Elder Yates was expected home August 13th at 5pm. A massive wind and hail storm came in right as his plane landed. There was a plane sitting at the terminal his plane was supposed to arrive in, but due to the extreme weather they would not allow that airplane to depart. So Elder Yates had to wait on the runway for another hour before they could deboard the plane. He was the last to come through the doors but obviously made an impression on quite a few people as many of them mentioned they had met him and he greeted them all as they walked off the plane. There were many cheers, tears and hugs when he entered the waiting area at the airport. Several of his friends made the trip up in the severe storm to welcome him home as well.
The Pace family wasn't able to make it up to the airport due to parent teacher conferences so we met them at a Chinese Restaurant for dinner and to welcome him home. We asked Elder Yates what he wanted his first meal to be upon returning home and he said Sushi since he hadn't had it in 2 years.
Elder Yates was released as a missionary from our Stake President, President Joe Hudson whom we have been good friends with for years. It was a very special night. As Skyler removed his tag, he said "it's just a tag, the work isn't over". He vowed to be a missionary for the rest of his life. After the releasing, mom and dad had a little surprise and brought out the "PUZZLE". The kids know when mom and dad bring out the world puzzle, there is a trip involved. They put it together and found that we were going to Hawaii as a family over Fall break since it had been over 4 years since our last family vacation with all 6 of us.
Skyler brought us back a common food from Jamaica, Spice Buns and canned cheese. The buns weren't too bad, more like spiced cake, the cheese was a lot like Velveeta.
Skyler had very little time to get adjusted to life back home. The day after he returned mom knew he needed a new wardrobe and Jayden and Aysia needed some new Back to School clothes. So we all headed up to the mall and outlets for a day of shopping and lunch.
Skyler's second day back consisted of more shopping, moving into his apartment, taking the Front Runner up to University of Utah, walking around the campus, finding his classes and getting all of his student information set up. Skyler decided to live in Orem since he didn't know anyone living in Salt Lake. His apartment, Wolverine Crossing was right across from the Front Runner Station. Mom was able to register Skyler up for classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays allowing him to work a half day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Jayden's work was looking for someone just as Skyler came home and he was offered a job at the Warehouse Jayden as worked for the past 2 years. It has been a huge blessing as they have been extremely flexible with their schedules which is amazing as they both navigate school. It was an extremely busy 3 days preparing Skyler to get ready for school, now he could focus on preparing for his homecoming talk the next day.
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