Kids Come Back! – What We Did When Claire Got Home

For all those moms waiting for their missionaries to return, or waiting anxiously for any long separation to come to an end, I’m here to buoy you up. Because kids come back!

And as much as you will always and forever miss the “little thems,” the “bigger thems” are pretty incredible. (Still, you moms with those little kids hanging on your legs, soak them in a little extra for me, will you!?)

Anyway, we got SO lucky that all our original kids were able to make it to pick up Claire at the airport.

That was a Wednesday morning, and since Claire’s homecoming talk was that coming Sunday (hopefully that recap is coming next week!), hallelujah that they can all work/do school from home and stay for that. Well, Max and Murph weren’t able to stay until Sunday. They needed to get back to 37-week pregnant Abby who we missed terribly. But they switched off with Carson who arrived on Friday night.

And I will never take that for granted…sitting around the kitchen, making food together, seeing my three big girls lined up at the counter together with twinkles in their eyes. Endless jumping on the trampoline with Murphy, and how she warmed up so beautifully to her “Aunt CC” who had been gone so long. It was a magical few days in a cocoon of family time and we lived it up.

My Very Favorite Part

My very favorite part of being together was one evening that I don’t have pictures of. It was after we had put Murphy to bed and we were all sitting on our big couch in the game room, the feeling of family togetherness encircling us. Claire brought up a church question and we stayed up late into the night discussing, everyone with their own thoughts and experiences. As a mother I just sat there and looked at each of those grown adults of mine, and that husband all sharing their hearts and felt like about the luckiest mother there ever could be. Oh how I adore them and their thoughts and hearts and goodness. The good they are trying to do. The decisions they are making. The journeys they are on. They all have their own things they’re battling with and also rejoicing about and I just felt so incredibly grateful, over and over and over again, that they are mine, and I am theirs.

Forever and ever.

Here are the things I have pictures of from our days together.

Temple

After all the hoopla of that first day home, we headed to the temple. Claire had the opportunity on her mission to go to the temple every transfer (every six weeks) and I figured it would be pretty special to go all together while we had everyone home.

And it was. My heart was so full. So much more in the journal of my heart about that part.

My friend had come to take care of Murphy while we were gone and it was the best gift.

Games with Nana and Papa

Nana and Papa dropped by and we pulled them into some games, of course.

Quixx is our game of choice these days and it was fun to sit around that table with so many people we love.

Time with Murphy

Oh it was so fun to have Murphy around. She is the most pleasant creature in all the land, full of hugs and kisses for everyone and taking turns. Oh, and her favorite phrase these days is “my body is amazing” from a favorite song. Oh she kills us!

Shopping

While Lucy was at her MCO practice the rest of us made a speed-trip to the mall to see if we could grab a few things for Claire, who came back with pretty tattered clothes from being well-used every day on the mission.

I have to say, we had a pretty fun time running around just being together.

Fun to have our Miss Murphy helper too…

Home to hot tub, of course. A little cold plunging too.

Goodbye Max and Murphy 🙁

We may look happy in this picture but deep down our hearts were cracking open a bit to let Max and Murphy leave. They were getting back to Abby and baby #2, so we were happy for that part.

We have a family funny about this quote: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,” and I guess that’s exactly what we’re doing there!

I had to follow Max and Murph for as far as I could through security so I could keep hugging them up for as long as possible. Oh how I love them!

It was so fun to see Max in full dad-force, balancing working from home, studying code, and being the most amazing dad to that darling Murphy.

I may as well post this photo here too, because I LOVED that Abby was still “there” at the airport even when she wasn’t. Love this screenshot she caught when Murph and Claire got reunited:

Love it with all my heart. Oh how we wished we could transport her there with us! We picked up Carson to take Max’s place, but hold on…we hit the Suns game first.

Some Extra Excitement: the Suns Game

We sure love to get to Suns games when we can. Our kids get big huge stars in their eyes when we can sneak that in. It is a pretty big treat.

Lucy had headed off to an overnight church retreat that she was so excited about. So after Max’s drop-off we had just these three girls to ourselves for a few hours before Carson’s arrival.

So what could be better than heading to a Suns game??

We went out to eat first:

So much happiness and excitement making the walk to the game:

And then there we were.

With all our bells and whistles on to cheer our hearts out (for our team that is not doing so hot at this point in time…come on Suns!)

I think our cheering pulled off the win. And Bol Bol is VERY tall, just FYI.

Carson’s Arrival

It was perfect timing to pick up Carson after the game.

And so fun to see this grand reunion:

Our two Australian missionaries.

You may or may not remember that Carson served is mission in Sydney, Australia as well. He as Spanish speaking rather than Mandarin though. Love that they have that in common. And love their cute relationship.

More Reunions and the Orthodontist

Yes, we went to the orthodontist on a Saturday morning. That’s the kind of perk Elle and Claire get since their dad went to kindergarten with their orthodontist. You see, one of Claire’s last companions accidentally ran over her retainers in her last transfer (long story), and Elle’s retainer was broken too. So we got them fixed up and got to meet up with one of Claire’s closest cousins (and pre-mission roommate) who lives close-by.

Cousins are the best.

And for real, Garn & Mason Orthodontics are the BEST EVER!

Long-time blog readers may or may not remember when Elle was “larger than life” on their wall:)

Lake Trip

One of Claire’s heart’s desires was to go to the lake, she had missed it.

And yes, it was FEBRUARY, but it had been close to 90 degrees for the last few days so we were there for some lake time.

As luck would have it, it got colder and the wind kicked up when we got there. It made for some pretty incredible beauty!

Claire’s still got it.

Reunion with My Parents

We went straight to our favorite and long-awaited spot for dinner after the lake, and that’s where we met up with my parents who came for Claire’s homecoming talk at church the next day.

I think these reunion photos are some of my very favorites:

Such a special reunion.

I love where they put their attention:

So fun to have some time with them that evening.

…And also a little visit from Claire’s high school friends she hadn’t seen in three years. They gave her a little boost before her homecoming talk the next day.

Love those boys!

Then, more games. Of course. Claire is finishing up her thoughts about her talk over there at the counter:

So many grand reunions. And the homecoming day at church was so special as well.

But that will have to wait until next week.

For now, I’m just so grateful for these days of family togetherness that have already turned into such golden threads in our family tapestry.

Welcome home, Claire Bear. How we love you.