On July 27th, Brandon and I celebrated my 22nd birthday. Needless to say, I was singing Taylor Swift's song "22" for most of the morning (it's quite catchy). If you haven't heard it, here it is:
It was a calm celebration. Most of the day we spent packing to go on vacation the next day. However, Brandon and I did go out to lunch to Wingers (we had some coupons) and ate some of the most delicious restaurant food I've tasted in awhile. As we were getting ready to leave Wingers, the rain had decided to fall- fast and hard. It was like a mini-monsoon and Brandon and I had to pretty much yell at each other in the truck to be heard over the rain. I haven't seen Rexburg have that kind of rainstorm in the time that I've been down here for school.
Later that evening, a few of our married friends and two of our single friends came over to celebrate with us. We sat and talked about different things for a little bit and then we played some games. It was quite fun and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
The next day, Brandon and I headed out of town northwest bound. Yes, we were headed to our hometown- Lewiston, ID. We were blessed that both of our jobs gave us the week off so we could go visit his family. The reason why we went the last week in July was because..*drumroll*...CAMERON WAS COMING HOME! Yes, Brandon's kid brother was coming home from his 2 year mission in Northern California on July 31st. Brandon was excited and I was a little nervous. Why was I nervous? Well, let me put it this way- the last time I saw Cameron was at my high school graduation in 2009 (he was a junior) and now I show up as his sister-in-law. I had different scenarios running through my head of how the greeting between the two of us would go.
We made really good time getting to Lewiston. We showed up at the house before the family got home from church. We hid in the garage and tried to "scare" them...yeah...that didn't work. I was laughing before they even looked our way. Later that evening, we had a big family dinner- BBQ'd meat and some vegetable kabobs. It was delicious. After dinner, the family headed into the front room to visit. Suddenly, Marilyn told me to sit in the "seat of honor" (the piano bench) and then they preceded to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. It was a pleasant surprise :)
That was Sunday. For the next two days, we could feel the built up excitement of Cameron's homecoming. Wednesday morning, we were all helping to get the house ready for him. All too soon, we were piling in the vehicles and headed over to the airport. Marilyn, Alyssa, and I were trying to hold back tears as we waited in anticipation. We watched out the windows as the airlines landed. Finally, Cameron's plane was pulling into the air field. We saw him walking towards the doors into the airport and the tears flowed freely. We all greeted him one at a time and I was surprised that he pulled me into a big hug. After the hugs were done (for the most part), we had some family pics taken.
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*side note* Some of you may ask- why were you crying? Here's my answer- I get emotional at any missionary homecoming, especially when the missionary embraces his mother. It totally tugs at my heartstrings. But this missionary homecoming was different for me. As I saw my brother-in-law walk through the doors and bear-hugged his mother and siblings, I thought of my own brother's missionary homecoming that will happen in about a year and a half. I never really understood how difficult it is to not see or talk to your brother regularly for 2 years, but now I'm starting to. I can't wait for my own brother to walk through the airport doors with a huge smile on his face knowing that he changed countless people's lives, but also glad that he is now home with his family. *end side note*
Anyways, we all headed home and Cameron got reintroduced to the house. We had another big family dinner that evening and all of us kids (minus Emma) watched The Avengers-Cameron's pick as his first movie in 2 years.
The rest of the week flew by and on the last night on our visit, Cameron had a joint homecoming open house with one of his friends from church. It was nice being able to see and visit with some families that I hadn't seen for a couple years.
The next day (Sunday August 4th) Brandon and I packed the truck and headed back to Rexburg. I was to call my job and let them know that I was back in town so I could start training and Brandon was needed at Subway. We got back to Rexburg safely and we took it slow the rest of the day in preparation for the hectic week ahead.
More to come: Utah trip, our 1 year anniversary, and the big move!
