Justin and Kenzee

Monday, August 4, 2014

Hello and Farewell

Bryson's mission was cut short by two months when he was terribly sick with a parasite. He served in Tampico, Mexico. He was so sick that he was hallucinating, going without sleep for days on end, and losing weight. It was a very scary time... we were even told that he is lucky to be alive. I really can't imagine how my sister and her husband must have gone through. We're grateful that the doctors found out that he also had a very serious thyroid problem. He finally started getting better after starting a medication to bring his numbers into check. Since he returned home early, he was able to spend a month or so with Blake before he headed out for his mission. We didn't think they'd see each other for nearly 4 years. And it was great to have a homecoming and farewell in one meeting (there were actually two farewells, but he wasn't in our family). It was a wonderful day spent with family and delicious food. I love these boys! In some ways, they feel like my little brothers.

Taking a break from the crowd to play with toys.

Lucy and Kamrie

Nolan did a little photo bombing. With a cookie in his mouth, too!

Waiting for their turn to be in pictures. There were a lot of phones out!

Oops... not quite ready before. Let's try that again! :-) We missed having Rob and Darian there.

Welcome home, Bryson, and good luck to you, Blake!

While in St. George we also had some fun outdoors, especially at the Main Street park after stopping for cookies at Swig (a must!). Lucy was so funny with her little crab crawl. What a spunky little girl!

Lucy's big day!

I've been dreading Lucy's first birthday for about a year now. I just want her to stay my little baby! But she does get more and more fun and even cuter, too! I didn't think that was even possible. She is bursting with personality and so happy nearly all the time. We were in St. George for her big day. We traveled down to attend Bryson's homecoming and Blake's farewell (during the same meeting). Here she is playing in the recyle basket... her favorite activity at Grandma's house.

And lucky Lucy got a massage from Dad. She loved it and had a grin on her face the whole time (nearly 10 minutes). She know a good thing when she's got it!

The family all went to our favorite taco place for dinner. It was exciting to see Bryson for the first time after returning home from his mission. He hadn't met Lucy yet, of course. Lucy fell asleep on the way home from dinner and it took a while to get the party started. But once she woke up, she was pretty happy with all of her presents.