Maybe I should become a detective

I did quite a bit of detective work this morning (including a phone call to Amer!can A!rlines, where I wound up crying before I finished explaining my dilemma!) to figure out which flight K was on, but I did it.

I was able to get to the gate in plenty of time. In fact, I was an hour early. But better an hour early than even five minutes late!

K's flight arrived at 9 a.m., and he was on a plane full of soldiers headed home for their mid-tour leave. They got a nice welcome from the Dallas Fire Department, which had trucks on either side of the runway dousing the plane as it taxied the runway. K said it was really neat.

The U.SO and Lock.heed Mart!n had groups of people there to welcome the soldiers. It was wonderful of them to do that!

Soon after 9 a.m., they lined all of the families up on either sides of the doorway the soldiers would be coming through. As soon as the war veteran volunteer who was standing in the doorway caught sight of the first person in uniform, he cued someone to turn on patriotic music on a stereo nearby.

Two soldiers came through the door, which instantly brought tears to everyone's eyes. We clapped for them, and they shook the hands of the volunteers, who were holding up signs and waving flags.

















There was a bit of a lull before more soldiers came by. After a few minutes, I caught a glimpse of K coming toward the door.

I had wondered many times if I would cry when I saw him. But the moment I saw him, with the emotion of the music and having so many volunteers there -- not to mention my excitement over seeing my husband for the first time in nine months -- my eyes flooded and spilled over. He had the same reaction. (Honestly, I don't think anyone left there with a dry eye!)

We hugged for the longest time, and then a volunteer offered to take a picture of us. We kissed quickly after the photo, and a few female volunteers ran up and said, "Kiss her again!"






































It's wonderful to have him here again. I didn't know what it would be like for the first day or so (it took about half a day for things to feel normal again when he returned from Afghanistan), but it really feels like he never left, which is amazing.

Now, if you don't mind, I'll leave you with these pictures for a day or two. I'm gonna go spend time with my hubby!

(By the way, Piper TOTALLY remembered K! She was really excited to see him and has been lying by him and enjoying playing with him all day!)