We were very happy to be able to stay with Leon and Callie this summer. They have a new, beautiful home and we enjoyed staying in their guest bedroom. It was near the Ping-Pong table, which was enjoyed often (and only occasionally kept us up!). Plus, we were directly next to the media room—which was completely dark. All of the girls piled in their sleeping bags and bunked together. When you actually bunk together, the cousins have a lot more opportunity to get to know each other. The girls were so excited to have real sleepovers every night with cousins Camryn and Addie. We don’t do sleepovers with friends so this was a true adventure for them. They ended up going to sleep every night around 11 and not waking up until 10 in the morning. Wow, we have to do some work on normalizing our routine at home!
A great gathering began in Saint George in honor of Dallen’s homecoming. First we arrived at Callie and Leon’s place. Then Cherin and Sam arrived to stay with the Rasmussens. Then Molli arrived and joined the party. Papa and Nana showed up soon thereafter. We just tried to keep time until the man of the hour could join us. So, we got out to do a few fun things in the interim. We had a wonderful family dinner gathering at Leon’s, along with a few rounds of cousin ping-pong. Callie’s parents invited us to experience a life of luxury on the estate they are house sitting. The pool had quite the spectacular birds eye view of the St. George valley and the temple. Stephen took a crew of kids to hike the Red Rock Narrows and then insisted that our family visit the temple. After a month of bachelor life and some great experiences with missionary work (in his free time), he is on a spiritual path. Our girls were so tired out from a lack of sleep and increase in activity that they fell asleep on the way to the airport for Dallen’s big arrival. They did rally in time though!
The highlight of the week was of course Dallen’s homecoming. The kids had prepared dozens of signs for the airport greeting and a paper cup sign on the freeway. We didn’t have to wait long until we saw him striding through the doors. Without skipping a beat, he gave Molli a hug and then proceeded to hug a ton of family, friends and neighbors. We were all anxious to get our turn and then anxious to take as many pictures as possible of every grouping possible. Afterwards, we headed to the stake center where Dallen was officially released. The five siblings and Molli were invited to attend that special moment. We were all invited back to the Rasmussen’s place for pizza and Q & A. The Rebers have a “hot seat” opportunity for all return missionaries. Dallen sat down in a chair and they all asked him questions for hours (literally). I eventually had to take off so that I could lay the baby down to bed! I was impressed with his testimony. There were definitely moments where he admitted to struggling with depression and loneliness on his mission, but he found answers in the scriptures. All in all, He does seem relatively normal…no major weight increase that I could see, nor any real weirdness beyond an occasional lapse in English. He seemed to take right back up with Molli. I’m anxious to see how that will all turn out. Wedding bells, maybe?
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