Dude. Like...Welcome Home.

This is my family...being totally dorky and hangin' out...as we waited in the airport.





(my dad hates to have his picture taken so Amanda and I were ganging up on him and he was running around us trying not to laugh while we snapped away at him)


And why were we all dinking around in the airport?


Because my little brother, the youngest sibling and baby of the family, came home from his mission in Seattle, Washington Monday afternoon!!!

Here he is hugging the Mom. She was all tears the entire time we waited for him and somehow (don't ask me) she pulled it together right before he got there:

Gaven with my dad and my sister, Amanda:

When we spotted him coming down the escalators, we all started snapping away. I had a video going in one hand and was taking pictures in the other. Aiden broke away from our group and ran to him and jumped up in his arms. He has been missing Gaven lots! Then we all took our turns and hung out while we waited for his luggage.

Gav learned the Uke while in the MTC and he carries it around with him and plays it all the time:

As we left the airport, each of the boys got a ride on Gaven's luggage. It was so cute and funny.


This is what the house looked like when we got home:

The front door and side window were painted on, as well as both sets of French doors, there were four huge signs made, yellow balloons and crepe paper running everywhere, yellow ribbons tied to the front trees, and balloons tied all around the fence of the front horse pasture (i actually didn't get around to taking the pictures till night so I don't have one of that but it looks cool!). Lots of yellow...super cheery! Yay!!

We were all hungry by the time we got home so my dad was sent on an Arby's run. That's what Gaven really wanted so we pigged out on curly fries and roast beef sandwhiches and leftovers from my husband's party on Saturday night.

(That's a cup full of fry sauce! And Morgan is super happy to have his only brother back home.)

We snarfed down food and then Morgan, Gav, Bronsynn, Benny (Gav's best friend who arrived home from his mission just a few days before and is practically an extra brother) and myself all went downstairs and lifted and ran and worked out together. Gav put on a few LB'S during the mish and now he's on a mission to slim down!

We helped clean out Gaven's room, unpack and organize. My parents were planning on getting his room re-painted while he was gone and then they found out he was coming home and had two days till he arrived. My dad set to work and got the room painted and put back together in one day!

Aiden rarely left Gaven's side. When Aiden had to sit and eat his food, Gaven went back to his room to work on getting old clothes thrown out and his stuff unpacked. Aiden would then find me and ask..."Where is Uncle Gaven?" and I would tell him and he would make a beeline for Gav's room and follow him everywhere. So cute.

Gaven's birthday was last Thursday. He turned 21. Looks like he came home just in time.....ha ha ha ha. (just kidding). And Paul turned 26 on Monday. So we celebrated both of their birthdays at the same time. We had Papa Murpheys, leftover cheesecake and two very yummy cakes (both made by Amanda and Bronsynn the night before while they were on a roll decorating the house for his return):

And I am really pissed off because I videoed the entire singing process and....it's not on my camera anymore. Pissed. Off. I don't know how that happened but I am pissed. PISSED!

Then we pulled out the Wii. We played Mario Kart for a long time and Guitar Hero (of course) and had a blast together:

My mom was a little tuckered out by the end of the night (hee hee hee - I am so naughty!):

And as a side note - check out that hair! Bronsynn was blessed with near perfect hair (it's a little naturally curly and she hates that) and a sense of style, not to mention a mother who works in hair and is around fashion 24/7. She looks like a freakin' model at age 13 - unbelievable. Why couldn't my hair do that? I tried for five years to get my hair that long and healthy. It took her two. TWO.

This is Gav as his last few moments as a missionary. After waiting all day, the Stake President finally came home and Gav and my dad went to his house at 9:30 p.m. so he could get released. And when he came home, he was no longer 'Elder Foxxy' (I named him that when he went out cuz his and Morgan's middle names are Fox).

And shortly after that, we all went our separate ways - damn it being a work night!! It feels so good to have him home! It's like he never left, or maybe went on a short trip because now he has all these stories to tell and about 40 ties in his possession (even after giving away about 20 of them before he left!). And now it feels a little weird when we IM on Facebook. I almost forgot that he was home and not up in Seattle! But I like that he is home and glad we were all able to spend the day together.