hard but good

our house has been kind of quiet the last few days.
wednesday, the teenagers left to go with our old stake on pioneer trek.
it's been so strange not having all three of them home at the same time.
ethan and i have tried to stay busy to fill the void.
until today, when i drove to wyoming to cheer and hug and welcome home three really dirty, stinky, pooped-out, smelly, grubby, sunburned, (did i mention smelly?) pioneers, er, i mean teenagers.

we got to welcome the wagon companies in as they came over the hill.

i don't think i've ever cheered so loud, taylor said he knew i was there before he saw me, because he heard me hollering. heehee.
just thinking about how neat it was to cheer them in gives me goosebumps.
it was awesome.
the kids were so excited to see their parents that they started running full speed with their wagons to get to the finish line. do you see spencer?

they were so dirty and sunburned that at first, i didn't recognize any of them.
and they smelled so bad that after i hugged them, i had to change MY shirt too because the stink had spread to my clothes too.
seriously.
eeew.

so they survived, and they say, it was hard, but also great.
here's the proof...

(allie was less than thrilled that i wanted to photograph her "ugly moment" - her words.)

right now, they're doing rock paper scissors over who gets the shower first, so i guess i'll have to wait to hear all the inspirational stories until later.
and right now, i am very grateful, for leaders who loved and cared for my kids so exceptionally while they were gone.

the moore kids can do hard things!
oh ya.

p.s. spencer says that they've been on such a spiritual high for the last few days that he would like to take the next couple weeks off of church. nice try dude.