HE IS HOME!!!

The waiting is over.The feeling of standing on pins and needles evaporated the minute I was surrounded in his arms. While sharing a family hug, Haylie lets out a huge sigh. That sigh summed it all up. Our world is finally right and once again our hearts are whole.

The last 2 weeks have been chaotic! After being held for 48 hours on his transport back to the states, they landed in Seattle for his demobilization. Tom breezed through his mental and physical health checks and was prepared to come home after 10 days. But…….. oh yeah, this is a military operation and they don’t do anything in an organized, timely manner.  4 solid days of waiting for the plane that was supposed to deliver them home. 4 days of seeing his number on my phone and expecting to hear that he was finally boarding the plane. Nope, nada, no way, no go. Finally on the evening of the 4^th day he calls to say that they are passing on the plane and will be arriving on a bus at 4 a.m. All my carefully laid out plans…the outfit, the pictures, the excitement of arriving at the airport, capturing our daughter’s expression, they all went down the drain. Sweat pants and sleep laden eyes was the greeting he got.  This must be God’s way of saying, “all your plans are superficial, all that matters is the reuniting of a husband and wife, a father and daughter.”

Now is the time that I give credit where it’s due. Thank you God for walking beside me during the last year and carrying me when I faltered. Thank you for the strength that you gave me for every day, every minute and every second.  Thank you to my family and friends for the never ending support. I may not have expressed my gratitude in the past year. But your support and love did not go unnoticed and many times I drew on that support.  Thank you for understanding that sometimes it’s hard to always stay positive.  I know a few family members and a few friends who got to witness my frustration of having Tom away. So Thank You!

With  all that out of the way, below are the few pictures that I did capture. Please look past the fact that we are still in pj's. Haylie thought it sure was a nice surprise to wake up and have her daddy miraculously home. Better said in her words, “Daddy you snuck in while I was sleeping!”  

 

 

Finally she was able to take the last butterfly down. For those of you that don't know; there were 12 butterflies on Hayli'es wall, each represented 1 month of the year deployment and she took one down at the end of every month. Needless to say, she never want butterflies on her wall again.