. . . fiesta . . .

. . . oh, yeah . . .

. . . then we had a really great party . . .

. . . wherein this group was reunited

for the first time in a long time . . .

{say hello to rick, brad, seth, drew/dew, tc, josh, craig and jeff [in front]}

. . . and cute girls came . . .

. . . and it was legal, once again . . .

. . . to hug them . . .

{eduardo really enjoyed the tacos!}

. . . and molly and her dad

grilled up the most delicious pork al pastor . . .

{and when i say the most i mean 50 pounds}

. . . and amber {very enthusiastically}

whipped up multiple batches of guacamole . . .

. . . while brian and amanda

discussed the ins and outs of law school . . .

{with uncle eric in the background on tortilla duty ~ gracias, gracias, gracias!}

. . . amelia? . . .

. . . she's a poser . . .

. . . then we discovered that many, many people

had migrated to our bedroom . . .

. . . why? you may ask . . .

. . . well ~ march madness

only happens once a year . . .

. . . even though the championship game

was played on the fifth of april . . .

. . . homecoming . . .

. . . well . . .

. . . let me just say that

homecomings are much more fun

than farewells . . .

. . . first, i was bossy

and tried to get

everyone organized . . .

. . . some were cooperating more than others . . .

. . . but we finally managed to find our places . . .

. . . amanda was really insistent

about which letters she wanted to hold . . .

. . . tate was super ticked off . . .

. . . he really wanted to go on an earplane . . .

. . . then ~ about 45 minutes

after their scheduled arrival time . . .

. . . we caught a glimpse of

{first} elder arnett

and then elder romney . . .

. . . that is one l • o • n • g hallway! . . .

. . . check out that smile . . .

. . . see mother throw down

her exclamation point . . .

. . . and cue the ugly cry . . .

. . . i think i scared him . . .

. . . one glad dad . . .

. . . and happy sister . . .

. . . second happy sister . . .

. . . i know there was a third sister hug, too . . .

. . . but, alas ~ no photo . . .

. . . meeting tagg . . .

. . . and elliott . . .

. . . greeting big girl addi . . .

. . . and gramma romney . . .

. . . best photo of the day . . .

. . . amber, drew, amanda and amelia . . .

. . . love it! . . .

. . . he said he was super nervous to come home . . .

. . . i'd say he hides it pretty well . . .

. . . what a joyous day . . .

. . . 0 . . .

. . . so . . .

. . . what started out as 104 links . . .

. . . dwindled down to 78 . . .

. . . then 52 . . .

. . . then 26 . . .

. . . and now they're all gone . . .

. . . it's time! . . .

{see all the folding chairs in the back yard?}

. . . tacos al pastor . . .

. . . tonight . . .

. . . our house . . .

{if i know you ~ you're invited}

. . . hurray!!!!!!! . . .

. . . 1 . . .

. . . one year ago . . .

. . . this is how excited we were . . .

. . . it's hard to imagine, but . . .

. . . we're even more excited today . . .

. . . 2 . . .

. . . two-tone paint job . . .

. . . from "acid-wash denim"

and "wendy's frosty" . . .

{i named those colors myself}

. . . to "sisal" and "tobacco leaf" . . .

. . . martha named those colors herself . . .

. . . twenty-four/zero {3} . . .

. . . technically . . .

. . . "zero" stands for three more days . . .

. . . fitting right in with our countdown . . .

. . . which, today, features

three cases of mountain dew . . .

{actually the equivalent thereof

[aka] the 36-pack from costco . . .

i know it's a stretch, but,

hey! YOU try coming up with

one of these number thingies every day!}

. . . the yellow-ish green bubbly beverage

that we lovingly refer to as

mountain d{r}ew

at our house . . .

. . . and while not widely available in mexico . . .

. . . he obviously managed

to locate some occasionally . . .

. . . 4 . . .

. . . four-minute international phone call . . .

. . . from mexico . . .

. . . making sure we know when

our son is coming home . . .

. . . and that we'll be there to pick him up . . .

. . . thank you, elder martinez . . .

. . . 5 . . .

. . . five new pillows . . .

. . . will seem like heaven, i'm sure . . .

. . . after what he's been sleeping on in mexico . . .

{also awesome is that ten dollar garage sale headboard!}