Welcome Home Elder Thomas

Finally! I am posting about the return of our second son from the Buenos Aries Argentina West Mission.

We have been counting down for M O N T H S (okay maybe from the moment he checked into the MTC). We loved all the emails and the 4 phone calls we got in those 2 years. It is amazing to see the growth in your son when he chooses at the age of 19 to serve Heavenly Father and others.

When Blain came home, we thought we were getting there early, but his plane came in earlier than us. We just came running up a few minutes AFTER he come through security. I am sure he walked through thinking.... HEY FAMILY... wait, where is my family? Uhmm I hope they got the day and time right.

So to prevent that from happening, we got there an hour and 1/2 early. This gave us time to find the correct security gate, set up chairs and tables for our group.



We talked, we chatted, and one of use even rolled a cool yellow ball that Sidney had in her purse through security and attempted to retrieve it. If anyone could get past security, it would be Brody.



But before he could get the ball, the security lady flagged him down and made him stand on the correct side. We then had to convince some arriving passenger to pick up the ball and carry it across the line so we could get it back. If you look close, you can see Brody has the ball.... SUCCESS!



Ever time we got a new group of passengers coming through, we would ask them... "What plane were you on?". Finally, we started getting some fro Coty's plane. Then we saw a tall fellow in a suit walking down the hall. Could it be him?



Everyone stood up for a closer look.



And then he got closer.



It looks like him, but 2 years is a long time. Maybe my eyes are deceiving me.



Yes, yes I do believe that is our missionary. Doesn't he look great?



The welcoming committee did a great job with their signs.



Hugs all around.





Blain and Coty haven't seen each other for 3 years.





The whole family together again.



Coty left Argentina the night before around 6 pm our time. He got to us about 6 pm the next day. He flew from Argetina to Miami, then on to Dallas. But because his plane got delayed in Miami he missed his connecting flight out of Dallas. At first they told him he wouldn't be flying out until the next day. After a quick call to the mission home and I am sure a few prayers it got worked out. He arrived several hours later than his original arrival time. He has been flying or in airports for over 24 hours. He was T I R E D.

Coty has been entertaining us with some great and some interesting stories from his mission. He definitely has a love for the people he taught. He loves that several of them are now his facebook friend. He says that Argentina is his second home. I am very thankful for 2 sons who were willing to put their life on hold to serve a mission for our Lord. Our family has been blessed through their sacrifice and they have both come back stronger and better men because of it. Both have said it was at times, the hardest 2 years in their lives. But they both said that they would never give them up, because they were also the best.

I am one grateful mom to have such wonderful kids. Yes, that includes Courtney and Sidney too :)