Saturday, January 12, 2013

It's funny how I start thinking I want to talk about one thing and then don't make it to that subject. Last post I was going to talk about the week of the wedding and Doug coming home, but I never made it to that week. I did cover lots of things leading up to it, but not that week. Last summer was crazy though, so many things going on all summer. There wasn't a week that there wasn't something to do to get ready for the wedding or Doug. Thank goodness I had wonderful help from friends and family. I couldn't have done it without them for sure. Between Kate, Melissa, Karen, Kristin, and Kim, I kept my head on and got everything done. The biggest issue was that Sam was in Provo...good and bad to that....good that he and Natalya had not so much time to be together and have problems, but bad that there were many things that had to wait until he came up for a visit. And then his visits home were full of things he didn't want to do. Anyway, we spent Monday and Tuesday getting Doug's room clean and all his clothes pulled out, washed, and put away. The lawn mowed and yard cleaned up for Sunday, food cooked, and last minute things done. I'm sure there were more things to do, I think I've blocked most of it though out of self preservation. Wednesday we had a long list of things to do before we went to the airport and I think we got most of them done because I was geared up and ready to get my baby home. We picked up Natalya on the way down and then met Sam at the airport. Once we were there we went to the baggage claim area and found Sam. We located Doug's flight info and waited for his plane to get in. There was a huge group of people with balloons and signs waiting for their elders to get home which is always fun to see, but at the same time it was annoying. They were making it difficult for the people coming off the planes to get through and get to the baggage claim areas. So we hung back out of the way and I kept my eyes on the board waiting for it to say Doug's flight had landed. Once it did, I kept waiting for this big group of missionaries to come down the escalator, but they didn't come and didn't come. Plus, there were several planes that had landed close together so I didn't know when he would come and I kept expecting to have all the people in front of us see their missionaries first since they had been there long before we got there. All of the sudden there was Doug and one other elder half way down the escalator and I was clear on the other side of the room! I couldn't catch his eye, so I started moving over to get closer since there were so many people in the way. His companions family were there at the bottom waiting for them but it took me a minute to get over there. I didn't wait for the rest of the family either, I almost ran over there to get there as fast as I could. Finally he saw us and the relief was visible on his face. I'm sure it was only a minute or two, but it seemed much longer to me. After hugs for everyone except Natalya who got an awkward hand shake we got his luggage and headed back home. We had enough time to get to the house, bring luggage in, then head back to the stake center to meet with the Stake President. The traffic was horrible on the way home, but we were smart and took Legacy so we didn't have too much to deal with. Sam and Natalya were on the freeway and it was at a standstill for most of the way to Lagoon. Anyway, Jack decided to stay home and cook dinner (pizza of course) while I went with Doug to get released. Pres. Watson spent some time talking with Doug alone then he asked me to come in as well. It was heart wrenching to see my boy with tears in his eyes realize his service was over. Something that he loved with all his heart had come to an end. He was broken hearted at the ending of it and sitting in his chair happy to be hone and yet wishing he was still in Florida. Such conflict and emotion! Pres. Watson mentioned at least twice that it was time to take the name tag off, but it got ignored and other things were talked about for a couple of minutes, then finally Pres. Watson standing next to Doug's side kindly and loving reached over, took his tag off and tucked it in his shirt pocket. We were all crying at this point. It was so difficult to watch and yet in that moment there was such love and care from Pres. Watson it was almost tangible. I cry every time I think about it. I was so glad I was there to witness that. We came home and ate pizza, I think we played games...actually I think the boys played Risk and I watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch. It was hard to want to go to bed and say goodnight to everyone...I think we just wanted to be together as much as possible. Sam stayed at the house the rest of the week so that gave he and Doug some time to talk and spend time together before the wedding. Thursday was busy...welcome home Doug...now let's get your brother married! I'm not sure exactly what needed to be done that morning, but I'm sure we spent most of that day busy, busy, busy. At 4 we started loading up cars with stuff to decorate the gum and by 6 we were in full swing decorating and setting up. It took quite a bit of time to figure out how to hang the pom poms, balloons, and lanterns the way we wanted them. So that was a pain, but we got them up and then moved on to the tables and chairs. Karen, Baxter, and kids came, Kim and kids were there, Mom and Dad came along with Chuck and Heather. Conley and Daniel wanted to see Doug so they came over and visited with him while we decorated around them. Kate and Melissa were also there helping out like the super fantastic friends that they are. It took a couple of hours to get it all put together which was what I expected it to take so I wasn't unhappy when we left the church between 8 and 9. We had to be up early to get to Logan for the sealing so it was off to bed as soon as we got done. I almost felt bad for Doug getting shoved right into wedding stuff as soon as he walked in the door, but it kept him from going stir crazy from lack of things to do for the first week I think. He was busy from sun up til sun down the first 4 days he was home, so the transition back into regular life was easier than Sam's was I think. I think I'll save the wedding day for another day...lots to say and remember and after a long day at work I'm ready for bed!