We woke up around 5 AM on Sunday. Kenny was due to report at the High Council meeting from 6:00-6:30 that morning, and we (Mom, Dad, Jenna, Zak, me, Grandma, Grandpa) were coming with him. We actually got there on time and it wasn't awful once we were up, but after two very long days, it was a little rough. Kenny talked about his mission in Sweden and some of the great experiences he had. It was pretty impressive to hear how much he's changed and grown, but yet, he's still the same Kenny in many ways.
After some of the men had asked questions about Sweden and the mission, we were all asked to give a little testimony about Kenny, etc. So .. that was fun. I actually had a few things I wanted to say, it was all collected in my head. I was going to talk about how it's been for me, as the older sister, to watch my younger brother turn into a man. And how proud I am of him.
Yeah, that didn't happen.
I didn't even get through my first sentence before the water works were turned on. And they were turned on fairly hard. Ugh, it was awful, so I tried to make it as short as I could. But everyone else had lovely things to say about Kenny. My poor mother actually held it together really well. It was a wonderful little meeting.
We had breakfast burritos at my parents' house while waiting for church. The night before, the choir director called my mom to ask about the song the choir was planning to sing, if anyone in our family could help. Mom volunteered me and Jenna to sing soprano, which got me pretty nervous. I haven't sung in a choral setting in awhile, let alone sing soprano (I can, I just prefer the alto parts) in our church ward, where I haven't been home for a year and a half. I texted Amy to ask if she and her family were coming to sing, and she said they would, so that help ease the nervousness of the situation.
But then Kenny asked if I could play for him. He wanted to sing a song, with one verse in English, one in Swedish. I have also not played the piano since I was home in December 2009, and I was fairly rusty. But how could I say no to him? So we sat down and practiced, I made up some interlude stuff, and it didn't sound that bad, surprisingly. I was glad it came back to me so fast, and that Kenny and I know how the other works, so we are a pretty good team together. After a few run-throughs, Jenna and I headed off to the choir practice before the church meeting.
We soon discovered that there were plenty of sopranos, so we were glad to sing the alto part. Oh, and the choir pianist didn't show up on time, so I ended up playing for the entire choir for most of the practice. What a welcome home gift, huh? But it didn't go too badly, I was just extremely nervous and insecure. And the choir director was happy; she had decided to speak the lyrics to the music if not enough people showed up to sing.
When it came time for the choir to sing in the meeting, it sounded very good and I think we got the message across well. Kenny gave a wonderful talk, and once again, it was really impressive to see him talk to eloquently and passionately about his mission. It's been different for me than my family, to have Kenny away for these past two years. I am already away from my family as it is, so it's not that I don't miss him, it's just that, well, I miss everyone. It also seemed that the past two years have gone so quickly, it's hard to believe he is back already. I still remember vividly him opening his mission call in my apartment complex's lounge with our friends around, and the Sweden party I threw for him at school. And now he's a return missionary and so grown up.
Halfway through his talk, he gave the lead-in for the song. Uh, I think it went well, I don't really remember. I had played it a few different ways at home, but when it came time, I kind of just did whatever. But I think it was nicely done, I know everyone loved hearing him sing in Swedish. He sang, "How Great Thou Art", which is apparently set to a Swedish melody. He told everyone of how he and his companion went 'musical tracking', to try to talk to people about the Church. As soon as he started talking about that, I thought, "This is SO Kenny," using his musical talents to communicate with people. Anyways, it was beautiful and he did an excellent job.
you may (or may not) find it surprising that these are only 'decent' pictures out of 20 that we took; Zak was too busy goofy, but I decided to post the nice ones
pretty hydrangeas (some are from Grandma's from our wedding)
threading the beef onto skewers
Kenny's luncheon was a pretty crazy initially, because we had to get the beef that had been marinading on skewers and over to the grandparents' to grill. And lots of other things. But Mom, Jenna, Zak and I skewered the beef and Dad started grilling it while Jenna, Zak and I helped decorate and set up.
Swedish pride!
Jenna & I were pretty creative, don't you think?
the red marks are where he served in Sweden; he's one of the only missionaries to serve in all the different areas in Sweden!
The menu included: beef teriyaki skewers, chicken teriyaki drummettes (or Hawaiian Chicken Wings, as Zak will now call them), macaroni salad (made by me!), lots of fruit with marshmallow sauce and a yogurt dip, broccoli salad, rice, Grandma's famous cookies, and lemon bars. There was a pretty nice turn-out, Mari and Amy came, so that was fun to spend some more time with them. Some people from our old church ward in Pittsburg showed up, too, so that was nice to see them. And it was a beautiful day outside, with a light breeze, and delicious food.
grilling the skewers, yum!
note: the meat is not pictured, use your imagination
Kenny-approved desserts
Once everything was cleaned up, we went back to my parents' place to play cards and watch Harry Potter 6. Kenny left for the MTC in Utah the day the 6th one came out, so he had a few to catch up on before 7.2 was released later that week. We had fun sitting around, playing the game Golf with cards, and enjoying some Swedish chocolate before finally turning in; we had another busy day ahead of us...
summation of how we all felt
