Spencer's Homecoming Talk and Luncheon!

Well, Spencer has been home from his mission to British Columbia for four weeks and this past Sunday he had the opportunity to share some of his experiences before our church congregation.  Lots of his friends, our friends and family came to hear what he had to

say.  In the top picture to the left he is shown with Riley Hein, also a returned missionary with whom he grew up.  The next picture is of Spencer with the parents of his last companion in the mission field, Elder Larsen.   They came down from Bountiful to hear about his mission, and of course to hear about how their son, who has 10 more months to serve, is doing.

Of course family members wanted to come to help us celebrate his successful mission as well.  Above are two of his uncles, Doug and Bruce, both shown with his nephew Titan.

My brother Clark also came and I enjoyed visiting with him about our Native American ancestry, though I am not sure how much he enjoyed visiting with me, as that proximity meant that when I squeezed the tomatillo dressing bottle a bit too hard, it was his pant legs that got drenched.  (Sorry Big Brother!)

This is his niece Eva, she is doing a happy dance.  Everyone is thrilled to have Spencer home.

Here are more fun interactions between family.  In the far left is my great nephew Jeff, then my daughter in law Nell, with her girls Elle and Eva, Becky is held by her mom, my daughter Emily. (Emily is showing off a darling dress that her mother-in-law Sheila got for Becky.)

 In this picture my good friend Jenn is giving my daughter Darby a hug.  I love having get togethers with old friends, and obviously my children enjoy it as well. Jenn was our neighbor and friend when we moved to Orem, at that time Darby was 12, so she had a chance to get to admire Jenn as much as the rest of us did.

We had several other good friends who came to church to hear Spencer speak but who had to take off for other Sunday responsibilities.  We loved seeing them and got a chance for a quick word with most of them, and we truly appreciate their support.

 My brother Bruce is seen visiting with my brother Doug's wife, Shirley, I didn't get a picture of Bruce's cute wife Dianne, though I am not sure how I missed it.  To the right is my friend Robin and her husband Jeff (also my friend) with another friend, Jerry in between .... hmmm, I also missed getting a picture of Jerry's wife Amy. 

I didn't mention food, but Nell suggested we make a little faux Cafe Rio buffet which turned out to be great. It was simple to make and was a hit with just about everyone.  We had flour tortillas, BBQ shredded pork, chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, shredded cheese, salsa, tomatillo dressing and sour cream.  Nell brought her two famous tortilla chip dips and we managed to finish off four bags of Don Julio tortilla chips, and found out that they are made by my niece Kristen's husband's extended family! (Sorry missed getting a picture of Kristen, but did get the picture of her son Jeff (above)).

Anyway, I wanted to thank Dianne, Briahnna, Emily and Robin for bringing goodies.  The salad that Eva has piled on her plate in the picture above was made by Robin, so I was not the only one that appreciated the skills of these lovely ladies.