It's been a whirlwind these past few weeks and I'm a little intimidated by all the events and pictures to sort through to even kind of get caught up here on the blog, but I am committed to try. This post will be dedicated to the few days right after Adam got home from his mission and before we took off for our family reunion gathering (basically the time period of August 22-25).
More than any other thing during that time, I was really happy to just see our kids spending time and having fun together. It makes my Mom heart joyful to see that my kids not only get along with each other, but are genuinely good friends and enjoy being together.
My brother, Matt, and two of his kiddos were still with us during most of that time, as was our niece, McKenzie, who was in between summer and fall semesters at BYU. Their presence during this special time for our family only added to the experience. They are all delightful people to have around and we are really happy that they were here. Then on Saturday, Matt and kids left for Maryland and a few hours later, Cami, Lucie, and Oliver rolled into town from Alabama. We also spent a lot of time on Saturday getting ready -baking and shopping-for Adam's homecoming and open house the next day.
With Lucie, Oliver, and Cami's arrival, our house got wild and loud very fast! Lucie is as sassy, energetic, and talkative as ever and Baby Oliver just may be the sweetest baby I've ever met in my entire life....and I've met quite a few! He scoots all over the place and basically only cries when he's hungry or when someone takes something away from him that he's excited to hold onto.
Lucie and McKenzie definitely hit it off and Lucie was calling her "Auntie McKenzie" before long. I loved, loved, loved seeing all my girls back together again and I loved seeing Spencer's and Adam's soft sides come out with Lucie and Oliver's presence. I'd have to say that Lucie and Denali's obsession with each other was about equal and Denali LOVED all the attention she got while they were here.
On Sunday, Adam gave his homecoming talk in our ward and we hosted an open house at our home afterward. It was a joy to see so many old friends and to meet some of Adam's mission friends, though I neglected to get pictures of everyone that was there. We loved hearing him share some of his experiences as a missionary, as well as hearing him testify of Christ's love for each of us. It was clear that he made a difference to many people over the last two years and we are proud of his willingness to serve the people of Oregon for that time.
After the homecoming, we just reveled in our Lucie/Oliver time and enjoyed being all together as a family for the first time in more than two years. My mom (Gramma Rosynanna to Lucie and Oliver) and my sister, Heather, were also very much enjoying all the snuggle and toddler time. We ate a lot of family dinners all together and eventually we dropped McKenzie off at her new apartment for the fall, so she wouldn't miss her New Student Orientation.
.jpg)
.JPG)
