Idaho

My parents came home from their mission!!! Woohoo!!!  It was very, very exciting.  So we went up to Idaho for their homecoming.  We carpooled up with Travis and James.  Well, Travis wanted to get part of his sprinkler system in for his garden first and I was trying to get a time estimate from him, but he was ignoring his phone calls.  Kessa started to get impatient, too, so we sent him the following video, figuring he couldn't ignore that.  (Turns out, he could.  Jerk. ;) (fine.  In his defense, he didn't hear his phone.))

I've decided I much prefer long car trips with other people in the car.  It's totally selfish, though.  It just means that this happens instead of me trying to reach back and give Abby a bottle.  Thanks a billion, James!  :D

Kessa wanted Travis to play ball with her.  It turned into him bouncing the ball, it hitting her head, and him saying, "Sorry noggin."  Or hitting the plant and saying, "Sorry plant."  She thought it was fantastic.  (Moms: this is a video.  Click through to the blog.)

When we got there, we went straight to Damian's for a barbecue.  Kessa loves her cousin, Taegen.  He's one of her closest cousins in age (he's almost exactly a year older) so she was very excited to play with him.

At one point I was busy making food for the homecoming dinner and Abby didn't want to go to sleep.  I thought James just wanted to be helpful and went to take care of her.  Turns out, he just wanted a nap, too.  Either way, though, I was very, very grateful!  (And aren't they just so cute?)

Mom started crocheting ties on her mission, at the request of some elders.  So she crocheted Dad a tie to wear to church.  And like the good wife she is, she straightened it out for him beforehand.

My Grandma Hall kept a book for each of her kids with photos and drawings and such that they got when she died.  It got pulled out a couple of times that weekend (so Mom could prove that Abby looks just like me) and the drawings she kept cracked me up.  This one includes the only non-family member entry, from my friend, Kami.  Apparently Grandma appreciated her humor.  I love the two side-by-side because it brings back floods of memories of Sunday School classes where I would spend the whole time trying to copy Kami's handwriting (isn't it just so cute!  I love it!  I still find myself trying to imitate it sometimes) and because the faces and the rose and the corny sayings were so typical of my doodling.

And this is sideways, but I'm too lazy to fix it.  This is a self-portrait.  Apparently I thought my lips were GINORMOUS.  I'm so horrified at this picture that I find it hilarious.  Enough to share it with the world.  (Maybe I shouldn't blog past my bedtime?)

Kessa and Lexi and Taegen cheesing it up for the camera. Holy cow, this girl loves her cousins.

Damian wanted a deep back rub.  James complied.  It looked like torture to me.  Please note that James' elbow is digging into Damian's back.  And note the grimace on Damian's face.  And the laughter on Mom's.  And if I remember correctly, Damian thanked James when he was done.  This is why I love back rubs.  People thank you for torturing them.

Mom made this dress.  Isn't it so cute?  I had BJ put it on and we were in a hurry and I didn't notice till it was too late that he put it on backwards.  In his defense, it looks cute with the bow on front, too.

But it looks cuter with the rosette on front.  (Kessa couldn't help but join the photo shoot.)

On the way home Kessa kept getting the sun in her eyes and didn't like it being so bright, so I gave her my sunglasses.  It didn't work, but they stayed on properly long enough for this photo, which I think is cute.

Welcome home, Mommy and Daddy!