Return and Report

We met with President Penrod, our stake president, Saturday morning (Oct. 5) and were officially released as missionaries.  Sad to have to remove our missionary nametags.  It was such a privilege and honor to serve!

President Penrod gave us a certificate and read part of a letter from President Castro to him.  I didn't tell President Penrod that I was the one who prepared and sent those documents to him :)

The following Sunday, we reported our mission to the High Council in the morning, then to our home ward in sacrament meeting.  At that time we were presented with the plaque which had been hanging in the entryway to our church since we left 18 months ago. 

We had such a great gathering of friends and family.  We are very blessed to have such a wonderful support group :)  We love you all.  Following are several pictures, and I could kick myself because I didn't get a picture of Justin Brodie and his girlfriend, Sasha.  "Elder" Brodie was one of the fantastic missionaries that served as an Assistant to the President.  It was so nice of him to come and meet our family and visit at the house.  Thanks, Justin!  Other special people who also attended sacrament meeting were Wade Capson (a counselor in the bishopric to Randy), Brian Poole (a co-worker of Randy's), Rick and Anne Peterson (dear friends - Randy served as counselor to Rick in the bishopric and stake presidency), and numerous ward friends.  So great to see everyone!  I should mention that Tyson Anderson, a young man from our ward, also spoke Sunday as a missionary headed to the MTC this week!  I guess it's possible some of those in attendance were there to hear him :) :)   (Elder Anderson is going to be a great missionary!!)

 

Daughters Tawn, Andrea, and Mauri

aka the "good fairies" who thoroughly cleaned our house

the weekend before we returned home

Thank you for that gift to us!

 

Silly sisters :)

Add brother Devin

Three of our wonderful son-in-laws

Jason Allen, Jay Andrews, and Gary Allen

Having fun with Grandpa

Graysen, Kyri, Alyssa, Tanzi, Victoria

Dan and Thelma

George and Dorothy

My sweet parents, Darlene and George

Karson Andrews

All the little cousins love Karson.  He is great with them.

There was no one his age to "hang" with

Daughter-in-law Nichole and Preslie

Larry

Kyri

 

In PJs - the last ones to load up and go home

 

Let's pull funny faces!

 

Catching a nap

It was a long day for these two troopers

I'm so grateful for their health and loving support

 

In all of this, we felt an empty hole and heartache in the absence of our beloved  Theresa, because we know she would have been right here in the midst of all the activities.  I suspect that she, and other dear ones, were observing and smiling upon this happy family assemblage.  How grateful I am for the Gospel of Hope, Love, and Peace, for the Atonement of our Savior and His redeeming love, and His tender mercies upon us all!

 

 

B-day Celebration

Friday we met with my mother and George, and my siblings and their spouses, at Maddox Restaurant in Brigham City, Utah, to celebrate Mother's 91st birthday.  This is a traditional, annual event.  It was great to see everyone again! We had a really fun visit and a delicious dinner.

Dan and Thelma Rich

Dorothy and Larry Rich

The birthday girl, Darlene, and her honey, George Hanson

Here we are :)

All of us

 

Friend Lunch

Tuesday, Oct 8, I met some other retired co-workers of the FBI for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays.  We had a great visit.

Kayla Clayton, Scherryl Tanner, Brenda North

Another Reunion

Saturday night, October 4, Ryan and Lisa and girls came to stay.  They arrived around 9 o'clock and had to leave after lunch the next day, but we were so glad they decided to come.  It was great to see them again, too!

Caroline and Rebecca

Kennedy 

Dang!  I didn't get pictures of Ryan and Lisa :(

General Conference Weekend

It was quiet at our house for conference.  We opted to watch it on the computer (we didn't have our TV hooked up yet) rather than going to the Stake Center.  This was undoubtedly not the best choice, as we both struggled to stay awake.  I loved what I heard, and we will watch it again.  And read it.  I think we were both worn out, and we just had the hardest time keeping our eyes open.  I love our prophet and the leaders of our church, and they prepare so diligently to give us the messages Heavenly Father wants us to get.  So we WILL be following up on the getting of those messages.

Homecoming!

On Thursday, October 3rd, we arrived in Clearfield, Utah, before noon.  We had a great reunion and visit with my sweet little mother and step-dad, Darlene and George Hanson.  Then we went to our daughter's place, also in Clearfield, where we visited with several of our kids and grandkids and had a lovely dinner there.

Getting acquainted with our grandson, Dawson :) 

Enjoying everyone 

Tanzi and Andrea

Tanzi

Tawn and Tanz, who looks like she's losing her britches :)

Brock, Graysen, Alyssa, Karson, Kyri, Austin

Victoria is almost 2!

George and Mother

Preslie, Nichole, Brody, Zane, Devin and Tanzi

 

 

Thanks, Mauri, for having this fun get-together at your place.  We had such a great time!  And thanks to everyone for coming to visit!!  I didn't get a picture of George and Marva Blue, our dear friends who also came for dinner and to visit.  (They were the senior couple we first served with on our mission, and they live in Clearfield in the same stake as my mother and Mauri :)

(I'm a bit frustrated with my camera - seems that my pictures are not as clear as they ought to be - Dang!  And I'm guessing the problem is with the user rather than the camera - but it makes me feel better to say I'm frustrated with my camera.)

 

Goin' Home

My goodness, we had a lot of stuff to move out of that apartment after only 18 months.  (Can't even imagine what it would be to move out of our house after 35 years! Ha!)  Some of the furniture went to the Ruses, some will go to another senior couple apartment, we gave a lot of stuff to Kim, since she was just moving into an apartment.  It had furniture but nothing else.  And, evidently, we took a lot of stuff home too.

(taken in Clearfield)

We drove 55 miles an hour all the way home as everyone else on the freeways passed us, even the big semi trucks.  haha.  But the trip went smoothly and even though it took a while, we arrived safely home.  We left Ventura at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday,
October 2, and arrived in Beaver, Utah, at 9:15 p.m., which is where we spent the night, at a less-than-lovely Super 8.