Hermana Ashton's Homecoming

ALLI IS HOME!!  Here we all are waiting at the airport for her to arrive.

We waited...

and waited...

and waited.

A lot of people who came through the gate commented on how cute the kids looked, and asked us where Alli was coming from.

Then mom got to thinking...  She was supposed to be arriving with 5 or 6 other missionaries.  Where are those families??

That's when it dawned on her.

"Joooooooooon! We're at the wrong terminal!"

So we each grabbed a kid (I took off my shoes... I know how to roll at the airport) and we took off running out the door through the parking garage, and in to the other terminal.

Yep.  This one looked more like it.  Roped off and packed with people and posters and balloons.

We found an open spot off to the side, and got lined up again.

We also found the bishop waiting there too. I wonder how long he had been there wondering where the heck Alli's family was.

We all stared at the top of the escalators, holding our breath, since we knew she would be coming down any second.

Any second...

Any second now...

I decided to take my camera and find a spot near the bottom of the escalator so I could let the fam know the second I saw her.  That was silly.  The second the first missionary popped there head into view, the crowd went wild.  No need for me to alert anyone!

I don't think that I'm that emotional of a person. I like to think I can keep it together most of the time. I attributed my last major sob-fest to 2 things. I was pregnant, and Alli was leaving.  I wouldn't see her again for a long, long time.  But this time, my hormones were back in check, and she was coming home.  Nothing but happiness, right?

I did not see this flood of emotion coming.

I was videotaping from where I stood, and dad was videotaping from where he stood.  This is his shot.  Mine kind of got lost in between the hug and the ugly cry.

After Alli successfully ruined my eye makeup, I pulled it together enough so that I could catch these shots.

Brynnlee doesn't quite know why this stranger is so close

Here's Hermana Ashton saying adios to Hermana Christiansen... her very first companion in the MTC.

On the drive back, Mom and Dad had a surprise ready for Alli.

And there were more to come.

Alli had her homecoming talk in church 2 Sundays later.  We also go to hear mom speak too.  Both of their talks seem to have the theme, "I can do hard things." We really enjoyed hearing their words.

Then there was food over at the house and lots of friends and family came to welcome her home.

We missed you Alli.  We're so proud of you for your sacrifice and hard work, but we're selfish and are glad to have you back.  We love ya!