Welcome Home and Farewell -In Less Than 24 Hours

This pictures does not count in the 24 hours, but 1 day before Katelyn got home, we realized that we had not taken any Mission Pictures, so we ran over to the temple with Annalisa in her mission clothes and got it done.

Let's go back a little to when Annalisa got her mission call.  To our surprise, she was called to the Carlsbad California Mission on February 10 reporting to the MTC at 1:00pm, which is the exact same date that Sister Katelyn Jones was coming home at 2:50pm.  We had to be in two places at once.  We tried to figure out a plan so that they could see each other and that we could give both of them their special moment.  Finally the MTC reluctantly agreed to allow Annalisa to go to the MTC the next morning, which would be February 11.
With  Katelyn flying in at 2:50pm we had everything scheduled perfectly.  As the day went on it looked like Katelyn was going to be delayed, so everything else would probably be delayed as well.  While we waited and the cute Hermansens came by at around 3:00pm to surprise us with a sign, but we were home. They put it up anyway. Finally we went to the airport around 5:30pm. Her flight then came early and we barely got there in time. It was so great to see our missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

We came home and she had two signs welcoming her home.  One of the signs was for Kate and Anna.

 This is her first steps into our house after being gone for over 18 months.

We had scheduled to take a family picture at 4:30pm, but since that time had come and gone we had to do a nighttime sitting. This was the last time that Katelyn, Annalisa and Kyle will be together for 2 1/2 years. So we took it even in the dark. Thanks Michelle! Every kid got a picture with Anna and the three missionaries got one together as well. Kyle won't go until after July.

 This was our best family picture.  Katelyn was such a good sport for someone that just got home.  It is a good thing that missionaries learn patience.

 

 At 9:30pm we went to President Stevens office to have Anna get set apart and Kate get released. We had originally planned to do that at 5:30pm, but we had to change it because of the flight delays. President Stevens stayed until after his meeting, so it was around 9:30pm. It was precious to all be together for that. We had two missionaries for a few minutes. We brought Annalisa a tag and she was set apart before Katelyn was released.

Then we woke up at 3:00am and drove to Provo. Katelyn and Anna had plenty of time to catch up. We dropped our little missionary off before class started. We got in the standby line and went to the Provo City Center temple and went home, since our Returned missionary had only been home for about 14 hours. We were pretty wiped.

Senior pictures

 Last summer when Michelle F. took our family pictures, we took some individuals of Kyle.  They turned out great, so his Senior pictures are done.  I will enlarge my favorites.

 Look at that cute smile.  He has a sparkle in his eyes.

Annalisa's Mission Call

Annalisa has always wanted to go on a mission.  She is young for her age, so she turned 19 after her first year in college on June 19, 2015.  She was wanting to get her papers in right away, but had the impression that this wasn't the right time.  So, sadly she waited.  She continued to live her life,  worked for the summer at Sunnyside Gardens, went to BYUI and chose a major.  Then all of a sudden she started to feel like now was the right time.  So she started working on her papers.  She got them in about 2 1/2 weeks ago.  We were hoping that she would get her call this week, but no letter on Thursday or Friday, so we kind of gave up on it.  Then late Saturday night she called and said that she was holding the big white envelope that has the return address as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She was giddy and wanted to open it so bad, but had decided to wait until family and friends could assemble.  We got to her apartment  after stake conference at about 12:45 pm.  As soon as everyone was ready, she opened her call.  She is going to Carlsbad, California, english speaking.  She is leaving on February 10th, which is the day that Katelyn is coming home.  This could be interesting.  The main thing is that Annalisa is sooooooooo happy.  It's nice to know what the plan is for you.  Now she knows.  She will be a great missionary!