Welcome Home, Heroes!

We were very excited to get word from Tony's sister that our brother-in-law was returning from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. He was arriving back at Fort Knox at 4 am on Christmas Eve morning. After caroling on Friday, we put everyone to bed at 7:30 and got back up again about 12:30 am. Erin, Hunter, and Tony's mom met us at our house at 1:30 am. Erin ordered matching shirts for all of us. The boys and Sophie were so excited, it didn't matter that it was the middle of the night.
Sophie's shirt was a little big, but she didn't care. She couldn't wait to see Uncle Matt.


On the way to Fort Knox, we had some excitement that had nothing to do with the ceremony we were headed toward. There was a sobriety road block right before entering a dry county in Kentucky. "No officer, we haven't been drinking. Unfortunately." We did see a young lady off to the side being given sobriety tests. Andrew was worried we were going to get in trouble because he wasn't in a booster. I had to remind him that 1) it's an Indiana law and 2) he recently turned eight and weighs more than 80 pounds so it's really not an issue anymore. Both boys were excited about all the police cars and eager to hear the officer tell us that the buses of soldiers had gone through not too far ahead of us.
Although the picture is dark, the main gate at Fort Knox was a welcome sight!
We were quite a crew! Hunter and Erin, my mom and dad AND Aunt Connie, Tony and I and our three kids, Tony's mom, and Matt's parents. We were all so excited, and the atmosphere in the gym was amazing.




We arrived about 3:15, expecting the ceremony to start at 4:00. Then we were told it was delayed until 4:30. There were arts and crafts activities to entertain the kids, refreshments and lots of great American music to keep us in the mood. Then, the Erin came in from outside to tell us that the buses had arrived. We were on one half of the gym, separated from the other half by a huge curtain. Once the ceremony started, the curtain went up. It gives me chills and makes me tear up again just thinking about it. To the sound of Toby Keith's the Angry American, 300 heroes were revealed. All present and accounted for.

Absolutely amazing. The ceremony was short and sweet, and then the soldiers were reunited with their families. I had to remind Andrew that Hunter and Erin needed to see Matt first - he was fairly chomping at the bit to get into his arms. Andrew really looks up to Matt and has had more emotional trouble with his deployment than he'd admit to anyone.
Sophie was also thrilled to see Matt. From the moment we met Matt, she has had a special bond with him. Last Christmas it was almost as if she knew he was headed out - she spent a lot of Christmas day in his arms. (It could also be that she liked rubbing his beard.) While Matt was gone, she turned her hero-worship to Hunter. Every day when I pick her up from the sitter she asks if Hunter is in the car. As if he'd be anywhere else? She never asked about her brothers.
I am especially thrilled for Hunter. He was fairly bouncing off the bleachers waiting for his Dad.
After a few (very few) hours of sleep, I had to run to the grocery for a few things. I brought back Christmas eve morning donuts, which Sophie enjoyed tremendously.
Now it's about time to start getting cleaned up and heading to our celebrations. The best Christmas gift any of us received this year was the safe return of Matt to Erin and Hunter. It makes for the best Christmas memory ever.

Even our elf got into the spirit. He was nowhere to be found when we left at 1:30, because he was at the North Pole, of course. But when we walked in the door at 6:30 this morning, look where that sneaky guy was!

Merry Christmas!