The first few weeks back

We've been home for a little over a month now. We didn't feel overly emotional coming home, although Tennie displayed some nice drama by kissing the airport floor. We knew it would be nice to be around family, and to return to some basic conveniences, but we also knew our simple lifestyle would be difficult to maintain, we would miss the absence of consumerism, and the distance from the political and economic situations here. Almost instantly upon our return it felt like our life in France was a dream, like we visited a place and had adventures only to come back and re-enter life at exactly the same moment we left it. Only we feel and see things differently. People think they know all about our year in France because they've kept up on this blog, but the depth of our personal and family transformations, and experiences, were rarely conducive to this public blog. Since back I've noticed that people smile, that people in stores are helpful and try to make our experience pleasant, that a lot of people are obese, that carpet feels really good, that people are always on their cell phones, that American washing machines are huge and quick, that I used a lot of body language the first few days, that we were (are) resistant to scheduling things on a calendar (we went and bought one), that people really want us to get a cell phone and call us (we're resisting that, too), that our skin is drying out, that we go to the store more, that people drive slow, and that we do more in one day than we did in a week.

We first went to Geoff's parents in Auburn, California. We allowed our bodies to adjust to the new time zone, the girls played in their yard and felt the freedom of large, open spaces with grass, and we reconnected with our cute little dog Kipper who has mellowed a little. We drove to Medford, Oregon to visit Geoff's 87-year-old grandmother. Whenever we drove from Washington to Northern California we stayed the night with her, and the girls were excited to see her and visit her little, calm house. I didn't take any pictures during these weeks. I was too disoriented and disorganized. We then drove to Salt Lake City, Utah and stayed with Geoff's sister Emily and her family in their new home. We celebrated July 4th with a lot of Geoff's siblings and my brother Mitch and his wife JoAnn (this was the first time Geoff and the girls had met her). We had several birthday gatherings and a bridal shower for Geoff's sister Brittany. We gathered with a group of friends (the Studderts, Stockwells, Hendershots, and Larsens) for dinner one night. We had Sunday dinner at my uncle Ralph and aunt Bonnie's home with many of my cousins and their children. We went to the mission farewell of my cousin's son Ralph. We went to the temple as often as possible, and took the girls to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house.



Life was moving so much faster than what we were accustomed to, but it was wonderful to have so much time to spend with family and friends. We feel that this free summer to see our favorite people in an unhurried way is a great blessing, and an easier transition into reality!

We drove to St. George, Utah to spend a few days with my mom. We took the girls to the Tuacahn Amphitheatre to see Footloose which was really fun. While there we ran into a French missionary who served some time in our Nice ward about four months ago. She is from Northern France and was visiting a missionary companion in Utah for a few weeks. This unexpected meeting was really strange for me. Our two lives intersected and I found myself homesick for France, wanting to say that we would drive up and visit her sometime...but knowing we wouldn't. The first pang of nostalgia.