Elder Jacob Alan Simpson Returns Home

We welcomed Jacob home from serving a mission today. What a great reunion! We are so pleased that he served faithfully and honorably, and now he gets to begin a new chapter in his life. He was surprised at how tall Joseph and Samuel are now. Joseph is taller than Jacob, and Samuel will be taller in less than a year. We are so happy to see him return from his mission service.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. A little pushing and shoving to burn off a little breakfast energy is always good. The rules of the competition have changed a bit too. Joseph is not a push-over, and neither is Samuel.
Here are all our sons at our picture spot. Every Fast Sunday we take a picture of the boys in this same spot. How we can add Jacob to the mix for a while. Jacob is trying (unsuccessfully) to hold down Joseph.
One of the first things he wanted to do was go skating or play "shinny" hockey. We got to do a bit of both. After we bought his new hockey equipment, we went to the local rink to play for a bit. We played for about 20 minutes, then here came lots of players in pads. They proposed teams in accordance with colors (blue and black jerseys against everyone else, red, white, green, etc.). Several of the players were either college players, or Junior A players, or semi-pro. We had a blast with them. Below are Jacob, Samuel and Joseph (left to right) during warm ups.

We really had a great time skating, but then we came home and fixed dinner for Jacob. We fixed what he asked for, and at the end of the meal he said he he was very happy to be home, and very satisfied. He recounted some of the events of his mission service, and told us some of the highlights. We expect over the next few days to get more stories and events recounted to us.

Again, we thank each of you, our friends, that have helped us raise such a good son into such a good man. We are planning a trip to visit in California soon, where Jacob was encouraged to report informally to his old stake president. We will continue to make plans for that upcoming trip.

We love you. Hugs and Kisses,

Alan and Michelle