Tuesday morning we got up early and made welcome home banners and then headed off to the airport to pick up Elder Smith!! We patiently waited holding our signs and balloons for Brad to come down the escalator...
Once we saw his face we all started screaming and yelling his name! I'm sure we totally embarrassed him it was great!
Here is the whole family reunited again!!
The whole gang at the airport!
I don't know what Brad is doing...but it makes for a very entertaining picture of us waiting to get his luggage!
My parents and their 2nd oldest son!
On our way home we stopped at In-n-Out for lunch...we wasted no time getting him some real American food! We spent the afternoon just talking and hearing stories. It's so amazing to listen to him talk! I remember reading letters from him 2 years ago and he was having such a hard time learning the Spanish language and here he was sitting in our living room and could barely speak English! He was mixing up words and would insert random Spanish words in his sentences without even noticing it!That night we all sat in his bedroom as he opened up his suitcase and showed us all the treasures he brought back from Chile. He brought back the girls a super cute little purse, bracelets, and keychains that all had their name on them as well as the year and that they were handmade in Chile. Here are some of his souvenirs on display.
The next night we all headed down to the church to watch as Brad was released as a full time missionary. It was a very awesome experience and I was so glad that we were there to be apart of it all. 
We spent the next couple days just hanging out, eating, playing games and watching movies! One day we took him shopping so he could get a bunch of new clothes. While we were out we stopped at AT&T to get him a new cell phone and the sales lady was showing him all his phone options and he just stared at her and then said "Do you have any of the kind that flip open?" We all started busting up laughing and she turned around and pulled this old school phone out of a drawer and said "You mean like this one?" Brad nodded and she explained to him that nobody uses phones like that anymore!! He finally settled on a phone with a slide out keyboard and we spent the next couple hours laughing at him for using the number pad to text instead of the keyboard! As much as we laughed at him we loved seeing how much he had changed and his reaction to everything again!Every night we had a huge dinner party and had people over it was so much fun. And apparently I am super awesome at taking pictures and making sure everyone is in them! I got more of the wall then the people at the table!
Poor Brad was used to eating only one big meal for the last 2 years and it seemed like we were making big meals all day long!
Saturday morning we had family pictures taken. We were suppose to do them outside but it was basically flooding outside it was raining so hard! We had fun taking some serious pictures...as well as making fun of the photographer and tilting our head and giving really big cheesy smiles! I am sure my parents were dying but we were having fun once all the serious pictures were done with! Here is a pre-picture time picture with some of the family as well as my Aunt Cynthia who was in town for all the parties!
It was an amazing week and so much fun to have the family all together again! Our trip home was less than stellar though. We left Sunday and didn't end up getting home until late Monday night...you do the math! We just happened to pick the day where Donner Pass closed down due to the snow and avalanches and by the time it opened up we made it to Reno and it was midnight. The girls thought it was so much fun though to spend the night in a cheap hotel room and jump on the beds as much as they wanted! By the time we got home late Monday night we were exhausted but the trip was well worth it!!
1 comment:
I love the cell phone story and also thinking about not being able to speak English. I've been there. It really is weird. :) I love seeing your pregnant belly and I love seeing pictures of you back at home because it reminds me of when I went there!
Post a Comment