Mikkel's Homecoming

March 10, 2011 - we got up EARLY to drive out to Houston and pick up Mikkel. We drove there because his original itinerary had him on layover in Houston for 3 hours and he asked if there was a way we could just come get him there. It's a 3-4 hour drive each way so we'd get home about the same time as he would have flown in and he just wanted to see his family - I know the feeling!

So, we got on the road around 6am, his flight was scheduled for arrival at 10:10am. Along the way I would check out flight tracker to show the kids about where his plane was. I also had the airline website queued up so we could keep an eye on it.

Early on, the airline said the plane was leaving late and would be into Houston at 10:30am so we stopped to get some egg mcmuffins to hold us over until lunch. Each time I checked the website, the same information kept popping up. That is, until we were about 30 minutes away and suddenly... the flight was scheduled to be in at 10am. It was now about 9:50. I kept praying that he would be detained in customs (not for long, just 20 minutes was all) so we would be there to meet him instead of him waiting for us on the curb. Flashbacks of "The RM" were racing through my head.

We drove up to the terminal and Fred said "just hop out, I'll park and meet you there". So we did - except it was the wrong terminal... luckily though the right terminal was connected to the one we were in so it was just a little longer run to get there in time (and believe me, we were running!)

Just as we made it into the lobby area where we were told to go, I was searching to see if he was sitting around, waiting for us when Isabelle yelled out "Mom, there he is!" I looked to my left and he was just strolling out of customs (where he was not detained) and through the doors to us. Of course, I yelled out "Mikkel!" (at the top of my lungs which got everyone's attention) and ran to him. He barely could put his bags down before I hugged him so tight he probably thought I'd suffocate him.

Isabelle was the designated photographer but got caught up in the mood so we didn't get too many there in the airport but here are a few of the good ones:

These are the soccer jerseys he bought everyone.

So, after all that commotion Fred and I got in touch with each other and he was still looking for a parking space. I told him to just come pick us up since we were done there anyway. It was a little crazy and I have to say I'm grateful for smart phones... we had so much more information at our fingertips because of those! Of course, we probably wouldn't have stopped at McDonalds without that information too... Oh well, it all worked out and we were so excited to see him that nothing else mattered anyway!

After we got home, we had some friends come over for hot fudge brownie sundaes - his "first request meal" and then went to see the Stake President who then released him from his full-time mission. Here we are just before we went to the church - he's wearing a tie he discovered in the MTC that was made out of pajama pants:
By the way, he didn't wear that tie to meet with the Stake President.