Angela Joy: Homecoming

Anticipation is a curious thing. Sometimes when you wait so long for something, when it finally happens it often doesn't quite meet your expectations. Well, that was so NOT the case this past week as we welcomed home Jace from Japan. The last few weeks seemed to literally crawl by. . . we were so anxious to see him, his big happy smile, and just to get that "Jace hug" that can't be beat. He definitely delivered!

Like many families of returning missionaries at the airports, we made quite a scene. I think I let out a little yell, and there was lots of laughing and happy tears. Being here in Spokane, this doesn't happen all that often, so there were some curious on-lookers. One nice lady wanted the whole story, and we were most happy to oblige.

After leaving the airport, we went to lunch. Jace had said often that he missed Mexican food, so we went to Qdoba. He dove right into that big burrito. Yum!

After lunch we came home to "chill" for a bit. He was so funny. He walked around the house commenting on the little things that had changed and looking for things that he remembered. He was amazed at his closet and all the clothes he owned. He asked me why he had so many clothes and said that he was very spoiled. We enjoyed the afternoon catching up and hearing about his last week in Japan.

Later we met the Stake President at his office to be officially released. That was a tender time. Removing that black and white name tag for the last time brought tears not only to Jace but to all of us. Afterwards we went to a Sushi restaurant for dinner. Back at home after dinner Jace wanted to play a family game. He has always loved family games, so we played Apples to Apples and I'm proud to announce that Stuart won both games!! Now this is a big deal--Stuart NEVER beats Brittney in any games, and he was thrilled to be victorious. Jace must have brought back some Japanese good luck.

On Saturday we went to the Spokane Temple. The day before Jace left 2 years ago, we were all together as a family at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple when Camille received her endowments. Being in a temple again as a family was wonderful!

Saturday night we had a barbecue. Brent's parents were with us all week, and my parents and my brother Mark and his wife Traci and their boys drove all the way up here from Utah to see Jace. We so appreciate everyone's support. Sunday happened to be both Stuart and Mark's birthdays, so we had a celebration on Saturday night at the barbecue.

Sunday was a busy and awesome day. It started at 6 am with Jace's report to the High Council. He then spoke in the YSA Ward, and our ward a few hours later. The other speaker was Elder Jon Rogers who was leaving on his mission for Brazil. The Rogers are good friends and live just a few blocks away. The meeting was wonderful and there were lots of people from our previous ward there to hear both Elders speak. That evening we had an open house for them both in our yard. We all had a great time visiting and catching up with so many friends.

Jace had mentioned that when he returned home he only had two things he wanted to do: First, go to the temple, and second, go to the lake! So, since we had visited the temple on Saturday, Monday was lake day. We had a great time on the boat. We've had a cool spring, so the water was still pretty chilly, but that didn't stop them. Jace did awesome on the skis and didn't seem to miss a beat. Brent, Stuart, Russ and Camille also braved the cool water. Brittney and I were happy to be flag wavers and just enjoy the sunshine. It was so fun to all be together again on the boat. It was the perfect day!

Now that Jace is home, we are no longer missionary parents. It is a little bittersweet and I'll remember fondly the wonderful weekly emails full of his experiences and counsel. The best thing is that Jace is still the same, just better! Having him around this past week has been great. It's apparent that he's grown in so very many ways, but he's still the son we know. I think we all were a little surprised at just how "unweird" he is!! He says that as much as he LOVED LOVED LOVED his mission, he is looking ahead to the next phase of his life with excitement and anticipation (there goes that word again!!) I have no doubt that whatever lies ahead for him will be just as good as these past two years, the "best" two years of a young man's life.