Two weeks ago Wednesday, my second son came home! Garrett returned from his mission in Tempe Arizona. He called us Wednesday night and was able to talk to each of the kids. He was shocked at how much Jimmy talked. On Saturday he gave us a call to see if he could come over. We really wanted to surprise the kids so we didn't tell them he was coming. We told them we had a surprise for them. Eberly says "It's Garrett huh? He's coming over?" We didn't want to ruin it for them, so we told them "No, we are just going to let you guys stay up late and watch a movie." They were really disappointed. When Mike saw his car pull up he went outside telling the kids he was just checking to make sure his car was locked. They were all engrossed in a movie when Garrett quietly walked in. All of a sudden Eberly saw him out of the corner of her eye; about the same time that Jimmy did. Eberly was all wrapped up in her blanket and couldn't get out fast enough. Garrett was bombarded with lovings! What a great welcome home.
We were able to see him last Sunday for his homecoming talk. As I mentioned when Kyle came home, I was so impressed with how well he spoke. You could tell how much knowledge he has of the gospel.
We got to spend some time with him this afternoon. He was able to come with us to pick up the kids from school. They all ran to him and soon as they saw him. Mike and I were cooking dinner and all we could hear outside was laughter. Garrett was out there with the kids playing dodgeball, tag and wrestling. I got a couple of pictures, but my camera's batteries were dying and half of them turned out fuzzy. As you can see from the two pics that actually turned out, there was nothing but happiness in my backyard this afternoon. At one point I looked out the window and Garrett had ALL 4 kids hanging on him. I wish I could save that laughter in a bottle. It was priceless. After dinner we sat down and watched a movie together. All the kids took turns snuggling in Garrett's lap to watch the movie.
As VERY hard as it was to say goodbye two years ago, it has been so special and wonderful welcoming my boys home.
3 comments:
I love the look on Eberly's face. Not only have you and Mike made a huge difference in the boys lives, they have made a great contribution to yours. Well done.
How fun! You don't even have to wait for your own kids to come home from their missions -- you get the joys now from "your boys." How wonderful!
By the way -- saw Mike on Cops the other night! I thought you'd blog about it. Too cool, Proffitt!
How wonderful! What a great example to your kids. I would love that type of experience for our kids. Fortunately, the missionaries do come by often, just not quite the same, though.
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