Welcome home Elder Southwick!

I can't believe it! 2 years! I know we were incredibly spoiled to have our missionary son, Dallin, come home for 6 weeks after only 9 months into his mission, but those 2 years still seemed like a long time. We were more than excited to have him home and have all the family together again. The week leading up to his return was busy with preparations. In fact, from now until school starts, it seems like we've over-planned ourselves! Haha! I guess that's how it goes. Everything seems to get shoved into just a few weeks.  The kids made posters in preparation for his return while I decorated and got ready for an open house we were hosting in his honor the night after he got home. We knew other family and friends would be just as anxious to welcome him home, but the day he returned was just us! Laurin worked that day so she wasn't able to join us at the airport, but Jeff, Danny, Jonas, Amber, and I were anxiously awaiting his arrival at the airport. (And wouldn't you know it...he was one of the last ones off the plane!) I'm not sure who was more excited the kids or me. I was that mom who didn't think she would get so emotional but totally did! Danny decided to dress up in his inflatable dinosaur costume for an added surprise. Dallin looked a little shell shocked but very happy. We quickly grabbed his bags then headed to a restaurant in SLC to meet up with Jacob, Laurin, Casey, and Carter for dinner before Dallin needed to meet with the stake president to be released. 

I am grateful that we had the one evening to ourselves because since then, it has been a revolving door of friends and family. The next morning, we took Dallin and a few of his friends out on the boat. Dallin was more than ready to test out his water skills. Sometimes missionaries come home a little disconnected from what we consider "reality". I think Dallin connected pretty quickly. He realizes that life is just a series of different chapters and he gets to start writing a new one. I'm grateful that he wants to carry over some of the habits he gained on his mission all while realizing life will be different and that's ok. I am proud of Dallin. I am proud of the man he was, the man he became, and the man he is still becoming. He truly served with all his heart, might, mind, and strength. He touched so many people in both the Dominican Republic and in Tennessee. Since his return, it's been both exciting and a little sad to see how much he has grown and matured. He doesn't need his parents any more. He is fully capable of maneuvering through life. That doesn't mean he won't make mistakes, but he doesn't need us to hold his hand as he starts his adult life. I'm not sure if he'll ease into the adult world as easily as he eased back onto a wakeboard, but I'm sure he'll have fun with the exhilarating jumps and be positive about the body-bruising crashes. We had a blast on the boat that day! It was fun to see him interact with his friends again...and to catch up with them. He had an awesome group of high school friends...many of whom served missions and have since returned. I am excited for all of their futures!

Tanner Dehart, Tyler, Dallin, Tiffany Nelson, and Emily Parrish

That evening, we hosted an open house. Many of his friends and several family members came over to welcome him home. I was horrible with pictures though! I got too caught up in greeting friends and family that I didn't remember to take as many as I probably would have otherwise. Still, it was great to see so many people who love and support Dallin. This next week will be crazy as we work to get him a car, solidify a job, and start to get him settled into an apartment in a couple of weeks. I think I'm going to need a vacation soon!

Happy 6th Birthday Jonas!

How is he 6 already?! When did that happen?! I keep telling him that he needs to stop growing up, but he usually responds that God created him to grow. How true that is! He is such an incredible little boy (although not so little anymore!). He has a good heart. He always wants to do the right thing. He is able to express his emotions and reason better than any other 6-year-old I know. He is academically on target and never ceases to amaze me with his intellectual growth. He loves his family! He is happiest when we are all together and he can't wait until Dallin gets home...TOMORROW! In any case, we spent the entire month celebrating Jonas. The birthday festivities started while all the Shumway family was in town. (It's just way more fun to do these parties with his cousins.) This year he chose to have an Avatar: The Last Airbender themed birthday. 

The birthday gang: Sadie, Quincy, Azzi, Addie, Kate, Nolan, Jonas, Camden, Jet and Lincoln

We started the party with four different games to master the four elements: water, fire, earth, and air. For the water game, they had to squirt out the chalk fires on the driveway. For fire, the adults became the enemy as the kids launched red dodge balls at us. For earth, they had to move a "boulder" (beach ball) through an obstacle course. And, finally, for air, they had to blow ping pong balls into plastic cups across the table. I tried to convince Jonas that we didn't need to do piñatas this year, but he didn't go for it. We couldn't find any Avatar themed piñatas so we went with a burro and a birthday cake.

After the games, Jonas got to open his gifts. He got a new Nerf gun from Gma and Papa and one from Renee's family. Nichole and Kate got him some Power Ranger gifts. The Tanners got him some ninja stars and a book. He loved it all!

Finally, we had lunch and his birthday donut "cake". This kid still loves donuts! Plus, he knew we'd be having another family birthday dinner/dessert so he opted to do his cake then. For lunch, we just did sandwiches with Nacho cheese Doritos (fire), veggies (earth), popcorn (air), and juice (water). I have to admit this was the least creative/prepared birthday party I've done yet...and the best part was, he didn't seem to notice or care! He simply had fun. I still kept with a theme...and he got donuts. What more could he want?

On Sunday, July 25th, we celebrated again. This time, we invited his older siblings (Laurin, Casey and Carter came down for the weekend but had to leave before the actual dinner because Laurin had to work), and other family members. Originally, he decided that he just wanted mashed potatoes and mac & cheese for dinner. It took some convincing to add in a protein and vegetable to the mix, but finally, we ended up with chicken cordon bleu, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and a veggie tray. Jonas, however, only ate the mac & cheese and a few cucumbers. It was his birthday dinner and one of the few times I don't insist he eat everything. For dessert, he chose a Texas sheet cake and Oreo ice cream (a recent favorite). He  sharing a meal with everyone and opening his gifts. His favorite gift, by far, was the sword Jeff bought him when we went to the Scottish Festival. Jonas has been begging Jeff to build a forge so they can make their own sword. It's just been a crazy, busy summer and it hasn't happened...yet. So Jeff decided to get him another sword in the meantime. The funny thing is that he doesn't want to give Jonas a pocket knife yet, but somehow a large sword is ok.

Tuesday, July 27th, was the big day! 6 years old! We have been pretty busy the last few weeks getting ready for Dallin's return (tomorrow!), but I made sure to clear my schedule to dedicate the entire day to celebrating Jonas. I gave him so many choices of what we could do. Ultimately, he chose to go to Hang Time, but before that he wanted a birthday breakfast of a pancake, a French toast, and a waffle...and lots of buttermilk syrup!

We got tp Hang Time when it opened, played for a couple of hours then we met up with Jeff for lunch at Cafe Rio. After lunch, we did a little shopping trip with a donut treat afterwards. I even played whatever Jonas decided he wanted to play (which is sometimes hard for me because I don't do well with hours of imaginative play) when we got home. Still, it was worth it to see his smile. He has brightened our family in so many ways. He's everyone's little sidekick. He is honest and kind. He loves to laugh and be with family. We can't imagine our life without him. Happy birthday Jonas!