He's Baaaaaack!

I cannot believe that I finally get to say these words!  He is back!  Elder Wall aka Elder Lalaga aka my big-little brother whom I have missed dearly, has at last returned.

Jake appeared on the escalator with darker hair, a skinnier looking face, and the dirtiest feet I have ever seen, wearing a skirt and flip flops.  His adoring mother was on the verge of hysterics and instantly ran to the bottom of the stairs, fighting back every urge to bound up the steps and carry him down.

Here are some of the things I want to remember about Jake's homecoming.

• His first words to me were, "Sorry to say it Sha, but you haven't grown at all."
• I had every intention of being tough, but as soon as Kels, Kin, Mom, and I all surrounded him in an enormous hug and I felt everyone (except Jake of course) crying, I became a total wimp and cried my eyes out.  Bah!  So much for being tough.
• Ty and I stopped at Paradise Bakery on our way to the airport and bought a chocolate chip cookie for the returning Elder.  I mentioned it to Jake in passing so he could be aware of it whenever he felt hungry.  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, he headed straight for me.  He barely had time to say, "You have NO IDEA how bad I want that right now", before snatching it out of my hands, breaking it in half, and shoving it into his mouth.  Now that's what I call appreciation!  Lucky for him, I had another partial cookie in my purse that I had purchased for myself and he demolished that one pretty quickly as well.
• The first souvenir Jake pulled out of his bag for me was a hand-carved Fijian fertility statue with our name engraved on it.  Haha!  I guess he wants us to have kids or something.

Since his arrival, Ty and I have been able to spend a pretty good amount of time with Jake and the family and it has been so much fun.  Besides a new ability to entertain me for hours with hundreds of cool stories from the jungle, Jake is much the same; he is still the fun-loving, silly brother I missed and love and it is so great to have him home.  He really has been an incredible missionary and has grown up a lot in the process.  Welcome home Elder Wall!  We are so proud of you!

The only pictures I currently have were taken on my phone directly after my crying episode, but it's all I've got so they'll have to do.