Then and Now

Then:

Y  with her Uncle L on the day he left for his mission.

Now:

Y with her Uncle L on the day he returned from his mission, bonding over a can of peanuts.

After two years of looking at and pointing to his picture on her photo memory board, Y was finally able to reunite with her Uncle L!  She was just 2 months old when he left, you can see him holding her on the day he left to begin serving his mission in the first picture above.  I remember thinking to myself that day, and saying it aloud, that she would be 2 years old when he returned.  Then it seemed to far off and the idea of Y being 2 seemed completely impossible.  I also remember telling him before he left that when he returned he would have yet another niece or nephew to become acquainted with (I was wrong on that account).

Those two years seemed to creep by when living in the moment but in hindsight it seems lightning fast!  I doubt Y has any recollection of those first 2 months with her Uncle L but I have no doubt that she knew who he was.  She was very shy and timid but when I asked her, "where's Uncle L?" she pointed him out without a moment's hesitation.  She never did warm up to him completely (which is why I had to get peanuts involved so that she would even get close enough for me to take a picture) but I have no doubt that over the coming months and even years she will grow to love and adore her Uncle L just as she does the rest of the family. 

I know that L had an awesome time on his mission and was able to have some amazing experiences and meet some tremendous people.  I am happy that he was able to do it, BUT (and you can call me selfish if you must) I am more happy to have him home again.  I've missed him.  B has four siblings and I love them all dearly but for whatever reason the youngest two seem more like my little brothers than my brothers-in-law.  Maybe it's because I feel as if I have watched them grow up and become men whereas his other 2 siblings were already adults when I met them.  But whatever the case or reason may be, I am extremely glad to have him home again!