Welcome Home Elder Dorius!

Elder Dorius returned home after serving for two years in the Korea Seoul mission! My mom and I had planned a couple of months ago to surprise Brad by getting me on his same flight from Salt Lake to St. George and not even tell him I was coming. Through my mom's resourcefulness she called and found out his flight plan and we subsequently booked me a flight seated right next to him! We were bursting with excitement but tried to subtly throw in some comments that alluded to the fact that I may not be able to make it.

Due to the time difference he started his journey Friday the 7th early in the morning but it was Thursday night for us. My slightly paranoid mother planted herself in front of the computer and monitored his flights to see exactly where he was and how it was going. Well it didn't take too long to discover they were delayed and flight plans would be changing. At this point she called me in a panic saying they had already rerouted him on a later flight into St. George so we needed to figure out how to get me on that flight. I knew if anyone could take care of the situation it would be her. She made a couple of phone calls and threw in some charm because they switched my flight and didn't even charge us a fee! There is still hope in humanity!

I arrived in Salt Lake and luckily was able to mosey to my connection now instead of run (which we should all know by now would be a joke anyway). After waiting a while I finally saw two missionaries walking my direction and I was really curious to see how Brad would respond!

He walked up without a change in facial expression and said "What are you doing here?" hahaha!
I responded with "I'm going to St. George with you."

Brad: "I didn't know you were coming."
Me: "Well yeah, it was a SURPRISE!"
Brad: (in his excited voice) "Is Jesse here too?"
Me: (having to crush his excitement) "No Jesse had to work."
Brad: "Oh. I really want to talk to Jesse sometime...."
Me: Silence.
Brad: "Well I was worried about not having a companion this flight but I guess I have one now."
Me: "Yeah. Because mom and I are awesome."

It was a pretty funny conversation. I thought there would be a little more visual excitement out of him but I guess after traveling for about 26 hours he may have been a little tired. :) The next hurdle came when we boarded the plan because now our seats were not together. I was holding out that humanity would take pity on a cute little missionary coming home and a pregnant sister but was sorely disappointed when we asked the man in the seat next to Brad's assigned seat. I simply asked if he would be willing to trade seats so my brother and I would be able to sit together on this flight and he responded "I'm sorry, but I'm actually really comfortable where I am." SERIOUSLY?! What kind of a person says that!? Brad was probably thinking nicer thoughts than I was because I was thinking this guy is a total jerk. So then we hoped that there would be a nice person in the seat next to me who would be willing to switch. We got back to those seats and my seat buddy wasn't there yet so we hoped that was a good sign. He finally walked up and when I asked if he would be willing to switch so we could sit together he quickly responded with "Just tell me where to go" THANK YOU nice human! You seriously made our day! And I kind of felt bad he had to sit by the jerk in the 2nd row.

Anyway, that was the long-winded version of our journey to St. George but we had so much fun on that flight home and just talked about a million different things! We arrived in St. George with a great welcoming committee and then headed to the Stake President's house to get our missionary released. And what a tender moment that is. Wow. I will never forget how emotional it is when we got to hear about Brad's mission, how the church is doing in Korea, and then the moment when he is told to take off both of his name badges. It really is an amazing experience to be a part of.

This sign has a story that needs to be shared. My Uncle Mike and Aunt Kerry live in Hurricane so they were able to make it to the airport and they made this sign. Kerry thought she was writing "Welcome Home! We love you!" but my sneaky Uncle Mike tricked her and instead she wrote "Welcome Home! What's that smell?" So Brad read the sign and instantly starting smelling himself! haha. Mike was laughing but Kerry was insistent that she had put "Welcome Home! We love you" on that sign, until the truth came out that Mike knew all along what it really said! He said they were just double checking to make sure Brad really did spend two years in Korea.

And now that he was home, the partying began! Lots of partying and food with the Dorius Clan!

We also celebrated my parents 50th birthdays! My mom turned 50 about two weeks prior and my dad turned 50 that day! It's kind of a big deal. They are now half a century. I'm sure it will be their best year yet with our two little munchkins on their way!

I even got my dad a grandpa kit.

Filled with his favorites, like memory.

(Apparently because I played this game about a million times when I was a kid, my dad may or may not be traumatized forever)

We also introduced Brad to Just Dance which was about the most hilarious thing ever! I didn't really tell him what it was, just to follow the people on the screen and we ended up laughing until we couldn't play any longer!
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