auckie is home.


Last week I was in San Diego so that I could be home when my little brother Alex got home from his mission. For those of you who are not LDS, young men from our church can choose to serve a two year mission. While on their missions, you can only write them, and talk to them on Mother's Day and at Christmas time. So it is a huge sacrifice for these young men and their families.

I have officially done this three times now with my three brothers, and am happy I don't have to be away from anyone in my family for that long for awhile :) 

So happy we have some pictures and a video that captured the experience of seeing a loved one you havn't seen in years. Of course you can hear me sobbing in the video, a little embarrassing, but I couldn't help it :)

 
Loved this one of my Dad :)


So happy to have my little brother home.




64 comments

  1. Very touching! Love the pictures :) Esp the top pick - you gals are gorgeous!! SS

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sniff!

    The photos with the two of you hugging made me tear up. I can only imagine how much you missed one another!

    Methinks I'll have a similar emotional moment with my bro, whom I haven't seen in a year-and-a-half, since my wedding. He moved to London in April 2010 and he was supposed to come recently for what was then an impromptu trip, but it fell through. No matter, though, 'cause my boy and I are going Europe mid-August so we'll see him then.

    Needless to say, can't wait!

    Glad your bro is back and you can catch up on lost time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is such a sweet homecoming. The video is amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is so sweet. Glad your brother is home!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is so touching to see how close your family is and what a special day this was!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You got me all teary and emotional! Such a sweet and perfect post for a homecoming. And what a handsome man he is! Good looks run in your family.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Um, SO cute! My brother gets home from his mission in 9 months. This made me really want that day to be here already!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Geez, this made me tear up! Hating that I have one more little brother that I have to bawl through this experience with. Yes, I am that selfish ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aw! How special! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awww!! What a sweet post!! Its good to see that he got home safe and sound :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Geez, I cried. I'm blaming birth control, cause it makes me such a sap. That was probably an overshare, but isn't blog world one giant overshare anyways?

    But yeah, this is adorable. We made my brother a banner when he came home and he never even saw it because we dropped it the second we saw him and it got all trampled under our feet as we were hugging, and then we forgot it at the terminal (this was pre-September 11, so we saw him right off the plane).

    Good times, thanks for bringing back good memories.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That video is so sweet. My one and only brother will be leaving for his mission in a little less than a year. Me thinks I'm going to be an emotional mess.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is so sweet and heartwarming. Have fun. =)


    http://sassychunny.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  14. awwwwwwwwwwww!! thats such a happy experience! i know what thats like, i had my best friend come home a year ago and it was just amazing!
    so glad he is home with you all again:)

    <3
    Kenzie

    ReplyDelete
  15. Such a happy time! I still can't believe he's here :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. You crying in the video is not embarassing! It's incredibly sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't even know your brother Alycia but I'm tearing up. Your family seems so nice. Miss you!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have an (almost) twenty year old sister. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. AW this makes me teary! My best friends have all left on their mission this month and it is so hard! But I'm so grateful to be missing them because I know the difference they are making :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ahhh the video is so adorable!! Even made me a lil emotional! lol

    ReplyDelete
  21. Very cool.

    Loved the video...I am balling!!!!

    That is an incredible sacrifice that your brother made. I am sure you are very proud.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This is just too precious! So glad he's home :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Yay! That is SO exciting! He is a cutie :) Mine gets home in about a month too!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I remember when some of my high school friends went on their missions, but I don't remember it being so long!

    ReplyDelete
  25. aw, this is so very special. you can just tell how much you love your brother. perfect!
    xo TJ

    ReplyDelete
  26. This reminds me on when i came home from my mission. So many emotions just came back. I definitely teared up thinking about that while watching the video. How is he doing? Is he adjusting well? Oh my gosh...i was so awkward for far too long. ha So glad your brother has returned. He had that missionary glow on him. Such a wonderful thing

    ReplyDelete
  27. I've done it with 2 of my brothers, one left to go. I know exactly how it goes - the waterworks start when you go to hug them and there is nothing you can do to stop them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. This reminded me so so much of my little brothers home coming. It truly is a great feeling to have someone so loved come back to you. After four years I still cry looking at the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  29. This is beautiful. Missions are starting to get me more and more emotional. My man leaves for Minnesota on September 5th and I couldn't be more happy for him and knowing that I'll get to experience this in about two years time makes it all worth it!

    ReplyDelete
  30. This is the most precious video. Has to be the best feeling ever!!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. That is so nice that he is home again!

    ReplyDelete
  32. yay! I went to go see my baby cousin at the airport when he came back from his mission, but my extended fam hadn't seen me in 3 or 4 years so I accidentally kind of stole his thunder. I think he's still holding it against me. oops!

    ReplyDelete
  33. HI Alycia, first time commenter here, haha. That was such a sweet, sweet video, I loved it!! I even teared up a little bit and I don't even know him. Also, your sister with the dark short hair totally looks like Katy Perry.

    ReplyDelete
  34. This was so sweet! I had to watch with the sound down otherwise I'd be a complete wreck! Thanks for sharing that with us.

    ReplyDelete
  35. This is so sweet! I totally cried. You can definitely feel the love! Congratulations to your brother for 2 years of wonderful service!

    -Erin

    ReplyDelete
  36. That didn't make me cry or anything. My little brother(in-law) left for his mission in April and seeing this just made me realize how much I actually do miss him. What an amazing experience to be able to hug your brother and see his smiling face after two years. I can't wait.

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  37. so happy! my little brother is on a mission right now so i may or may not have cried a little while watching this :)

    ReplyDelete
  38. That is so exciting! I just love missionaries homecomings! :) He's cute too! He wouldn't happen to be going to BYU in the fall would he? haha ;)

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wow! I won't lie - I cried!!
    I was ecstatic when my little brother came home after 6weeks, so 2 years? I can't even imagine!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Absolutely adorable! Yay for your family being together again!!!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Such a wonderful moments!! I'm wiping my tears too now..Glad that your families finally reunited.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Awe .... Beautiful! Love the video :) your brother is so handsome.

    ReplyDelete
  43. What an amazing thing to do! And you have a beautiful family!!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Great pictures! I loved the video! Nice touch :)

    ReplyDelete
  45. good GRIEF i am totally crying!

    ReplyDelete
  46. and your brother has nice teeth. that's not weird to notice.

    ReplyDelete
  47. This video is perfect. I'm sending it to some friends who have missionaries. :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. This was one of the sweetest videos I've ever seen! I'm so happy your family is back together stateside!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I can't watch the video because I know I'll just cry at work! I'm getting ready to see my family in three weeks after being separated for a year so this hits pretty close to home!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Uhmm..I balled.

    Glad you've got your brother home!

    -XO Abbigayle Rashae
    -trueblueabbi.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  51. I know I'm a little late posting this (I'm just now catching up on blog posts), but I loved this! The video was amazing! And while I don't know your brother, I bet he's glad to be back with your family!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Oh geez... I should not have watched that video! My brother just left on his mission last week, so it's still all super surreal for me... And now I'm a crying mess at work!! Love it :)

    ReplyDelete
  53. Wow, that video is so special! Got me in tears. There's nothing more amazing than seeing a worthy guy go on mission and then return home with honour. My brother in law left for his mission to England two months ago. So happy for you and your fam!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Oh hello! I am SOBBING. Didn't expect that one. What a precious moment! So happy for you guys! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  55. Cue the tears! I'm such a sucker for good homecoming stories. You have a beautiful family! So happy y'all are all back together!

    ReplyDelete
  56. These pictures are absolutely precious! You can totally see the emotion and family love in all of them, and I love that! How special that you all get to be together as a family again! I have 6 siblings myself so I feel ya, nothing is better than being all together.

    perfectly priya

    ReplyDelete
  57. So happy!! How great to have that video!

    Catherine
    FEST

    ReplyDelete
  58. goodness gracious, i was in tears over how insanely happy you guys were to be reunited! congrats to him! love missionaries.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Is he single? ;) What an adorable family!

    ReplyDelete
  60. such a sweet video. tears are rollin'

    ReplyDelete
  61. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  62. wow, this video is amazing! so touching.. couldn't stop crying. must be so good to have him home! my brother just left on his mission so i can't wait for this day :)

    ReplyDelete
  63. tear jerker much!! wow, what a special moment for you and your family. it brought me to tears to see all those happy faces and love in those hugs. congrats to your brother!

    ReplyDelete
  64. How sweet! I definitely had to hold back tears!

    ReplyDelete

Howdy Ho :) Thanks for stopping by my blog! I have enabled the forum feature on my comments so we can all interact in conversation. So if you leave a question, look back for a reply!