Hayden's Missionary Homecoming

We are excited to hear Hayden speak in church today and hear about his mission!

We got the basement all set up for his luncheon following the meeting!

I made lots and lots of cupcakes!

Pumpkin Spice

Cookie Dough 

Peanut Butter Cup and Red Velvet Cheesecake

and Hayden's favorite . . . 

Lemon Cream Cheese!

It is always fun to have our family and friends attend church when our missionaries come home!  We love the support and it means so much to us!

We had a lot of people come over to our home for lunch after the meeting.  

We love hosting events like this at our home!

Two of Hayden's elementary school teachers came.

Mrs. Young taught Hayden in 2nd Grade and Miss La taught him in 3rd grade!  So nice of them to come!

It is always good to visit with everyone!

Hayden had quite a few of his buddies there from before mission days

as well as buddies he made while on his mission!

Linda - the babysitter was able to be there.  She tended Hayden for many years when he was younger.  It is so nice of her and her husband, Mark to come and support our kids in the things they do!

We had so many of our family members there and that means so much to us!

Grandma Roper

My Mom's sisters - Lisa and Barbara

The Brenchley's

Molly, Scott and Kendrick

The Eyre's

Emilee, Joseph, Maddie, Dallin and Ethan

The Nielson's

Annie, Jim, Ryan, Jake, Alex and Leah

The Nielson's

Casey, Paula, Zach, Sophie and Nick

Grandpa Mangelson

Our family

The boys

Hayden's buddies

Hayden's did a great job on his talk!  It was great to hear about his mission experiences in Peru!  We are so very proud of him and so glad he is back home with us!

Well done, thou good and faithful servant!

A Good Day To Have A Good Day

We were more than excited for Hayden to come home today!

We watched his flight all morning long and we got a bit nervous when we noticed it was about 30 minutes ahead of schedule!

We texted everyone that was planning to come and told them to hurry and get to the airport!

I splurged and hired a videographer to come and capture the footage of today as well take photos.  She interviewed each of us.  It was kind of awkward talking, but it will be a fun memory to document our feelings about Hayden's mission and him coming home today.

I cannot explain the feelings I was having this morning - it is just a surreal experience!

It was so exciting to have all of my siblings here, 

Jason's family 

and many cousins to welcome Hayden home!

And of course, it was so great for my Dad to be able to be there!  I am so grateful for my sister, Emilee that always brings my Dad to our events.  Thank you, Emilee!

We visited while we anxiously waited for Hayden's arrival!

We took lots and lots of photos,

laughed a lot . . .

cried a little . . .

checked the flight status constantly . . .

practiced breaking through the finish line banner . . .

and continued waiting.

Before we knew it, Hayden's plane had landed and any minute he would come around that corner!

It was the best day ever to see him!

And his reaction to Keaton was priceless!

Keaton has grown a lot in the past two years!

Hayden didn't even recognize him!

What a great reunion!

Welcome home, Hayden!

We all love you so much!

We are so very proud of you and glad you are home safely!

We got all of his luggage rounded up and left the airport with our boy!

This is the best sight ever to look back and see your son!

And these two look like twins now!

We all headed out to Jordan Landing and ate some lunch at Noodles - 

Hayden's request.

It was so great to visit with everyone!

I am so very grateful for our families and how they always support us in all we do!

Such a great day!

We came home and chilled for a few hours.

Hayden showed us a few of his souvenirs that he brought back from Peru.

We had to be over to the Stake Center at 6:00 p.m. for 

Hayden to be released as a full-time missionary.

It is a bitter-sweet feeling to have him walk in President Walker's office as a missionary and walk out with his missionary badge off and released.

Well done thou good and faithful servant!

It has definitely been good day to have a good day!

The videographer put together an amazing video!  It was money well spent and I would do it all over again!  You can watch the video here.