ben's homecoming

Dave's youngest brother, Ben, returned home from his mission at the beginning of September.  Unfortunately, Sam (Dave's other brother) and his wife, Tanya, missed their flight out.  So, they weren't there as Ben got off the plane, but they did make it a few hours later.  The kids had fun decorating a sign for Ben.

not sure why i'm not smiling, but here we are. so excited he's home! not pictured: jonathan, katie, sam & tanya

mama and her baby.  can you tell she's happy to have him home??

about to meet with the stake president

I'll spare the guys, and not post the next pictures.  Not that they don't look good, I just don't think they'd like it very much!  The first thing they did after Ben had been released was to go and get him a swimsuit, and take him swimming at our pool.  Fun times!  We girls stayed home to get dinner ready, so we could head out to our next adventure...

Dallas soccer game!  Who hoo!  It was a blast!  Ice cream and cotton candy kept the kids happy, and the rest of us had fun cheering and chatting.  The game ended with a spectacular fireworks show - one of the best I've ever seen.  We had some serious fun!

The next day, Sunday, we all attended church together.  It was the first Sunday of the month, so it was fast and testimony meeting.  It was really nice to get to hear all the guys' testimonies, and be all together.  Monday we headed up to the lake for a picnic, swimming, and sand castle building.  We didn't get to see him for very long, but it sure was a fun visit.  Welcome home, Ben!