Bountiful Blessings

On Sunday, I turned 37. I didn’t jet off to Paris nor was I showered in diamonds…in fact, this birthday was even better than all of that. My husband came home four days early. As I’m sure other military spouses can attest, even four days early after a 70-day trip feels like you’ve hit the jackpot. I mean that’s an extra 96 hours you get to spend with the one you love. We drove to San Francisco on Saturday to meet him at the airport. The girls made “Welcome Home Daddy” signs and I got them each a small bouquet of red, white, and blue balloons to carry. Of course, by the time we actually made it there, the sweet little bouquets had turned into one massive, knotted bunch but in the girls’ eyes balloons are balloons no matter the condition. There was a ton of traffic that day and I was so worried that we would be late. I wanted to be there waiting to greet him once he exited those doors. We parked and pretty much walked/ran to the arrivals lobby. The girls had to work together to carry the mass of balloons and I got the biggest kick out of them running through the airport with balloons in tow. They had already made sure to tell everyone at the carwash, the party store and now the airport that “Daddy was coming home today and we were making him a party in the airport.” Remember what I said about balloons? If there are balloons...it’s a party. We rounded the corner from one direction as Doug was rounding a corner from the other. I pointed him out to the girls and they kicked their run up from super-sonic to light speed. I think the main phrasing of their excitement consisted of “Daddy, my Daddy, my Daddy.” Well, I, of course, had to bawl a bit. He looked so good and I was so thankful that he had made it back safely. A few days before his return, I had exchanged an e-mail or two with a good friend of mine from high school. She and her husband and children are currently residing in Texas. She has said repeatedly that she’s an Alabama girl through and through and Alabama is where she would prefer to be. However, she wrote that not long ago her husband went away for a week with work. As she put it, God soooo reminded me why our family made this move. I need a husband and my kids need their Daddy!” I can’t agree more. The mood in our house is so much more “joyful” when Doug is home. I can just see “it” in all of our faces and I hear it in the girls’ voices and in their laughter. Life is just better when we’re all together. Before I joined the military, I’m pretty sure I took my family for granted. All of those holiday meals together, birthdays and anniversaries celebrated as a family...to a teenager it was just another boring family obligation. Well, many years down the road, with a family of my own, and separated by thousands of miles from those that we love, those moments have taken on a new perspective. We should always try and appreciate any time we have together as a family. Every second of it is important and precious. I’m so looking forward to a time in the near future where I’ll once again get to share those special moments with family. For now, I’m just thrilled, elated, ecstatic, joyful, and grateful that I have my little family all under one roof again. I actually have the cutest picture of Doug and the girls taking a nap the day after he came home. It was after my birthday “party”. Doug grilled for us and he and the girls made some special cupcakes for me. I began straightening up the kitchen while Doug took the girls upstairs for a story prior to naptime. I could hear him reading and also hear the girls’ corresponding giggles (I’ve been told that Daddy just makes the stories funnier...perhaps it’s the Scottish accent he puts on while reading). A few seconds later there was just silence. Surely they couldn’t have gone to sleep so quickly, I thought. I went upstairs and in fact, they were all passed out, exhausted I’m sure from the birthday festivities. The girls were in their bathing suits (dry, of course, since they were attempting to convince us to go to the pool). Anna was upside down in the bed while Lauren was perched on top of two pillows. It was so sweet and I had to grab a picture. Doug won’t let me post it...I’m going to start referring to him as the Blog Regulatory Committee or BRG. Still, it just reinforced all of those warm fuzzies I was already overcome with...there’s nothing like being with the ones you love...