Monday, November 10, 2008

Back Together Again

Dear Family and Friends,
I hope this post makes your day. We picked Mike up on Saturday night at 8:30pm. His flight was supposed to arrive at 9 am on Friday morning, but it was delayed for mechanical reasons.
Here are a few photos and video clips of that evening.

Clip One: Since this is our FOURTH deployment, I knew there was a 99% chance that Mike's flight was going to be delayed. I told the kids that we would pick up Daddy no later than, Monday. We drove to the family parking area and Adam started reading all of the signs that people were carrying, "Welcome..Home...Daddy...?" Here is the clip of his reaction. I took the video on my phone so it is fuzzy.



Clip Two: Amanda had fallen asleep in the car on the way over. She is a little dazed. She is also a little cold. Until Saturday morning, we had been having un-seasonally warm weather. But Saturday night, Fall found us, so it is about 40 degrees.


Amanda warmed right up after we got into the hanger and she got a flag.
They let the families go out to the flight line to see the airplane land. It was COLD!!! I am glad I packed their mittens and winter coats. I wish I would have found my mittens.

For all of you who follow Brenda's Blog , and you were wondering where is her "Friday, I'm In Love" post?..Well now you know. Thanks Brenny and Darren for being here. I will let her tell you about their adventures--check out her blog. (Darren, I am glad that University of Wyoming won)
Big smiles on the flight line! The plane is just a few minutes from touching down.
Since Adam was small, he managed to wiggle his way up to the fence.



I swear there were half a million soldiers on the flight!! It was so cold and difficult to distinguish one soldier from the next (they were wearing their helmets and full battle gear) that most families gave up and went back inside where it was warm. Adam was DETERMINED to see Mike, so Darren and I waited with him, while Brenda took Amanda inside. We finally spotted Mike. He was one of the last soldiers off the plane. Mike set his gear down. We were yelling like crazy. Finally, he saw us. Adam was so happy when Mike waved back, I thought he was going to climb over the fence. We ran back into the hanger because the ceremony was going to start. As we ran, Adam kept saying, "Mom, we saw him. I am so happy. I am crying, mom. I am so happy." I looked down at Adam. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, but he had the biggest grin on his face.


The soldiers line up in formation outside. Then they open the hanger doors and they march in. It is quite a site. This photo can't even capture the emotion and presence that fills the room when they march in. There is a brief ceremony and then the soldiers are released to their families for a few minutes. Ummm, how can I say this--mass pandemonium breaks out.
Mike spotted us while he was standing in formation.
We didn't have any problems finding each other.


Mike has 7 days of mandatory re-integration training. We are planning on packing up our house and moving in with our friends in the next 20, yes, I said 20 days. As Mike and I were driving home from the ceremony, he started planning and making a list. I stopped him and said, "Let's just enjoy 'this' for 3 days. Then we can start our lists." Never a dull moment. We will keep you posted.