I'm coming home...

The definite highlight of our year so far has been our trip home to Utah. The girls and I were able to fly out the last week of January. My brother Greg was coming home from his mission to Brazil and my youngest brother Taylor leaves on March 3rd, so we got to go and enjoy the few weeks that everyone was home. The flight through Atlanta is never fun but the girls did okay. We saw Munga right outside the exit and both the girls were thrilled. Braelyn ran the entire concourse once she saw her. Then we got to see Papa by the baggage claim and start the fun again.
It was wonderful to be home, but the mountains sure seemed brown and the air seemed smoggy. Braelyn couldn't wait to go play in the snow. Luckily Taylor didn't mind sledding with her so I didn't have to freeze. He had built this huge crocodile out of snow and Berkley was scared of it. She kept saying, "Bite, bite" whenever we would walk by. It was so nice to have lots of people to play with the girls, and I loved eating someone elses cooking. My Mom had done a lot of work on her house and it felt like we were staying at a cute resort, we were very well taken care of.

The Tuesday after we arrived, Greg got home! We were so excited to see him, 2 years didn't exactly fly by and we have missed his personality in our family. After my Mom got her hugs, Braelyn ran right to him. Berkley took a little more time, she just kept looking at him and frowning. Later that night he left to go get a friend and when Berkley heard the door she ran to see who it was, when she realized it was Greg and Fred she ran straight back to me crying! She is just a little shy and eventually warmed up to him, especially when he had treats. Braelyn loved having boys around and followed Greg everywhere. She liked to tell his friend Fred that she thought he was cute. Greg seemed pretty well adjusted and only sounded a little strange when he would ask a question, his inflection was different and he would emphasize the end of the sentence. We spent the next week hanging out, listening to his stories and making the same jokes we have made for years. Taryn was on a cruise and so it was another exciting day when she got there. I don't think we can say just how great it was to have everyone in one place again.


Of course most of the things I wanted to do revolved around eating, I wanted JCW's, Zuppas, and we did McDonalds with our old friends. I also wandered through Costco, Cabella's, Chuck E. Cheese and even made a trip to University Mall. We visited our Grandma's and played some more in the snow.



The best part of the trip was the combined homecoming/farewell when both boys spoke in church. I can't believe how amazing and mature they both are. They did such a great job and we had a very packed house full of friends and family after. Being far away gives you a deeper appreciation for when you do get to spend time with them. I have such a wonderful extended family and loved being around them for the afternoon. I also liked when Taryn and I beat-up Taylor, just to prove that I am still tougher than him.

3 weeks went too quickly but we sure our glad our family likes us enough to fly us home, we had a great time!