Mark's Homecoming

Last Wednesday Jon's brother, Mark, came home from his mission in the Dominican Republic. 2 years has gone by fast! We went to the airport to pick him up with some of Jon's family. The kids were very excited to go to the airport. They were pretty little when Mark left, so they only knew him as someone we prayed for every night! He looked really thin, but I guess 2 years in a third world country will do that to a guy! Jon's parents and Mark stayed the night at our house on Wednesday before heading home to Young. The funniest thing to me was after Mark got out of the shower he kept rubbing his foot on the carpet. I asked him what he was doing and he said he had not felt carpet in 2 years or taken a shower barefoot, or basically been barefoot at all for 2 years! The little things we take for granted! It was good to see him though!

Emma and Derrick entertained themselves at the airport by counting the chairs, looking at the big airplane hanging from the ceiling and just being silly

Mark and his dad

Mark and Jon

Welcome Home Mark!

With Mark being home we decided to go up to Young for the weekend and spend some time with family. Andrea and Blake came down from Utah and Ron went up with us. It was a fun weekend! We watched movies and just visited. The kids love playing at Grandma and Grandpa Brenay's house. They held baby bunnies, fed the goats and went on "Vroom, Vroom" rides. There is a mountain in Young called Potato Butte that we hiked up (leaving the kids at home with Grandma and Aunt Sara). It was pretty steep, but worth the climb. It is a historical site and has Indian ruins on top. There is a beautiful view of Pleasant Valley from the top and the weather was perfect for hiking. On Sunday we went to church and Emma was very excited that Aunt Sara would be her teacher in Primary. We let Derrick stay with Emma, and he thought he was so big to go to Primary and not Nursery! Louise leads the music in Primary and when she came into Relief society she told me a funny story about Derrick. In Primary they were letting the kids each pick their favorite song to sing. Emma picked "I Am a Child of God". Then it was Derrick's turn. He picked Thomas the Train! No one knew the Thomas song so Emma said she would help him and they stood up and sang the whole Thomas song! I was cracking up when Louise was telling me this. Derrick definitely loves Thomas lately! After church I was trying to explain to him that if they ask you to pick a song in Primary you need to pick a Primary song. I listed some of the Primary songs he knows and he said, "But Thomas is a kid song." Well, yes it is! Anyway...we had a great weekend with the family!