Monday, December 19, 2011

Home Again...Home Again!

Home. "The place we love to dwell" the familiar hymn states. It is wonderful to be home. The girls welcomed us with a little live tree all lit and decorated and a special Thai dinner ready for us to eat. They were all smiles and hugs for which I was very glad. I was hoping they would not be sad that we were coming home to stay ending the time they have had the house to themselves. Ashley had to move out of our bedroom and back upstairs. She is very gracious about it and they house looks wonderful. They have done a great job of keeping it up even with their school and work obligations. It was a fun welcome home.

We promptly began planning what the next week or two will be like and Ed began by bringing boxes of Christmas decorations and "stuff" from the attic for me to go through. There is way too much stuff and Ed was surprised. He just kept wandering through the house and then coming back to me and saying, "I didn't remember that stuff!" At the same time he made the comment that it certainly was nice to have more space to wander around in.

Saturday we celebrated Ashley's accomplishments in being awarded her Masters of Public Administration. I am thrilled for her. It was great to meet some of the professors she worked for and to hear them talk about her. It was most fun to watch them talk with each other because they were obviously having fun with her, joking around with an ease that demonstrated friendship and mutual respect. One of the professors told me he is really hoping to get Ashley to agree to a PhD program and he is going to work on her for the next semester since she will be teaching two government classes at the University while she waits to see if she gets an appointment with the Peace Corps. I think Ashley will opt for working right now rather than more school but I enjoyed being the proud mom during the day.

Sunday was great to see our friends and ward family again. We felt so warmly welcomed by everyone. We have felt like one of the younger couples for 18 months now but in our ward, particularly seeing the growth of so many of the kids I saw being born or taught in Primary or YW, we have been put back in our place as one of the old ones. My goodness! One of my friends came up to me with a 7 month old baby in her arms and said, "Hi Nora, I had another baby while you were gone!" It just put into perspective what happens in life while we were in a sort of suspended existence while serving the Lord.

It was also interesting to me that the speakers at Church spoke on Family History and Genealogy. ^_^

So now we start with preparing to discard and organize our "stuff" so we can sell the house and get ready for the rest of our life serving more missions, traveling and visiting friends and family.
Not a bad life I'd say. I am so blessed.

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