{"id":7059,"date":"2016-07-24T22:10:33","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T04:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/?p=7059"},"modified":"2016-07-24T22:12:40","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T04:12:40","slug":"one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"One Chapter Ends And Another Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I shared five blogs that each gave clips from different emails we had received from our daughter during her 18 month mission. I hope you all enjoyed hearing the life lessons she shared in those emails. Today was the final event of her 18 month journey &#8211; she gave a homecoming talk at church today and the room was filled with neighbors, family, and tons of friends who all came to hear her speak. She gave an amazing talk filled with powerful messages about how she learned what it truly means to be a representative of Jesus Christ at all times, and in all places. Her talk was incredibly inspiring. Following her talk my husband, who serves as the choir director of our ward, led the choir in an absoultely incredible musical number. The Spirit in the meeting was so powerful and all who were present could feel that. Following the meeting we had a big open house back at our home. The number of people who attended was unbelievable&#8230;I don&#8217;t know the exact count but we went through 780 water bottles at the open house! So yeah&#8230;it was a LOT of people nad Ashley is definitely a very loved young lady&#8230;I\u00a0just feel blessed to be her\u00a0Mom.<\/p>\n<p>What an amazing journey this has been for Ashley and for our entire family. But with today&#8217;s homecoming celebration being behind us now I can&#8217;t help but recognize that this chapter of our lives has ended&#8230;.and its time for the next chapter to begin. I can&#8217;t wait to see what amazing things lie ahead of us.\u00a0 And nothing makes me happier than being able to look forward to it with my incredible family that has all been reunited, and even better, has grown by one more. Family is everything!!! And the best is yet to come!!!<\/p>\n<p>I thought where all of you have shared in hearing so much about her experiences the last year and a half and especially the last week, that it would only be fitting to post some pictures for all of you to see of her arriving back home at the Salt Lake Airport last week.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7068\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/escalator\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7068\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7068\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7068\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/escalator-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Our first glimpse of her coming down the escalator\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/escalator-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/escalator-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/escalator.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7068\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our first glimpse of her coming down the escalator<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7067\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/ash\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7067\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7067\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7067\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"She's home!\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7067\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">She&#8217;s home!<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7066\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/ash-mom1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7066\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7066\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7066\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"I waited a LONG TIME for this hug!!\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom1-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom1.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7066\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I waited a LONG TIME for this hug!!<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7065\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/ash-mom\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7065\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7065\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7065\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"My baby is home\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-mom.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7065\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My baby is home<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7063\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/ash-dad\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7063\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7063\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7063\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-dad-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Daddy's girl\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-dad-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-dad-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-dad.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7063\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daddy&#8217;s girl<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7062\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/ash-bro\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7062\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7062\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7062\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-bro-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Her brother could barely wait his turn\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-bro-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-bro-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/ash-bro.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7062\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Her brother could barely wait his turn<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7061\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/home1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7061\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7061\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7061\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Our baby is back home!\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home1-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home1.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7061\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our baby is back home!<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7064\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/fam\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7064\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7064\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7064\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"First family picture with Dalton's wife Alexis and Ashley together!\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7064\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">First family picture with Dalton&#8217;s wife Alexis and Ashley together!<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7060\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/home2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7060\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7060\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7060\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home2-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"The sign we made for her at the airport and the friends gathered to greet her.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home2-200x150.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/home2.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7060\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sign we made for her at the airport and the friends gathered to greet her.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7069\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/fam-temple\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7069\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7069\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7069\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-temple-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Our Family Is Together Again!\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-temple-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-temple-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/fam-temple.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7069\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our Family Is Together Again!<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_7070\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/one-chapter-ends-and-another-begins\/first-family-pic\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7070\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7070\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7070\" src=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/first-family-pic-e1469419130666-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"And we are bigger by one more! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/first-family-pic-e1469419130666-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/first-family-pic-e1469419130666-150x200.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/first-family-pic-e1469419130666-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/first-family-pic-e1469419130666.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7070\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">And we are bigger by one more! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Have a great week ahead everyone!<br \/>\n~Amy Rees Anderson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I shared five blogs that each gave clips from different emails we had received from our daughter during her 18 month mission. I hope you all enjoyed hearing the life lessons she shared in those emails. Today was the final event of her 18 month journey &#8211; she gave a homecoming talk at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9674,395,501,500,1327,46,60,550,63,200,342,240,2975,1118,224,163,96,2557,3599,3711,4271,83,4298,51,189,7,30,76,29,244,65,55,180,2064,629,34,1501,1016,464,3369,38,64,867,35,596,351,990,53,1031,1288,8467,10375,2976,4269,3026,112,145,7636,81,149,647,5205,915,78,9762],"class_list":["post-7059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alexis-anderson","tag-amy-rees-anderson","tag-appreciate","tag-appreciation","tag-ashley-lewis","tag-attitude","tag-beautiful","tag-blessed","tag-blessings","tag-blog","tag-brother","tag-children","tag-choir","tag-church","tag-confidence","tag-courage","tag-culture","tag-dad","tag-dalton-anderson","tag-emails","tag-escalator","tag-experience","tag-families-are-forever","tag-family","tag-friends","tag-future","tag-gift","tag-goals","tag-god","tag-grateful","tag-gratitude","tag-happiness","tag-happy","tag-homecoming","tag-inspiration","tag-integrity","tag-jesus-christ","tag-journey","tag-joy","tag-lds-mission","tag-leadership","tag-life","tag-life-lessons","tag-love","tag-loved-ones","tag-missionary","tag-mom","tag-motivation","tag-past","tag-performance","tag-pictures","tag-president-wakolo","tag-rollin-anderson","tag-salt-lake-airport","tag-savior","tag-self-improvement","tag-service","tag-sister-in-law","tag-smile","tag-success","tag-talk","tag-the-best-is-yet-to-come","tag-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-time","tag-what-lies-ahead"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7059"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7073,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions\/7073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}