kelly and her boys

we had a great week visiting with family and friends for nick’s homecoming. grandma, margie, bruce, denise, and our good friends the langstons and smiths. nick gave a great homecoming talk on sunday. all the above mentioned people came over for dinner after church and we had a fun time together.

grandma and margie arrived tuesday afternoon during the only 15 minutes that no one was home that day. isn’t it always funny how that happens? but, they didn’t have to wait long. doug arrived home soon after they got here. we had several fun days together shopping, playing games, watching movies, and just chatting. friday grandma & margie made their famous potato salad. what a treat!

friday night denise and bruce arrived. saturday we went shopping and then did a drive-by on PCH for our “YES on 8″ campaign. doug and the boys were out at three arch bay waving signs. so we drove by honking and waving in support. it was quite a sight to see hundreds of yellow shirts and signs all up and down the highway. then, when we finished that we all went to an early dinner at claim jumper. so yummy! after dinner we all sat around the tv to see pictures from nick’s mission and hear his stories. that was a very awesome hour and a half.

sunday was quiet in the morning. then church at 1:00. nick gave his talk amongst a very crowded room. it was awesome. then we had our fun get-together after, like i already mentioned. it was so fun to see everyone. we told bruce and denise goodbye sunday night and they went to their hotel to spend the night and head home monday morning.

grandma and margie stayed with us, so we were up kind of late talking with them, enjoying the last few hours we got to be together. then they left at 9 am monday morning. everyone arrived home safely tuesday afternoon.

this has been a busy week, but it is full of wonderful memories. we have just over a year before we do it all again! i look forward to the amazing experience it is to have a missionary but i don’t look forward to the time spent without clayton. i will miss him so very much. i continue to take deep breaths and know that somehow i’ll have the strength. remembering how awesome it has been to have nick home again will help tremendously. this has been so amazing it is hard to describe. i highly recommend it!

nick has now officially moved into his new bedroom. it is a mess, so he feels right at home. no, seriously, it’s not that bad. he’s just still trying to get everything organized. he said he finally feels like he’s home. it has been quite a whirlwind since he got home and now that things have calmed down, he feels a lot better. i’m exhausted, but it was worth it.

again, i’ll work on posting pictures. i’m getting closer to figuring it out…

thursday was the best day, ever! nick arrived home safely at john wayne airport in orange county. i blubbered like a baby as soon as i saw his face. i can’t remember being so excited and happy as i was at that moment. i hugged him and didn’t want to let go. we had a grand reunion and heard stories about montana all day long.

friday morning we went to the newport beach temple and had a great time there, too. doug, nick and i attended the 7:00 am session. it was a beautiful, spiritual day.

he was officially released as a missionary friday at 6 pm. we had an open house for him at 6:30 and we were able to visit with many friends and family. what a blessing it is to have so many people we love come and greet nick.

he looks great, he is just the same guy he was 2 years ago. a little older, a little wiser, a lot better for the wear. he served honorably and did his very best. what more can i say? the 2 years have suddenly melted away and our family is back together. it’s the best!

two more days…about 48 hours.

i have been very blessed to have a calm, peacful feeling so far. but, now i’m getting anxious. especially since the weather in montana has been questionable. snow and rain. today he travels on a bus from frenchtown to billings. about a nine hour trip according to nick. and, he’s riding alone. a missionary, without an ipod or other means of entertainment, on a bus for several hours, in the rain and snow. doesn’t sound fun to me. but, i know nick. he’ll make the best of it. the lord will watch over him and protect him. i know it.

HEY! VOTE YES ON PROP 8!

by this time next week, i’ll have hugged nick about 100 times! ok, maybe not that many, but at least 10. today is kenneth’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Kenneth! and it marks the last week of nick’s mission. nick sent a great email yesterday. (you can read it at elderandersen.com) i can’t summarize my past 2 years so easily. but, i do know that it has been one of the hardest and best things i’ve ever experienced. 2 years is a long time. a long time of writing weekly emails and letters, of only hearing his voice 4 times, of holidays celebrated without him, and of tears shed when i’m really missing him. however, i wouldn’t trade it for anything! he has had such a great experience that he could never have any other way and i’m grateful he chose to take the time to do it. i know he is a much better person for it. i’m a better person for it, and there are many people in montana who are better for it.

thank you nick, for being the amazing son and man that you are! i’m really looking forward to my hug!

(just think, in only 14 short months i’ll be doing this all over again with clayton. i breathe a heavy sigh, but i know i’ll have the strength when the time comes.)

despite my promises to keep this blog updated, i haven’t done it. so, today i resolve once again to do better. i can only get better, right, not worse?

i am thoroughly enjoying my hiatus from school. perhaps i am enjoying it too much. i just looked at the saddleback schedule of classes and became overwhelmed at the stress involved in going to class everyday. not to mention the homework! i am seriously considering holding off until fall 2009. after all, clayton will be graduating from high school in june. i’d like to be with him more, not school.

it has been liberating to get caught up on the things i put off for the past 3 years while i was going to school. also, we have remodeled our computer room to be a bedroom for nick when he returns home in 9 days! yippee!

we had new carpet installed yesterday morning just in that room. it looks so nice that the rest of our house looks awful in comparison. we have also painted, put in new moulding and baseboards, new blinds, and doug built an awesome cabinet that serves as a closet for nick and as storage for me. it has all come together so beautifully that i can’t wait till we can afford to do another room. (incidentally, that room has been left unfinished since we moved in almost 11 years ago.) i’ll see if i can figure out how to post a picture soon. then you can all see how nice it looks. i’m just sorry you can’t feel how nice the carpet is.