November 11, 2009 was a very, very special day for our family. Our youngest son, Brett, finished his mission. We had the opportunity to drive down to L.A. California to pick him up. It was a sweet experience for Nick and I. We are so thankful that we were able to see the places that he served, attend the L.A. Temple, San Diego Temple and the St. George Temple with him. He is an amazing young man. We also had a wonderful experience of sitting down with Pres. and Sister Blackburn and listening to them express their love and appreciation for the type of missionary Brett has been. We felt very honored, as we were the only parents they were able to meet with. It did this mom and dad's heart good to hear them talk about Brett. Here are some pictures...This was my first hug from Brett. Right after we picked him up we walked over to the L.A. Temple and did a session. Interestingly enough when we were in the celestial room there were 4-5 people that knew Brett when he served in his different areas, and came up to us to introduce themselves and talk about what kind of a missionary he was while serving in their different wards. It was really neat to meet them. Here is Nick and Brett outside L.A. Temple

Here we are again outside the temple

We took a little side trip down to the San Diego Temple. What a gorgeous temple it is!! In the celestial room you can walk up the stairs to the atrium and then look out the atrium window and see the Angel Moroni. That was really, really neat.

We told Brett that the family was going to get together on Sunday afternoon (we got home on Saturday afternoon), but what he didn't know was the girls had planned a suprise and when he walked into the house all of the family jumped out. He was totally shocked and loved every minute of it. The grandkids were amazing. They were so excited! Some of the grandkids didn't want to let go of him. Here is Scott, Brion, Jarom and Easton taking in the scene.

Landon wouldn't let him go.

Brett played ball, hide and go seek, Wii games, anything and everything the grandkids wanted. No wonder they love him so much. Here is Dax, Logan, Allie and Emmie

This is the sign that they hung up inside the house.

I think it is really neat that instead of "Welcome Home" they put "Well Done", because that is exactly how all of us feel about Brett's service. We feel so blessed to have him home.