Derek's Homecoming!

Okay, I took 200 pictures this week, but I tried to restrain myself from posting ALL of them, so here are the highlights. 

 On Sunday evening, we played in the basement. Grace found this beautiful get-up.

 Alice is always hoarding the balls.

On Monday, we got all ready for our trip. Alice was pretty tired after it all.

 On Tuesday, Ashley arrived in the morning. We left our husbands in Utah to work, and drove our kids to Idaho for a party! The drive was fairly painless, though Cheyenne is a bit of s scratcher/puncher/hair puller/pusher. On top of that, poor Alice caught Cheyenne's pink eye.

 We visited and ate and took care of kids (Mom and Cassidy were the only ones there to greet us), then Mom worked on Grace's skirt for the family pictures at the reunion.

She finished the skirt that night, and soon finished Alice's and Cheyenne's too! Whitney and Adam came home in the late evening as I was introducing everyone to "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files". Cassidy was really into it.

 On Wednesday, the kids played together at the tea table.

 Cheyenne and Alice did some cooking.

 Cassidy and I helped them make signs for Uncle Derek.

 Picture of the girls being cute out front. Alice's poor eye!

 On the porch swing with Aunt Cassidy.

 Trampoline time.

 Dad came home from Aaronic Priesthood Camp for the day. Ashley is very pregnant.

 Alice liked Cassidy.

 Grace loved that trampoline!

 Then we all headed to the airport with 10 minutes to spare. Too bad Derek's plane was 20 minutes early. He hid behind a pole and surprised us!

 The proud parents.

 With the Gabrielsens.

 We ate lunch at Wendy's to celebrate his return.

 Then home for visiting. Derek went through photos and told some stories. I think Dad was pretty overwhelmed by it all.

 It didn't take the kids very long to warm back up to Uncle Derek. (Natalie, Derek, Savannah, Grace)

 Then they went out back and picked wild flowers. (Grace, Savannah, Natalie, Cheyenne)

 Alice woke up cuddly and crusty-eyed. Poor kid.

 Grace loves her Grandma Flake!

 Grace, Savannah, and Alice tried unsuccessfully to take a nap together.

After wasting and wearing out his life in the service of the Lord for two years, Elder Flake allowed himself a 15-minute nap. Then he got antsy and went out visiting less actives with Dad - ha!

 Haley and Greg arrived by dinnertime. Dad's first time meeting the baby Emily Mazel.

 Aunt Cassidy fell in love with her instantly.

 Grace was all worn out by the excitement of the day, and fell asleep in the blanket closet.

 I woke her up for Derek's welcome home dinner: crockpot chicken and scotcheroos. She barely ate a bite.

 So I put the girls to bed early. Then we played games all evening, including our new favorite: Monopoly Deal. I think Cassidy also made us play Clue that night, which we all hated.

 On Thursday, Derek went to get released. The rest of us hung out after a late night/early morning. We made a big breakfast, then Greg hung out with the kids on the lawn.

 Grace got some quality time with the baby Emily.

 I tried to get some pictures of her looking at the camera.

 She is very focused for a 1-month-old.

 In the afternoon, we went to Joel/Melanie's new house to swim in their pool. The hot tub was a crowd-pleaser, especially for newly-released Derek.

 Sweet little angel post-swim. Her pink-eye had spread to both eyes by now.

 Grace was pretty scared of the water, but got a few lessons from Uncle Greg and Aunt Melanie, and had a good time in the hot tub with Aunt Cassidy. That evening, we played more games and watched Fact or Faked.

 On Friday, the girls were so happy to wake up to their daddy! He had arrived at 11:00 the night before. We really missed him!

 We ran some errands, then a bunch of us met at our favorite Chinese restaurant for our favorite Chinese dish: mushroom chicken at NamKing.

 The food took a while to get there, so Alice found ways to entertain herself.

 Then home for some down time with baby Emily and the new mother.

 That evening, after years of working at Brick Oven, Greg taught us to make pizzas.

 Grace and Alice were in charge of the cheese. The pizzas were delicious!

 We played outside in the evening. Alice LOVES balls!

 Grace and Paul.

 Ashley and Cassidy: the peanut gallery.

 Greg taught Alice how to kick a ball.

 Trampoline time with Grace, Cheyenne, and Paul. After the kids went to bed, we ate too much and played more games: Scrabble, Authors, Uno, Monopoly Deal, Quiddler, etc.

 On Saturday morning, we took out Grace's curlers, and Cheyenne and Alice were interested in them.

 They didn't stay in long, but it was pretty cute.

 Three friends: Grace, Alice, and Cheyenne. There were quite a few fights, and lots of crying and screaming, but sometimes they actually played well together for short periods of time.

 Alice and her pillow.

 Grace and her baby.

Cutie pie.

 We spent the morning making food and cleaning house to get ready for Derek's homecoming party. Paul actually took a 2-hour time lapse video (which reduced down to 4 minutes) of the kitchen frenzy. It's pretty cool.

 Haley and Grace made cupcakes.

 Cheyenne caught up on facebook.

 In the afternoon, the Beal boys surprised Derek by showing up after driving all day from Utah. Jordan just got off his mission a few weeks ago.

 Then we had the recital. 4 of Joel's kids participated (taught by Mom), as well as Grace (taught by me). She started with a poem.

 Then she played Mary Had a Little Lamb, Hot Cross Buns, and Book of Mormon Stories. Mom had to hold the pages so they wouldn't fall, but Grace did great!

 Then Jordan and Greg played some pieces to wow the kids. Then we had Father's Day gifts. Alice learned the actions to "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home", Grace worked for over a week writing/illustrating a book of all the things she likes about Paul, and I bought him a BYU license plate frame and an NM Tech Christmas ornament.

 Then out back for dinner and swimming. Alice loved having her daddy there this time.

 Picturesque setting.

 The guys all jumped in together.

 Joel, Mom, Dad, Haley, and me chillin' by the pool. Joel gave us a tour of their nice new house, then we went home worn out. We visited some, but Paul and I ditched the party around 11 to go to bed!

 Sunday was the big day. We spent the morning preparing food. Sacrament meeting was all about the Flakes: both prayers by Flakes, talks by Greg, Paul, and of course Derek, musical number by the Flake girls, and Joel's kids/Grace sang a Father's Day song with the primary. Then Melanie taught Sunday School, and I played piano in RS! Then home for Derek's party. Cassidy made a collage of mission pictures.

 There was plenty of food.

 We had lots of family and a few friends there.

 We all ate our fill.

 The kids watched Rugrats while people visited, and Paul and I packed the car. We were on our way by 3 pm, sad to leave in the midst of the party.

The girls did well, though neither slept at all. Alice was kind of a mess by the end. We got the girls in bed before 9, unloaded the car, and read family emails and our new Food Network magazine. It was melancholy to be home, but we had such a fun week! Thanks for taking care of us, everyone, and welcome home, Derek!