Miki is Home

He returned on Saturday from a year deployement to Iraq.

Originally, he was scheduled to return at 2 am on Saturday, November 13th, but for about 72 hours I kept getting phone call after phone call with changes to his arrival time. It changed about 8 times before it was settled upon 5:50 pm on Saturday.

The girls and I got to the meeting place at about 5:00 and waited for about an hour. We were inside most of the time and there was a bounce house and coloring and crafts for the kids. They also provided free snacks and drinks while we waited.

At about 6:00 we went outside to watch his plane taxi in. It stopped pretty far away, but we could still see everyone get off of the plane. There was a band playing, soldiers in formation to welcome them, families with signs and balloons and lots of cheering. The soldiers walked by but we couldn't really tell who was who because they were still pretty far away. They had to walk to a different building to drop off their weapons and have a briefing. We went back into the building to wait for another 1.5 hours. But their was a live video feed of the soldiers in their meeting and we got to see Miki there.

When it was time, the families all lined up and we heard a loud knocking on the metal door. Smoke machines turned on while lights flashed. Then the troops marched in. What an amazing moment to see all of those soldiers in uniform. I thought I would be in tears by this point, but I was just so excited. I couldn't stop grinning. We spotted Miki in the crowd and you can see how the rest panned out in the video clips below.

We are so grateful for our wonderful husband and father. And so blessed to have him back in our lives. What a wonderful spirit he brings to our home. We missed him so much and love having his fun, relaxed and easygoing personality around all of the time. I truly appreciate his love and support of me and the girls while he had been gone. I didn't know if I could make it this last year. It has been a very difficult year at times, but I will be forever grateful for the love and sacrifice of so many family and friends that have stepped up and lifted our family when we have needed it. I know that the Lord has blessed and strengthened us during these difficult times and I will be forever grateful for this experience and the person that I have become because of it.