bright sunglasses...

And cracked us all up...

We have missed Tim's sense of humor.  It was so nice to have the about to cry tension removed as we watched them come down the escalator. Don't you love their bright Ghanian ties?

Then of course, there were a LOT of hugs...

It was so good to see him!  Cooper and Sydney loved seeing him, and Cooper can finally differentiate that he is Tim and doesn't get it confused with Alex.  It turns out that one of the missionaries was afraid that his family wouldn't be at the airport since the plane landed so early, so the missionaries all waited about an hour to come down... sure glad we all rushed to get there... ha ha!

  

Elder Harrison and Tim

After the airport we went to lunch/dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  The food was delicious and of course Tim loved it.  He said he was nervous that chewing the steak would hurt his teeth, because he hadn't really chewed food for 2 years.  In Ghana they eat with their hands, not utensils, and they don't chew, just swallow.  Following dinner, we stopped by Grandma McEwan's to visit with her and let her see Tim.

We ended the day spending the evening at my family's house.  Tim told us stories, and showed us souvenirs, and we enjoyed being together.  He brought us some bracelets, purses, a tie, a shirt for each Matt and Cooper, and a dress for both Sydney and me.  We are so glad that he is home safe and sound!  And of course we are so grateful for his service to the Lord.  We have felt blessings from his service, and are grateful to his example for our children.