Arriving Home at Last

I will not try to recount any of the details of our long flight home or the lines and immigration in New York City.

Samuel as we landed in New York City

About to land!

My girls could not believe that they were back in the United States

Gathering all our luggage in U.S. Customs in NYC

 Paul and Denise picked us up at the airport: Paul in a truck to take me and the luggage home, Denise in a van to take Elaine and kids to the County Health Department before they got to see our house at last.  Andy and Ryan met us there to help wrangle my luggage but mostly just to welcome me home.  Eric had worked all morning cleaning up our yard for our arrival.

Some of the JC students had decorated our door for our return

Cousins reunited: Lindsay and Rachel

Elaine was happy to see her car again!

Click this link to see a video of our arrival at our home.

My family with Mother

Samuel ran in to see his "stuff."  Here the rest of us are with Lindsay and Mother

After settling in a bit, we went to Los Hermanos for dinner.  We had not had Mexican food for over a year!

 

We were pretty wiped out from 25 hours of traveling.  Here Elaine tries to keep her eyes open!

 

Is that meat, cheese, and sour cream together?!?

The next few days were a whirlwind, but I soon was settled back into my office on campus.  Thursday night I attended the Tabernacle Choir's dress rehearsal for their Deer Valley concert, seeing many great friends again.  I sang the broadcast that Sunday.  The next week I taught Education Week and resumed my Thursday temple shift.

It's a little place, but it is ours and it is home!

 

All together for our first Sunday dinner in our own home!

Elaine's roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and fresh corn on the cob!

My office and all my books were waiting for me

Malak, Nino, and Mona . . . the office is different than the JC but the music playing is the same!

 Everything is back to its old patterns, but nothing is completely the same.  Today after church, I talked to Elaine and Rachel, who agreed with me that we never sing a sacrament hymn or take the sacrament now without thinking of the places where our Lord lived, walked, suffered, died and rose again.  That is the greatest gift we took from the Holy Land.