It was a week of homecomings!
Gabe had not been home since Christmas 2018. We saw him and Shannon several times in 2019 (including for their wedding and then a trip to Hawaii with them). But then Covid hit, and green card procedures slowed down (and once you apply for a green card you can’t leave the country). We are grateful for Zoom and FaceTime so we could see them during the past 2 years , but we were so excited to see them in person.
We headed to church
On the Monday we were excited to welcome home Elder Fiore! It was fun to have him home for a bit during Covid, but we were more excited for him to be home from his mission overall.
We had a different homecoming since the COVID restrictions still limited access to the airport – so we went to the parking lot.
It was still the sweetest reunion. There is something pretty special about the reunion after a mission – especially knowing all the challenges and growth that he had experienced.
I spoke with him as he was leaving for the airport to come home:
Then we were all there waiting with signs:
He was easy to spot – being in a suit with tons of bags!
Mission accomplished:
It was a sweet reunion between him and Rachael. If you have followed this blog long enough you will know that they met years ago at a church conference. While they did date, they also had big plans for themselves individually. She wanted to be an au paire in France for a year (which she did in 2018) and they both wanted to serve missions. He was called to Tahiti, she was called to Thailand. He completed it in Calgary, she completed it in Vancouver. So after 3 official years apart, they were reunited and it was a touching reunion.
Hugs all around (although I missed a few!)
We headed home (stopped off at our church leader’s home where Elder Fiore was “officially released” from his assignment as a full time missionary) and the craziness of having everyone home began!
