Damian's Homecoming

My friend, Tandy, has 3 fantastic kids my children love. Her husband had been deployed since May of this year and just returned on the 17th (yesterday). Tandy's middle child, Braeden, is the same age as Kimber and attends preschool with me. These pictures are of the surprise visitor we had at our preschool Christmas show. We had a small group show up to welcome Damian home and we had him seated with all the other parents when the kids came down to do the show. Braeden couldn't smile big enough and not many eyes stayed dry while watching this wonderful little boy show the excitement of seeing his dad. I felt like we were intruding, but I felt grateful to be able to witness such happiness.I particularly loved watching the men welcome Damian. Seeing Kevin get choked up was nice. Our family has prayed for Damian each night of his deployment and we are grateful for his service to our country. It felt a little odd to drop him off the prayer list last night.

Cory Blackburn held the flag while we waited to welcome Damian home.

Damian (with Ella) as he rounded the corner to see us waiting for him.

This is Braeden's face when he first saw his dad in front of him.

The first hug.

I don't know what's going on here, but I like to think that Braeden is trying to figure out if it's really happening.

HAPPINESS!