Josh Returns! (Part 2)

Back home again!

    

So fun for Josh to walk in to an almost completely new home :)

T had stayed behind to finish painting the green wall for us and clean up so it would be nice for Josh's return.

He walked around and checked out all the newness...

At one point we heard Ben cry out from the front room.  Josh ran in to find he had stumbled so he picked him up and took him into the couch in the big room.

They had a cute moment together :)

Josh then continued his tour...

Matt had to fill him in on all his new kicks...

Josh's new room :)

Late afternoon we went to the stake center and President Farnsworth released Josh from his mission.

After returning home we celebrated Josh's Christmas.

Then dinner...

We used some of my fancy, fun colored glass goblets for some celebratory bubbly :)

Then we taught Josh the game of Quacks!

It had become a major part of our lives while he was gone.  That might be a bit of an exaggeration but it was important to us to teach it to him quickly :)

Then a little snuggle with Ben on the couch before scripture study and family prayer.

What an amazing day!

How wonderful to have Josh back home with us!

The next morning we woke up to a layer of snow.

I had Josh go out to the sign and get some more pictures with the new back and foreground.

Josh Returns! (Part 1)

The day finally arrived to pick up our missionary from the airport!

All ready and waiting...

Haha!  This is kind of a funny picture because it's a great shot of a missionary who I've never met returning to his mother's arms and Josh is off to the side.

Honestly, he came earlier than I was expecting and I was caught off guard so I didn't get good pics as he walked in :(

I've really whittled down the pics from this day but you're going to think I didn't since there are still so many :)

Sweet little Benji was not doing well.  He was pretty out of it but was still able to show Josh his shoes and shirt :)

Merill and Nancy arrived a few minutes later...

Nancy made a fun sign :)

I ended up being much more emotional than I thought I would be.

After mingling for a while we went in search of Josh's bags.

...and mingled for a while longer.

The grandpas were done and ready to go :)

I just couldn't get enough of these four being together again :)

Grandma Jannie was able to get a small smile out of Ben.

More and bigger smiles from Ben :)

At this point, Ben seemed to be coming around for a few minutes.

So good to see some smiles!

and his infamous fire hands :)

Not sure what Josh was sharing here but they were getting a kick out of it.

I included these three seemingly similar pics but I love watching the exchange between Ben and Matt as they progress :)

Talking to the Uncs...

Jo giving his smolder look... 

Again with these four...

Having them all in the car together again :)

Josh seeing the mountains again...

He loved it!

James suggested a fun Mexican restaurant that the rest of us hadn't been to.

*wish the lighting would have been better*

Josh was hankering for some tacos :)

Abby and Matt sharing some fancy fries...

After lunch we all split our separate ways...including Abby who had come up from Provo for the day.

Josh was exhausted and zonked on the way home.

I will stop here and come back later for the rest of this exciting day.

Honestly, trying to record events like this overwhelms me and I worry about not saying the right thing.

Inevitably, I end up saying not enough, so just know that my lack of details and emotion is a coping strategy :)