Monday, November 15, 2010

home at last

Words do no justice to how amazing it is to have the family back together again. Saturday brought him home, and it couldn't have been a more perfect day.

Even though the flight was delayed by a few hours, it played well into Eli's nap schedule. I was able to get myself all prettied up while Eli got his beauty rest.

Of course, the preparation started the night before while I cleaned up the last little bits of the house. And then at one point found myself sobbing (sobbing?) because I couldn't believe the day was almost here.

And on an almost total coincidence we had figured out that Jim would have a layover in the morning 45 minutes from his parents' house. So I was on and off the phone with my MIL trying to make the logistics of the morning work. And it all payed off!

At about 7 in the morning, and to Jim's utter surprise, he was greeted off the plane in Norfolk, VA by his parents and two of his greatest buddies.

He enjoyed a leisurely lay-over and some Panera take-out while catching up with the east coast.

A few hours later he flew on to El Paso! Which is my favorite part. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. It's a pretty amazing one.

Waiting for the plane to land.

They're HERE!!!

Coming in the hanger. Very dramatic.
They even had a smoke machine.

Can you spot Jim? (Third on the left.) We were so close but had to wait through the 5.5 second speech. Seriously, it was almost funny how short it was.

Reunion!

I had a hard time keeping it together. Truthfully, I didn't even try. His first hug just left me crying in his arms.

Eli, on the other hand, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. Poor guy, he was very overwhelmed by all the commotion.

Checking out daddy.


I need to give a shout-out to my friends who came to take pictures and generally be supportive. Crystal, Liz and the whole Dykema clan cheered almost as loud as I did when the guys marched in. And I have to laugh, because the Dykema's had never even met Jim. They are just those kind of awesome people.

- - - - -

Thanks to all of you who prayed through the last year with us. Believe it or not it was an amazing year. Only God can turn what seems like bad luck into His perfect will, ya know? So if your prayers were not just for safety, but also a thriving marriage and a growing understanding of family, then consider them answered. I also got a stronger relationship with a God who makes all things GOOD to those who LOVE Him and are CALLED to His purposes. Romans 8:28. Check it out. It is well worth the ride..

8 comments:

Michelle A'etonu said...

what a beautiful post! welcome home jim :) hope you guys are having fun!

Erin said...

So excited for all of you! Congratulations!!
Love you.
Erin

LifeAtTheCircus.com said...

WELCOME HOME JIM!!!!!!!! This post choked me up a little...so thankful your finally on the other side of this. Love your pics.

Happy said...

Totally choked up. Especially over the last paragraph. So happy for you. You're an amazing army wife and I'm just in awe of your strength and optimism.

Have a beautiful and blessed reunion with your man!

KToth said...

Aahh! Tears actually came to my eyes and I'm not the weepy type. So happy for your family. Good job sticking it out Mama, and welcome back Jim!

Megan said...

I love it all! I'm so happy for the three of you being reunited after all this time! There was something about the picture of them standing in line for the uber quick speech while you waited that just killed me - I could totally put myself in that place of having them sooooo close but not quite there! I love the idea of your friends who had never met Jim coming along to cheer loudly for his return. It's all so touching - definite tear jerker!

Unknown said...

Brings tears to my eyes reading this beautiful reunion post. SO SO happy for your growing family. Looking forward to seeing you all at Christmas.

nest4ever said...

So happy for you!! AND super happy to see that you're blogging again.