The Atkinsons

Home again, home again.

My younger sister was returning from her mission in California right after Christmas. She was dying for all her sibling to be there, but my mom had told her that was just too hard especially with the holidays. We siblings talked it over and decided it was really something we would love to do. I booked a ticket that would go straight from Florida to Washington. After a long trip that had been hard in some ways I really just wanted to go and be with my children, and honestly I was sobbing on my way to the airport after kissing my babies goodbye, but in the end I was really happy that I did it because it was a really special and fun experience for my family.

My older sisters were coming from Utah and saw that my little sister had a layover in Utah on her way home to Washington and a little light bulb went off in my sister's head and a planned was hatched. They were not only able to book the same flight, but also secured seats right next to my sister returning from her mission. Once the tickets were purchased my mom was beside herself was excitement, but there were still a lot of "what ifs" in the plan, the major one being if Kaylee missed her layover flight. My sisters got little disguises; big hats, wigs, and unique clothing. They didn't know exactly what they would do because they weren't sure what they would be able to pull off, but it was going to be a special surprise no matter what they did! On the morning of the flight my mom had such high anxiety as the plane that Kaylee was supposed to fly on was running a little delayed. She called my cousin who worked in the traffic controller tower and he directed her to a website that followed the plane back and forth to and from California and gave her some assurance that all would be fine, but my mom was not calming down until they were all on that plane together. She watched that plane fly back and forth all morning until Kaylee was on it and it had landed in Utah. We knew my other sisters were going to make it onto the flight since we had contact with them. We all held our breath.

Success! Kaylee made her flight connection and my other sisters pulled off their disguises to the point that she had no idea that she was sitting next to both of them! Kaylee couldn't believe it, and the passengers on the plane were excited as well and asked how they had pulled that off! It was really fun, and needless to say made my mom giddy with excitement and joy. I was already in Washington so I was a witness to all the emotions taking place in my house that day. I love writing this because it makes me remember it and how fun it was to be able to do that. The rest of us surprised her at the airport because she still didn't know that the rest of her siblings would be there, especially because she knew that I had been in Florida. The only one missing was my sister Ellen who had just had a baby weeks before and so was not able to travel.

It is such a rare thing in your adult life when you are all married and have children to get to be together as just siblings. My mom relished in it, and my Dad treated us like we were queens. We had a big sushi dinner and spent time gabbing in the hot tub during which my dad brought us root beer floats and started a big fire to keep us warm after we got out. We saw a movie and shopped and just had fun really. It's good when you can get out of this "mommy" element and just be silly and do whatever. I love my sisters. And I love my husband who as always said he would take the kids with out any hesitation, even having to fly across the country with them by himself. He's one in a million.