Coming Home is so much sweeter...

Well, sorry that I have been so remiss on posting, but I have been a nomad for the last while and I finally am sitting down for a moment. I don't have time tonight to write all about the craziness of the move, but long story short, Ryan walked onto that Parade field and back into our lives on Thursday around 4:45 PM! They had loud music playing as we were waiting for the soldiers to arrive and they played every conceivable happy "man coming home" song that you can imagine! ;) Every once in a while they would make an announcement and the first one was something to the effect of, "Well folks, your soldiers have landed at the air field... They will be here shortly!!!" Of course everyone goes crazy and honestly I still can't talk about it or even write it without tearing up. It was such an immeasurable relief to know that he had landed and that he was no longer in danger. About 45 minutes later they announced that they had done all they needed to at the airfield and they were on the buses to come to see us. Again, tears welled up at the thought of seeing him in 15 minutes. Thankfully I had sunglasses on or all of my pride would be gone! ;) Then about 15 minutes later, the sweetest words were uttered... "Folks, take a look to your right and you should start to see the buses with your soldiers heading this way!" Of course everyone around me is screaming and cheering, but all I can do is try to hold the tears in at the prospect that all of the waiting is finally over. (I was severly unsuccesful at holding them in if you're curious!) There were 4 buses parked about 75 yards in front of us and one of them held my husband. It was everything I could do not to run out there and find him. They then unloaded and formed up taking what seemed like ages. Then to the song from the Army Strong commercials they marched in unison toward us until they were but a couple yards in front of us. (It was like a scene from a movie. They really try to bump up the drama!) I tried hard to spot Ryan, but he was in the middle, so I never did find him. A General then got up and said a quick prayer, said to be safe and to be thankful for those that weren't able to come home and those that are still in Iraq. And now... Go get your soldiers! Ryan was very clear that I was to go to the tree to the right of the stands, so that we wouldn't have a problem finding us. I knew that this wouldn't be a problem considering there were only like 160 soldiers returning, but still I walked in the direction of the tree as I scanned the dispersing soldiers. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I will never forget the moment I "found" him in the crowd. He had found me in the crowd right after he marched over, so he was dashing in and out of the other soldiers to get to Eli and I. It was so beautiful as we collapsed in each other's arms knowing that the wait was finally over and we could truly begin our lives together. Seeing him reconnect with the son he hadn't seen in over 5 months, was wonderful. Eli wasn't very into it since he was about 40 minutes overdue for a nap, but it was still a wonderful moment. Here are a few pics off of his parent's camera. My computer still isn't hooked up and I keep forgetting my memory card reader when I come to Ryan's grandparent's house. I have a bunch more that I will post as soon as possible, but hopefully these will hold you over. :)

So much more to share regarding all the drama with the move and finding a house, which I will hopefully be able to blog about later.

Hope you enjoy the pics...

Daddy trying to hold back tears...

Happy Eli

Don't know what Ryan and I are looking at, but Eli seems unphased!

This makes me look fat, but I still think it's cute...