Sister J's Homecoming

It's hard to believe it but Amy has returned from her mission to Russia! I am sure that for her it felt like a lifetime ago that she left for her mission, but to me the last 18 months have just sped by. We had planned to go to Elko so that we could be there to greet her when she arrived at the airport, but Benjamin was sick so we didn't get to see her until the following weekend when we traveled to Elko for her mission homecoming talk at church. I was so wonderful to hear her testimony and learn more about the great experiences she had on her mission. It was kind of funny because she looks basically exactly the same as she did when she was 14 and I always think of her as my baby sister, but hearing her speak it was like, "Hello! This is a grown-up, thoughtful, spiritual, bright, strong, amazing woman!" Now if I only knew a single guy remotely equal to her quality I would sure have some fun setting her up...

Anyway, we had a wonderful, quick weekend in Elko and I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here are some from our dutch oven cook-out in Lamoille (which by the way, my Mother is a heck of a cook with a dutch oven!)

The adorable baby cousins. These Johnson women seriously make some cute babies. 

The men folk. When I told my dad to try to look normal for the picture, this was the best he could do. Ha! 

We played by the creek

Miles of course couldn't resist stripping down and going for a dip. He was brave--the water was COLD!

Of course he wanted to climb the fallen log like a monkey. 

As usual Grandma got her snuggles in with the babies and helped take care of them so that Cami and I could sleep/eat/rest.

Love this photo of my sweet sister and Miles. One of my favorite photos ever of them. 

I am so proud of Amy! I know she was a hard-working, faithful, loving missionary in spite of serving in a place where the church is very young and the culture (and climate!) is not very warm.