Welcome Home!

Cute little sign I made as I waited for them to arrive, professional, I know ;)

Yes, it is true, my family is back from Russia! ...for good! 

Welcome home!

With some legal adjustments through Russian companies, needing to be run by Russian natives at this point, my dad was released from his ExPat duties. He is continuing to work with XanGo, just at their local office down by Thanksgiving Point. He will be weaving himself back into HR along with some other things as he gets settled. 

My mom will do her best to become reacquainted with Alpine, as she adjust to being away from her missionary experience. It has been hard for her to have to adjust so quickly to the idea of moving home, but she is excited to be closer to family and friends. 

She looks too young to be my mom

Meggy will be going to Timberline Middle School and will be in 9th grade! So crazy! She has grown a ton and has become quite the beautiful young lady :) Watch out boys! She's a heart breaker ;)

I swear she is not old enough to be ALMOST a high school student :s

What a BABE!

Shaun got back from Russia a few weeks ago, right after his high school graduation. He needed to be back here in time to attend the lovely Heritage Tours trip. He is having a great experience and gets home this Saturday. (P.S. his call comes tomorrow! I can't even stand it! It has to sit in our house unopened for 3 whole days! Ahhh! Heaven help us restrain ourselves from opening it. haha) 

For REAL???

My mom, dad, and Megan (and Beau of course) got home really late Saturday night. Zac and I bonded at the house, eating Taco Bell (thanks Zac) as we waited for the family to arrive. They got here about 11:30. We ran outside to help them haul in all 9! of their suitcases. So much stuff! They have an airplane shipment due to arrive in about two weeks that will have a lot more of their stuff. They also have a "ground shipment" coming by boat that probably won't be here until the end of the summer. 

Some fabulous souvenirs came home with them:

Matryoshka Dolls 

St. Basil's Music box 

Father Christmas

Along with a very jet-lagged dog named Beau :)

So cute!

Thank heavens for summer sales! With Brad and I being gone, this will provide a bit more space for my family to crash in furnished and fully equipped basement. So soon, but not soon enough I will be reunited with my hubby on the east coast! Only 2 more weeks love! 

I love him more than ANYTHING!

 I spent all day Saturday pulling the house together, which was actually quite enjoyable to me. I just finished my semester on Thursday, so it was nice to be able to clean and not have assignments or due dates in the back of my mind. Man I love a clean house and am so sad I didn't snap any pictures of its perfection.

I really wanted to be able to have the house look fabulous when they got home. I wanted them to be able to come home to a clean, familiar place, where they could relax right away after the ugly flight :s 

Not to mention that fact, I knew it would never be that clean again with so many people living down there for now. 

Exhibit A

I did the cleaning up to mama's par (thanks for training me well mama), went grocery shopping to make sure they had a fridge full of food to come home to, running some last minute errands, putting gas in Daddy's car for the last time such a beast to fill up, but a beauty to drive. 

One downfall to the parents coming home early is that Brad and I are now out a car. My parents generously allowed us to use Dad's car while they were gone. With them coming back we are back down to one car, for a couple that goes to opposite ends of the valley for work and school. Anyone have connections for hot deals on good, reliable cars??

Needless to say, we are happy to have the family close again and looking forward to the new adventures that will come with it. 

My family had an AMAZING experience in Russia and will forever be changed because of it. They met so many incredible, strong people that they developed such strong friendships with. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them grow closer and stronger in the gospel. I am grateful for their example as they lost themselves in the work as member missionaries. I know they have truly been blessed and have gained amazing life experience. 

WELCOME HOME!

Almost all together again... what a good looking bunch