One Month at Home

All the grandchildren at our house for dinner

NOTE - Not sure why this is all underlined - couldn't figure out how to make it go away


It is one month today that we arrived back in PA.  It just seems like an update should be sent on how things are going.


It seems to be not stop for us.  It is almost like moving to find what we packed, get them organized and back in place.  I usually am good at being organized and having a plan, but did not think ahead about making a note or list of where we put things when we packed them up for our mission.  It took us 2 days to find the pots.  We haven’t run out of things to do yet.  We also had a mice issue while we were gone.  They had a field day in our basement; which is huge.  That has kept us really busy.  


We did come home to a house that looked great.  Abe and Anya painted all of the living area and the bedroom the boys used.  They also shampooed our carpet and had all our furniture in place.  That was so wonderful!!


Kate and Drake came to visit on the 23rd of July and stayed until August 4th.  Drake likes to stay busy and quickly found some projects.  He stained our deck, did some power washing, and organized all our movies.  All of us worked on the basement cleanup.  It was time to get rid of somethings and take care of the mice issue.  Walt only got broken a couple of times.  Kate has an emotional support kitty, and so we got to meet her during their visit.  She is adorable (named Belle).


On July 30th, my step-mother passed away.  My dad and her live in Virginia.  So August 1st we went down and stayed until yesterday.  It wasn’t the best circumstances, but it was so good to see my Dad again.  This is the first time we have seen him in over 18 months.  No funeral was held due to COVID, but enjoyed time together.  We reminisced about Joyce, played cards (of course), and ate lots.  The hardest part for my dad will the loneliness. 


We were also able to visit Walt’s parents and oldest brother a few days after Kate and Drake arrived.  His brother moved to West Virginia last month, and his parents were visiting.  We met them at a State Park midway between us and had a nice social distance picnic.  It has been so nice to see family again.

Our picnic with Walt's brother and parents


There have been many many visits from the Grandchildren and 4 sleepovers.  That has kept us busy all by itself.  We have been constantly buying chocolate milk and ice cream.  A gallon of milk at the MD Walmart is $1.43!!  I have also made a ton of pancakes.  That is what the grandchildren want for breakfast when they visit.


The weather has been incredibly hot and extremely humid.  We are definitely not used to humidity.  Water fun has been a popular activity.  We have a creek in our back yard, and a small kids pool.  Add Walt’s plethora of water guns and grandchildren and it’s a blast.  There has been several family dinners either at our house or Abe and Anya’s.  Abe did an amazing job remodeling his house.  


Water Activities with grandchildren






All the grand daughters in their masks

Girl sleepover - sorting beads

Walt and Ace in a water battle in the creek


Barbie's swimming pool
Sleepover - All the grandchildren.  All the girls fit in a king size bed

Boys got to sleep by age - Oldest gets biggest bed.  One opted for the couch

Ice cream at our house
Fun at Abe and Anya's house

As far as church things go - We both gave a talk about our mission the second week we were home.  It was through Zoom and went well.  I also received a calling - Relief Society president.  Yee-haw!    We will start having church on the 16th, but with lots of modifications.  We are only allowed to have 25 people in the building at one time, must wear masks, have it in the cultural hall, and several others.  Things are just going to take some time to get back to normal.  We still don’t go to the store much.  It’s either grocery store pickup or Amazon.  


Sometimes I think being on a mission is a lot easier.  We love being with our family again of course.  We miss all the big sky, cows,  the mountain hikes, cooler weather, less traffic and the people we love so dearly.  We miss being missionaries.  Sometimes I feel lost without my name tag.  I have still been wearing my cotton dresses (Walt called them long T-shirts) because they are so much cooler than shorts.


Please continue to keep in touch with us.  It’s all been a grand experience/adventure, but time for more adventures of a different kind.  We love you all!


Love,


Walt and Joann



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