Homecoming Gathering

When Goldie was gone, I would occasionally try to picture her actually being here with all of us again, and it was hard to really imagine it or remember what it was like. But then, she was here, and it was just shockingly normal to have her with us! Haha. Almost as if she belongs in this family or something. :)

Truly though, I expected a little more of an adjustment phase--particularly since this wasn't even home to Goldie before we left. But everything has just seemed so normal! (Even if Goldie almost couldn't find her way back home the first time she ventured out on her own and still, a week in, has to use GPS to get anywhere. A tiny reminder that she has returned to a new "home".)

(None of that is to say there aren't differences in Goldie! Some really lovely things. Only to say that she just fits here with us so well! I can't count how many times Starling said to me, "Mom, I'm glad Goldie's home!" It's that feeling of wholeness we always feel when nobody is missing!)

The first few days were full of ... oh, all sorts of things! Goldie retrieving belongings from the storage unit and unpacking, running errands to get her a few non-dress clothing items, getting Goldie released, showing her all the songs we'd been listening to while she was away, getting groceries and baking for the guests that would be coming over after her homecoming, getting a phone set up, Goldie going to the temple, showing Goldie the goats and how to feed the steers, the kids having her watch The Wild Robot with them, trying to move and arrange things in this little rental to accommodate guests, Goldie preparing a talk for Sunday, Abe arriving home to be with us all. It wasn't a lazy few days!

And then it was Sunday. And we had no idea how many people to be prepared for really. But Goldie's talk was a perfect mix of scripture and great stories from her mission (throwing together a wedding and being a bridesmaid; a future convert getting locked out of his house by his dog when the missionaries knocked, etc.). And the gathering afterwards turned out to be a very happy and very hodge-podge crowd. (There was pretty much standing room only initially.) Not a lot of family were able to make it (the distance plus their own church and family obligations), but of course there are 12 of us to begin with, so that's already a good start to a party :). And we did have Mike's parents and several of his family members along with my sister Megan and her daughter Layla. (That turned out extra lucky because it occurred to her we might want some photos from the day so she took several plus made a darling video for us [posted on social media]--all of her own accord. I was so busy hosting and visiting, I wouldn't have taken a single photo!) Along with the few family members that came, Goldie had a number of friends--some from high school, some from Utah State, and even Wyatt who was baptized during her time in Centerton. And then, an extra happy surprise was that a number of families from our Pleasant View ward came to hear her speak! They didn't all come to the house after, and several I had no idea were coming at all, but many of them came to eat and visit, and it felt like such a wonderful thing having these "ward family members" who loved us and missed Goldie and wanted to be here for her return.

There ended up being plenty of great food and, even better, lots of desserts left over. :) And when we commented on how thoroughly worn out we all were after, Goldie said that that is how you feel your entire mission. Haha. She probably did deserve the sitting down and relaxing that night more than any of the rest of us!

Of course her relaxing didn't last long. Continued in the next post. ...