Where, oh where has my little Dan gone?

Nearly two years ago our family got together and wished my little brother good luck on the LDS mission he was about to embark on. We cried, hugged and laughed and felt happy about his decision to serve a mission while knowing just how much we were going to miss him. We knew things would change while he was gone, we knew we'd probably be a bigger family when he returned and tried not to think about all the important events he would inevitably miss, but we stoically supported his decision and silently prayed the months would fly by. They did. In exactly 17 hours, 12 minutes Dan will be arriving on a flight from California. We are so excited! Tomorrow Dan will be meeting the three new nephews that were born while he was away. He'll probably have to get reacquainted with the ones that were here when he left; they've grown so much. His only little sister has missed him so much, she's grown up too, in to a nice young woman, her he will recognize, but he'll be shocked at how beautiful she is. He'll meet the two new brother in law's that his sisters married while he was away. I'm sure he'll be excited to see his only brother again, the one none of the rest of us can seem get to visit very often, but wouldn’t miss Dan's homecoming for anything. We all know he's very eager to see a special friend again, and whatever the outcome, they are best friends first and it will be good to see them together again. He'll come home tomorrow to his precious jeep (thanks to his many devoted friends who spent hours and hours re-assembling her) in perfect "Moab jeeping" condition. He'll be returning to a mom who has dutifully fed, loved and "mothered" Dan's good friends for the past two years, all in proxy for a son she couldn’t feed herself, they were a more common sight at her dinner table than her own children and were invited to every family event. Dan will probably be most surprised at the changes in our dad. He is literally half the man he was. Dan will probably be surprised that he can hug him and reach clear around easily. Yes, Danny will be coming home to a different family but it's a bigger, better, family, with a Mom, Dad, sisters, brother, sister in law, brothers in law, nephews, friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbors and special friends, and we're all going to be there at the airport waiting...in exactly 16 hours and 47 minutes!