Bringing Our Soldier Home Part 1
Day 1: Saturday 4/10/2010
So I spent my day cleaning the house, making sure laundry and dishes where all clean so that I could head out the next day. I spent the evening preparing my lesson for church, packing our bags and loading them in the car. I was up till 0045 Sunday morning working on the lesson and packing.
Day 2: Sunday 4/11/2010
On this day we woke up and sat around till it was time to get ready for church, we went to church and after ward conference and teaching my lesson we bolted for the car, went to the house, changed clothes, picked up the pup and hit the road for Abq. We got here ate dinner and went to bed.
Day 3: Monday 4/12/2010
Most of Monday we just sat around my in-laws house and waited for the day to pass and be over but that evening we did go see my "brother" Johnny. He is normally stationed in Hawaii so we don't get to see him often but he just happened to be in town so Brynlee and I made sure we would get to see him. Brynlee loves her uncle Johnny. We went to Denny's and ended up visiting for about 2 hours. Here are the pictures! 
They had lots of fun together and it was so good to talk and catch up on things.
It was really good to see you Johnny, Stay safe in Iraq and we'll see you soon.Day 4: Tuesday 4/13/2010
Tuesday the plan was to meet with Anna and her mother in law at 1100 but at 0800 Anna and I where already up, packed and nearly ready to go so we moved the time up to 1000. I went and filled up on gas, picked up a few things at Target and then came back and loaded up the car. We met Anna and her mother in law at wal-mart then headed for El Paso, TX.
After arriving at the hotel, which was an adventure in it's self, when I arrived we checked in and went to our room only to find the maids cart in front of our room the door propped open by a trash can and the bed torn apart no one in the room. Anna and I had things to do so I couldn't just wait on them to finish the room. Ben's mother took Brynlee while Anna helped me unload the car. As we unloaded the maid came back and finished her job. The maid finished after everything was in the room and I was working on getting the 3 of us settled. After the maid left I let Cowgirl off the leash, let Brynlee crawl around on the floor and got the room all set up for the 2 nights we'd be there. After everyone was settled we went on base to find the place where James would fly into and find out if we needed day passes onto the Post (which we didn't). We then went to dinner at the Rib Hut which has GREAT food. We went back and went to bed
Day5: Wednesday 4/14/2010We all got up around 0400 and got dressed and ready to go on Post and meet Daddy!
Brynlee enjoyed walking the dog while she waited for mommy to get ready and auntie Anna to come down.
Cowgirl didn't think it was as much fun as Brynlee did
But she tolerated it and it kept Brynlee busy so mommy could get ready .Thank you Cowgirl.
We left the hotel at about 0500 because the 720th (James' Unit) was supposed to arrive between 0600-0645. We drove down to the base and over to the air field where we found several confused people. Apparently the directions we had been given where not the best. Soon after pulling up though a kind man in a truck pulled up and asked us if we where meeting the 720th. about 5 cars worth of women said "YES!" and he kindly told us to follow him. The place was only a few turns away but we where all thankful for the help. When we walked in the door of the building a man in uniform holding a plate of food walked up and informed us that the guys would not be arriving till 0810..... grrrr.... so now we had to wait 2+ hours for the guys to get there. It doesn't seem like a lot now but then at 0600 with little sleep (between Cowgirl growling at every passer by all night, James getting on the net at midnight from Norfolk, VA, and my own lack of sleep I had probably slept a total of 2-3 hours.) 2 hours seemed like an eternity. It was good I had Ben's wife and mother to keep me company and sane, taking turns with Brynlee. There was food to eat but my stomach was in too many nervous knots to eat anything. Brynlee got animal crackers and gold fishy though.
At one point I let her walk around on the chairs. She was such a good baby!
As the time got closer and they started announcing that the guys would be arriving soon I got even more antsy.
Auntie Anna and Grandma Schmieder where a big help and thy kept getting Brynlee things to play with. They had a bounce house set up for the kids, coloring books, snacks, all sorts of toys and such. They had a lot to help keep the kids busy but not me lol.
About the time the guys where supposed to fly in they told the families that they had a place roped off outside so that we could go see them off the plane. Brynlee loved waving her little flag. and waiting for her Daddy.
Before the guys plane flew in there was a much smaller plane that circled over head and drove us all crazy thinking it was the guys plane but there was a BIG difference in the planes we realised when the guys actually arrived. Their plane was HUGE!!! Like 10x the size of the plane that had been circling. It was so exciting watching all the guys come off the plane.
I know I should have taken more pictures but was too busy looking for James. They all lined up off the plane and walked up to toward the families and turned just a few feet out of reach. When I finally did see James he took his father's day teddy bear off his back pack and tossed it to Brynlee and me. The families where ushered back inside while the guys got shots and checked in. After a little while the guys where marched in in formation with flashing lights and loud music. A prayer was said and the guys where released to eat and be with the families that had come for a little while.
This is Ben and James. Every one was happy they where home, including them!
Brynlee was very happy to see her Daddy and kept laying her head on his shoulder and looking at all the other guys. and then back to daddy.
Daddy Showed her off to a few people and we waited around and hung out for about an hour or so.
After the family time the guys where loaded back on to buses and taken to their Barracks. The families all followed the buses. Once Brynlee and I arrived we found James in line to receive his room. He got his room, grabbed his bags, and put them in the car. after another formation the guys where released till 2100 (9pm) So we went back to the hotel room and played and laughed and where a family for a few hours.
Brynlee was being so silly for her daddy and cowgirl was very happy her daddy was home again.
Mommy tried to take a picture of her and Brynlee but daddy caught us.....
He took it for me! It is an indescribable feeling to have this picture. Brynlee's first year of life contains close ups of mommy and pictures of just her, no spontaneous pics of her and her mommy or her and her daddy. Now with daddy home these can happen a lot more often.
This is Daddy packing up and getting ready to go back on Post for the night.
Well I took James back on Post where we soon met up with Anna and Ben. The guys had formation which actually was really funny, apparently The medic in James' team was so drunk already that he wet himself in formation. After formation James asked if he could spend more time with his sleeping daughter and me. He was told that some one had already asked and the person walked away. James took that as a "go for it but if you get caught I'm not covering for you" So James came back to the hotel for the night. I needed that and was so glad he did.
0 comments:
Post a Comment