It started with him flying into Pasco, WA around 6 Tuesday April 5th. My parents took the kids while I went to go pick him up. We stayed the night in a hotel and got back to La Grande just in time for the start of Valin's nap. We also hit snow on our way which totally tickled Patxi. He was so happy to see snow and later play in it; it was kind of funny.
Yup, he tried twice to hit me with a snow ball, and was unsuccessful. He he!
Boston was up and she got some uninterrupted time with her daddy.
It took Valin a little bit to wake up and realized that his daddy was home, but once they started to play like old times, it was as if no time had passed. It melted my heart and filled me with so much joy, I almost burst. Then we went home where Mom and Valin's "Welcome home!" sign was waiting for Patxi. The smile on his face was great. I gave him the tour and I started on our first dinner in 6 months where we've been a complete family. It was great and I had so much peace. But really I felt it that night when we all knelt together as a family for family prayer. It was so wonderful and the spirit came into my heart to testify that this was good and what God's Plan is all about. I felt so complete and beyond joyful.
Next was Patxi's birthday. He, of course, didn't care to do anything, but I wanted to something since he was here. So I baked him a Jello cake and we went out to eat with my parents, who later kicked our behinds at pinochle. It was a great evening.
Then, we got really to travel to Idaho for Patxi sister, Petra's wedding. I was looking forward to it for many reasons. First, Patxi and I would have the drive to talk about things that we really needed to discuss, like re-enlisting, financial plans for the future, and everything we planned on doing when he got back in September. the first half of the drive, we did get to talk, but Valin needed my attention for the rest.
The other thing I was looking forward to was seeing my family that lives in Rexburg. I hadn't seen them since Patxi left. But it turned out that only one of my Uncles and his family was in town, my Uncle Jared, his wife Camille, and their children, Colin, Maddie, Kate, and Gavin. We did go out to dinner with them, which was great. They have such a sweet family and I love spending time with them. Plus Gavin is just 6 months older than Valin so it was cute to watch them take over the restaurant together.
Next, we spent Sunday with Patxi's family, which I was also looking forward to. They are all just so much fun! Valin was too keyed up to take a nap, which made things a little more difficult and forced us to call it a night earlier. Monday we also spent with everyone, including Springe and her family who we hadn't seen since Valin was a month old. We went to see the exhibit of plasticized bodies at the Museum of Idaho, which was really interesting. Valin's attention only lasted for the first floor so I took Valin up to the kid room and then Patxi relieved me so I could see the rest of the exhibit. He's so thoughtful, isn't he.
