'brooke you have to eat the whole banana'---- *scoff* 'even the core?'..

So my little brother (the only flesh & blood I have with X&Y chromosomes.. minus of course my babes) Ben is currently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Lisbon Portugal. Which is super far away.. back in the day it would have taken something like 5 months & the lives of at least 2 family members to make the ocean voyage across the pond to reach him.. Luckily we have more modern means of transportation, i.e. airplanes, to get around..also Mom is a flight attendant, ergo, we have fairly easy & regular access to airports.. So what do you do when you know your little brother is going to be sitting in an airport for X amount of time before he takes off to fulfill his 2 year tenure to the Lord & you have an 'in' at the airport??

^waiting, just waiting^

Exactly you are going to book some flights, hightail it to SLC international airport, spend copious amounts of travel & wait time to get to spend 3&1/2 precious hours with your baby brother.. *spoiler alert* we MISSED our flights.. but it. was. AWESOME!!  (for those of you who have the chance to bend that rule I strongly recommend it)

 

^gabe is unconscience & wouldn't be so docile otherwise.. plus Coley & Jellybean..^

Anyways so obvi we were up FARRRR before the buttcrack of dawn (which sucked), then we sat in a car for 4 MORE hours, (which also sucked), then once we got to the airport we waited an additional 2 more hours (which was an antsy kind of suckage), but it really was all worth it when we got to see Ben.

^a tender moment between ashcat & Unkl ben.. plus Lyv^

*sidenote* Ben grew up with 4 NOT-hoes & 0 bros, so he was beyond pumped to get out of dodge, leave his estrogen saturated environment, & enter the MTC, saying multiple times he a.wouldn't miss us & b. he would also NOT be writing us.. ever..

^warning nudity above^

ps we're going to take this same picture in 2 years & see how much the height gap is lessened

BUT apparently being away from us for 5 weeks made him looooooooong for our nagging voices, awesome Netflix preferences, & obvi hilarious senses of humor.. because he was nice??? like really, really nice.. okay, okay he forgot my hug BUT he hugged me baby super hard?? so it evens out..

 

^I look like butt.. ben has a hover hand.. what's with the not hugging Amy thing??^

So then we went and ate at the airport Café Rio!! HOLLA!! Ben told us about how he was STILL outnumbered due to the recent BOOM of sister missionaries, MTC food (bomb.com), & air drops.. (involves a full load, a bathroom stall, & impeccable aim.. boys. are. disgusting)..

 

^Oly likes to be in pictures.. like everyone.. ever 'you know what that picture needs?? a little bit of Lyv'*

folks i'm telling you the time flew by SOOO fast cause soon it was THAT TIME.. so then we walked him to his gate & waited..

^ashcat mid change.. he peed on Ben.. hopefully he washes that shirt^

 & said good-bye I swear like 4 times.. dang false alarms.. Ben cried, Cole cried, Brooke cried, LYV cried, Mom cried, Dad cried, Gabe cried..(for many & various reasons.. he's a sensitive kid) Lots of tears shed, lots of hugs

^gabe was actually sleeping.. he doesn't hug when he's conscience enough to make decisions^

(he passed me over like every time.. I really am his favorite??) eventually it REALLY was his turn to take off & away he went with baby pee on his shirt, café rio in his belly & an 'I love you' from Lyvie in his ear.. Then it was time to make the 4 hours trek homeward (NOT without a stop at IN&OUT.. duh) so ya.. now Ben is gone.. we are still here writing him faithfully (oh so faithfully.. he's a letter needy kid)..

ps on the way I promised Ashcat if he popped a tooth that day for Unkl Ben I'd give him $10.. on the way home I felt in his mouth an BAM!! I felt the beginnings of a sharp little tooth!! I was. thrilled! He has been teething for like the majority of his life so i'm going nuts in the back seat & all is happy & well in the world.. about 5 minutes later Lyv pipes up with 'didn't you promise him $10 if he popped a tooth today???' once shining brief moment & then leave it to Lyvie to be the materialistic weasel of the bunch & bring up matters of monetary value.. but yes for the record I DO owe Ash 10 green ones.. to be promptly spent on gluten free finger foods:)