A Missionary's Return

We've had a pretty exciting September. The three of us traveled to Georgia to greet the return of my brother from his two year mission in South Africa. It was an unforgettable experience. I wouldn't have missed it for the world, and I am so happy that Ava has finally met her crazy Uncle Chase.

Mom and I had been planning the day for quite awhile. For those of you who know my brother, he thrives on being put on the spot. He rarely gets embarrassed, and therefore has no problem being the center of attention. We used this to our advantage and went all out. We had banners, posters, flags and custom made t-shirts to wear at the airport. We stood out, and boy did we make some noise when he came walking through those sliding glass doors. I don't think he minded. He was beaming, and my mom was crying. Okay, so was I. Ava, however, was crying for different reasons. The loud cheering, mixed with the fact that I was jumping up and down while holding her, terrified her a bit. She calmed down quickly and was her curious little self when the time came to meet her famous uncle.

Chase couldn't believe how big she was, and I couldn't believe how great he looked. Seriously, he looked fabulous. Usually Elders come home with a little added weight, not Chaser. He came home with added muscle, and darker hair. Watch out, ladies!

Chase had a total of 13 people waiting for him there at the airport. Three of which he had never met before. Three cute girls. So as you can imagine, our greeting was a long one.

We felt so blessed to have been able to not only be there to see Chase come home, but to have spent two additional weeks in Georgia to see him in the every day routine. I have loved watching him interact with my Ava bug, and see what a great uncle he is. 

Chase has never been one to show a lot of affection, but he surprised me with all the things he did with Ava. I can tell he is loving having the title of an uncle. Whenever we went to the store, Chase was always the one to push the cart while Ava was riding in the front. I would catch him playing games with her as we were walking down the aisles. Ava ate it up. 

I am so grateful he is home. I know he is having mixed emotions about it, but I think that goes to show what a great missionary he was. He truly fell in love with the people there in Cape Town, and it breaks his heart thinking about how long it will take him to go back.  

His plans are to go to BYU-Idaho in January, with a major in Business Marketing. I've already had friends come up to me wanting to set him up with someone they know. He is quite a handsome guy. 

Let the dating game begin!