BIG NEWS!!!! CARL IS HOME!!!

June 8th at 3am I found myself waking up and primping to go and pick up my better half. His flight was to arrive at 5:45am and the twinkies and I were to be at the "green ramp" by 4:15am... I was ready on time and got the kids into the car by 3:50am, right on track... however my hope for the kids to sleep was not going as planned... they were wide awake and luckily happy little bee's! After arriving I was promptly flooded with the feeling that this was real... Carl would really be coming home to stay. No more goodbyes... at least for a long time... I'm going to try and describe a homecoming to you... in detail the way I see it

The waiting and waiting went on and on, but then we saw it... a glimmer in the distance of a plane... and soon it was on the ground and we got the announcement that we had been waiting for that our soldiers had landed. They lay out a red carpet for the soldiers to exit the plane and walk across, which is perfect because they are the true heroes and stars of this nation and their uniform is the most well known and universally respected. No celebrity can stand next to a soldier and expect to shine brighter, they are truly the brighter stars in our nation. While the band is playing and the flags are flying and 75+ troopers who just finished serving a deployment are marching in formation and in step towards you, there is no greater feeling. The emotion that flows through you is indescribable. Such a sense of pride, a feeling of awe, a moment of peace. Nothing can destroy the love and honor you feel in your heart for each and every soldier marching and standing before you. They stop and right face and look into the sea of family and friends anxiously looking for their loved ones, yet when the Star Spangled Banner begins, all eyes are fixated on that flag as they stand saluting it. Many are quietly singing the words and some have tears in their eyes... it makes you well up inside and shed tears as well. It's hard to fixate on the flag when so many heroes stand before you at attention. Then the Army theme song plays and the room is full of soldiers belting out their pride through the song, and no matter how many keys are being sung it's one of the most beautiful songs your ears will ever hear. Next an officer will make a brief speech and tell the soldiers that they have 15 minutes to see their loved ones before returning to formation to head to the unit building for turning in weapons and being briefed. That first embrace is like a weight has been not only lifted off the shoulders, but it's as if you have been lifted off the ground and are being held up by clouds. Seeing families all around reunite, especially your own, makes it impossible to stay composed (luckily I wore waterproof mascara this time) Too soon after that first hug they leave you again to drive to the Unit building in anticipation of having them released for the day. It was about 6:30am when we got to the building at at 7:00am they started turning in weapons... Carl got his weapon turned in and came to see us, the kids played and a nice soldier took our family photo seen below...

The kids were exhausted and we were informed it'd be another hour-hour and half before the soldiers would be released so I took them to the car and gave them breakfast and let them relax (picture below)... can you tell they had been up for awhile, I could not believe they had not fallen asleep yet... it was about 8:00 and they were not falling asleep so we went back to the unit to see if they were done. They were doing the final brief... By 9:00am we were hand in hand walking into our home, finally together, as a family. The streamers and balloons were perfect for a welcoming and even though our day consisted of a family nap for 2.5hours and not much else, it was perfect. We are so blessed to have our husband, father, hero, and best friend back home safely. I hope that I could convey a tiny bit of the emotion that we felt throughout just those 5-6 hours.

These were just two more pictures throughout our second morning... Ryan took to daddy right away and wants to be with him all the time now, he even whines at the door when Carl leaves for work... it's heartbreaking but so cute and wonderful at the same time, because he knows his daddy after all this time. Randi is definitely shy, but does give daddy lots of loves, she just happens to not like daddy telling her "No" and wants mommy if that happens. :) She is definitely a little princess.

Finally first trip out as a family... where too... Best Buy... for what... new monitor for Carl's new computer tower. It's a beast of a computer and for an early Father's Day present he got a fancy new monitor... someone must really love him! :)Anyways, going to get the kids down for a nap and ready for the day so that when daddy gets home we can have more fun! Love you all and thank you for the support through the last 13 months of Carl's deployment. We are truly blessed. Take care, and remember next time you meet a soldier or just see them randomly passing by, all it takes is a small gesture of the word "thank you" or a hand shake to make them realize that the country is behind them and that we do love each one of them. Thanks...