Sunday, February 10, 2008

Home Sweet Home

Just a short note and update:
 
Weather and scheduling cooperated wonderfully and Jon and I arrived at Hurlburt Field, FL, in the wee hours of the morning this past Tuesday.  The next day we flew Delta air to our home unit, where we were greeted with friends and family and flags and welcome signs at the airport!!  It was a wonderful welcome party, and after a few hours of inprocessing it was back to the hotel to relax with my family.
 
We drove home Friday and arrived to our house filled with friends and loved ones from our community and church.  They decorated the driveway with flags and bows, and everyone was dressed in red white and blue!  The children had gifts and presents (hand painted trains, colorings, drawings, stick figures, and treats) and the grown ups had brought food and snacks.  We spent the evening swapping stories and catching up, and just enjoying the company of friends that had been praying for months.
 
I am still trying to adjust my sleep and wake patterns to normal life, but will have plenty of time off to relax around the home and perhaps send a few more posts to the blog.  I apologize for the last few weeks of silence here, but some fiber optic cable in the sea was cut and we lost all our phone and internet access!  What timing.
 
Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts and words of encouragment, and for the support you provided me and my family.  This deployment is over for me, but the experiences, memories and lessons learned will remain.  I believe I am stronger because of it, and I believe my family had increased in strength as well.  Please continue to pray and support the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who are away from their families and in the fight this very day.
 
Whew!
k12