Reunited

Last night my husband made it home safely from his deployment to Afghanistan. It was a whirlwind last-minute adventure getting him home this weekend but he made it and words can not express how grateful and happy we are to be a complete family again.

I didn't tell the kids that he was coming home so it was such a fun surprise as I was giggling (and taking deep breaths to calm the butterflies in my stomach) on the whole drive there while they were guessing different places I would take them. As we were driving through the tunnel near the airport, Jake said, "Mom, this is the tunnel for the airport. Are we getting Dad?" I couldn't keep it in any longer and when I told them yes, they screamed and cheered.

We were running late due to traffic and normal kid situations and we pulled in to park with 15 minutes to go before his plane landed. There was no way we were going to make it to see him walk through the gate. When we went down to get our security passes, they told us the plane was delayed about 15 minutes so we would have to hurry but we should make it. I was sweating bullets and we were literally running through the airport to get there in time. Luckily there was no line at security but flip-flops were lost on the belt, children were tripping and falling on the floor, posters were tumbling to the ground, and ankles were twisted as we hurried through to get on the tram ride to the other terminal and, of course, walk to the last gate. We arrived just in time to see his plane pull up to the walkway. The kids had their posters ready and I had the camera ready.

People were filing out, smiling at my children and oohhing over their welcome posters. They commented on how cute they were and said "they must be the families of those 2 Air Force guys". The kids saw him first and hugged him tightly while I snapped pictures. I hugged him next and the tears started. The other passengers on the plane clapped and thanked Joe and Clarence Dunagan (Kelly, his wife, and their 18 month old and 6 week old baby were there to welcome him) for their service as they hugged their families. I was so happy to have him home. He looked fantastic, even with his short military haircut ;) We got his luggage; he changed his clothes and we were off to dinner. Clark had picked out Cheesecake Factory so we headed down to Caesar's Palace to eat. The kids were happy and hungry and we played games while waiting for our food. We were a family again and it was like our normal life.

We missed you and love you so much, Joe. Thank you for your willingness to serve and sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you also for jumping through many hoops to come home safely and reunite our sweet family again after five long months.