Smithsonians: STOCKTON'S HOME!!!!!

Yay! This is the best day! Stockton is home!!!!! It was quite chaotic getting him home. We were doing great time wise, then I decided to check his flight status. He was arriving 18 minutes earlier than expected! Ahhhhh!!!! My friend Teresa sent me a message this morning. This was our conversation...

T: Today is the day!! Enjoy!!!

Me: So excited!

M: But... HIS FLIGHT IS 15 MINUTES EARLY! FINGERS CROSSED WE GET THERE IN TIME!

M: It will be so embarrassing if we are not there.

M: Especially since he told me that he will immortalize me forever if I was late.

M: He knows me so well!

Teresa was laughing at my messages and then sent a car going fast emojis.

M: I know! The car was out of gas too! So Mike is filling it up right now. We hope the rumors are true and the new airport has a super long walk! Ahhhh!

T: This story is getting better and better. It does have a super long walk -- especially if he is in terminal B.

M: He is!!!

T: That will buy you a little time.

M: The only reason I was so late was because he made me promise to change the blog header while he was gone. Had the picture picked out and everything. So... guess what I was doing this morning? Actually I was just pulling up the picture and asked Maysen to do it because I didn't have time. Maysen said, "If only you hadn't procrastinated two years."

T: That's hilarious!!!

M: Also it is raining hard and foggy. And the lights on our car don't work. We are winning today!

T: Well when you get your arms wrapped around him all will be forgotten.

M: So excited!!!

So... that is how my dad started off. It was chaotic, but such an awesome day! (Also, how was his flight that early when it was so foggy and stormy outside?)

Once Mike and I made it to the airport, we thought we were home free. We had called ahead and gotten the information for missionary pickups. They said to go to the third floor of the parking garage. We couldn't go inside. We could only take one car with two people inside, so the kids had to wait at home. There was a sign as we went in the parking garage saying Missionaries 3rd floor. Once we got there it just looked like a normal parking garage. We had no idea what to do. We drove around a couple of times. I called and got a person instead of the recording. He said to go by one of the elevators and try to look at all of them. He told me to split up and have each of us watching two elevators. LAME! I did not want to pick the wrong elevator and have Mike bring him to me. Mike and I waited and watched and waited and watched. Two men came out of the elevator and I asked them if they had seen any missionaries. They said there was a missionary waiting area in the lobby. WHAT????? Mike and I dashed downstairs and across the bridge. I was heading to ask the information guy when I saw Stockton walking towards me. I kind of screamed and made eye contact with the information guy. He nodded like he was saying it was okay for me to go to him. So... we found Stockton!!! It isn't the typical missionary airport arrival, but that's okay. We have him now! Stockton said he was wandering around and had no idea where to go. He also had no working phone, so I'm glad we found him!

Stockton, Stephanie, Mike

Stephanie taking a picture of Stockton taking a picture of the Pepperwood sign

The kids are all waiting on the porch

Maysen, Stockton, Preston's jacket, Jorja

Preston, Stockton, Jorja, Maysen

Laughing at 'Too bad Daisy time'

Video Jorja took as Stockton came home

Zero days left! Yay! Yay! Yay!

By the time we got home it was lunchtime. Stockton picked Hires Big-H to go eat at. The only Hires that was allowing in-person dining was the one in Salt Lake. That worked out well because that is the one we would go to after diving.

Jorja, Stockton, Maysen, Mike, Preston

Random videos from lunch.

Stockton telling a story of a guy he would teach that loved to tell Dad jokes

Stockton's puppet came to lunch with us

Chips

Jorja kissing frogs

My dad came over to see Stockton. He brought him a birthday card with cash. He also brought stuff to make milkshakes. Every time my dad would come over before Stockton's mission the second Stockton would see him he would say, "Milkshake". Hahaha. So funny that my dad brought milkshake stuff.

Dad and Stockton

Stockton & Chips

Jorja & Chips

Stockton wasn't getting released until 6:00 pm, so he had several hours being a missionary once he got home. He decided to take advantage of that time to unpack. He was sad when he opened his suitcase to find him Minion mug didn't make it.

Mike and I took Stockton to meet with President Clark. We thought it would be a quick thing, but he ended up spending over an hour with us. It was awesome. President Clark asked him so many questions about his mission and it was cool to listen to Stockton talk about it. Stockton was just glowing talking about his mission. President Clark told him that just by listening to him he could tell he was an awesome missionary. President Grisel told him the same thing before he left. That he knew he served with his entire heart. Stockton said he left with no regrets. He gave his mission everything he had. Love that! And... now he is home!!!!! We left our Christmas stuff up and celebrated Christmas with Stockton. Stockton opened Christmas jammies first and we all got in ours. Then we gave him his Christmas presents. They weren't super exciting. Mostly snow clothes, but he did get a new phone.

Stephanie practicing selfies