Siblings Reunited

After two years and several extra weeks, my little brother was finally on his way home from Malyasia. The flight was right on time.

What time, you ask? Eli's nap time. Shucks.

As we were all waiting for Ben to arrive, a different brother surprised us as he made a grand entrance down the escalator. That Abe.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

Waiting. Waiting.

At this point, you might be wondering, what is up with those monkeys? Ben was expecting a big ordeal full of color-coordinated shirts, signs, banners and applause. We took it one step further in the form of monkeys. Monkeys roam the streets of Malaysia. So we thought it would make Ben feel a little more at home if we had something familiar to his new Malaysian self greet him at the airport. The kids were fully equipped with monkey stuffed animals and a monkey joke on the front of their shirts to share with the RM.

Waiting. Wrestling Eli. Waiting. Waiting.

My Aunt, Mom and Grandma.

My Uncle and his family.

Jacob. To say he's obsessed with BYU would be an understatement.

This is about the time I was longing for the days when I could set Eli in his carseat for a little catnap.

Happy parents.

Benj wasn't the only missionary coming home. The airport was packed!

The monkey has landed.

As soon as he saw my dad he ran for him and gave him a huge hug. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

The next three pictures are the "those signs don't make sense" series. Thanks a lot google translate.

Ben. Meet Eli.

He came bearing gifts and souvenirs.

Welcome home Ben!

The Circus is in Town

My, that chain is mighty short. Don't you know? That's the chain my dad made six months ago to count down every last day until my little brother comes home from his mission. The end is finally in sight as Elder Thomas makes his grand entrance back to America this Wednesday! Yahoo!

My brother's family from Nebraska came into town, and today we all gathered together for our traditional Sunday dinner. Even Caroline's doll had a place at the table.

These two are best buds. You think I mean Eli and Emma? Or maybe you think I mean Natalie and Spencer in the background? No, no. Emma has taken a special liking to Jeff and they are darling together!

After Sunday dinner we all caravanned to our house for the grand tour. Eli's room was a big hit.

My dad got busy making the homemade ice-cream. It just wouldn't be a Thomas Family get-together without a heaping batch of homemade ice-cream.

I had also made some apple pies that complemented our delicious ice-cream tradition quite wonderfully. Mmmm. And I'd like to note that just before the picture below was taken, my brother said, "You know, I'm really becoming more and more photogenic." Coulda fooled me.

Almost all the grandkids. Being so cute.

We ended the night with a little croquet.

We're all looking forward to the rest of what's sure to be an exciting week.