He's Home!!!!

Deployment numero uno is in the bag! Michael is home!

Yeah, this post will probably have a lot of exclamation points in it.  I can't help it.  I'm ecstatic!  These last four months have gone by both quickly and slow as snails.  It's weird how time works that way sometimes.  But now he's home.  And our family is back together.

Evie is ecstatic. She couldn't keep still while we waited to meet him at the Passenger Terminal this morning.

There is always a lot of hurry up and wait in the military, as you've heard me say before.  This morning was no different.  I called to get the arrival time, and I was told an hour earlier than I had anticipated for.  So I had to rush around like crazy because I was also told to arrive early to ensure I'd have a seat on the family bus to meet him getting off the plane.

I arrived at the terminal only to be told the plane would be there later than I had been told on the phone.  So I hurried, and would now be waiting quite a bit longer than expected.  And as people trickled in, those running the desk disappeared. 

And suddenly I received a text message from Michael saying they would be landing in a few minutes.  At the original landing time.  

We never did get bused to meet them.  Men overloaded with baggage just suddenly started filing through the door, looking tired and disheveled, but glad to be home.  And of course, Michael wasn't even one of those people on the first busload of those returning.

After what seemed liked forever, Michael finally walked through the door.  Evie was over the moon excited to see him.  As soon as she saw him, she took off running, yelling "Daddy!" and gave him a huge hug as he swept her into his arms. She's not letting him out of her sight for a long time, I can assure you.

Evie and I colored a welcome home sign for Michael last night.  Evie was super excited for him to see it.  As soon as we pulled on to our street, she yelled "Welcome home, Daddy!".  It was too cute. 

After doing some paperwork tomorrow morning, Michael is all ours for a couple weeks.  It will be fantastic to get to spend all our time together for awhile, getting us all used to be in the same place again.  It'll be an adjustment for sure, but well worth it.  He's HOME!!!