We've been waiting for this moment to arrive for 7 long months and the day had finally arrived. We drove to the base with the Welcome Home sign that we made for Steve and waited on the pier with the rest of the Mesa Verde families. They had a tent set up, pizza, juice, and 92.9 The Wave radio station providing music until the arrival of our loved ones. Then they announced that the ship would in fact be arriving 30 minutes early then scheduled, everyone went wild with cheer. Everyone started lining up along the pier side once the tug boat made the signal that they were on their way to the ship. They sprayed water and twirled around in circles while blowing their horn. It was quite exciting, but the wait for them to bring Steve's ship seemed like an eternity.
FINALLY, we could see one of the masts belonging to the Mesa Verde. I couldn't believe my eyes!!!! Steve was home!!!!!! The tug boat was so slow pulling the massive ship and it seemed like they were torturing us with the wait. There was another ship docked in front of us and the Mesa Verde had to go around it, so we didn't get to see the entire ship until they finished going around it. For a good 10 minutes, Steve's ship was gone from our view again as we waited. The anticipation was killing us!!!! Then all of a sudden, it came into our view again. Slowly being pulled in. We could see the sailors manning the rails. As they got closer, I noticed one sailor off to the side with something black in his hand. I immediately thought it could be a camera and it might be Steve. So, I studied the actions of this particular sailor as the ship got closer and I was more than certain that was MY SAILOR up there!!!!!! :) Sure enough I found out later that I was indeed right. :)
Again after another eternity, they pulled into to the pier. I started waving Winnie like a mad woman to get Steve's attention. I thought sure he would know that it was us if he saw Winnie. LOL After another while they let the winners of the first hug and first kiss go to the ship, followed by the VIP families. Tyler and I went back in the tent to wait as it was quite hot in the sun. Then we noticed people started walking towards the ship and sailors coming out walking amongst them finding their loved ones. They were all dressed the same. I told Tyler to keep a sharp eye. We reached the opening of the ship where the sailors were coming out and there right in front of me was my husband walking down the ramp with a huge bouquet of roses. I started to dodge the crowd and call his name. It was very emotion. It was such a long 7 months and the waiting was finally over. I surprised him as I appeared right in front of him. We embraced and kissed. he feeling was just so overwhelming to know that he was back with us again. I didn't want to ever let him go. Tyler was so very excited and happy to see his dad again. He told him how much he missed and loved him. It was just such a wonderful feeling to know we were finally together again.
After all the hugs and kisses, Steve took us on board of his "home for 7 months" and showed us around. It was a really nice ship, very clean inside and new looking. The ship only about 5 years old. The ship is named after a National Park and even has a museum on board, which was really cool to see. We got to meet some of his shipmates who helped us carry his things out to the car. The drive home was so nice. Just to be all together again as a family knowing that we were on our way home. We've missed Steve so very much!!!
With a pile of stuff brought home, Steve started unpacking. Tyler had fun helping Daddy go through his things. Steve brought us home some really nice souvenirs from some of the incredible countries he visited during his deployment. One of the things he brought home for Tyler was this matching camel and camel shirt from Dubai...super cute!!! Tyler LOVES it!!! Tyler was also delighted to add to his rock collection thanks to Daddy.
Another special moment was being able to sit down to the dinner table as a whole family again. During the time that Steve was gone, one of the loneliness times during our day would be at mealtimes. It was very quiet and another reminder that Steve wasn't with us. I had been planning his Welcome Home dinner for a few weeks prior to his return. Ever since having sushi had my friend Yasuko's house, I knew this would be my surprise dinner for Steve as he is a great lover of Japanese cuisine. The dinner turned out prefect, mainly because we had Steve to share it with us. Overall, we are incredible happy that Steve is back with us. Tyler is constantly telling him how much he loves him and he hasn;t stopped smiling since we first saw him come off the ship...actually that makes two of us. :) Thank you God for bringing him back to us safe and sound and for getting us through another deployment.
This morning we met Chellee at her work to pick up some things we forgot at her house yesterday. Then we decided to go to lunch together. After lunch, we drove her back to work and she showed us around the police station where she works. Soon we were back on the road and on the way to Orlando to the outlet stores on International Drive. We walked around for a bit, checked out some of the stores, and then got some Belgium chocolate milkshakes at Haagen Daz which were super yummy! Back in the car, we decided to show Tyler the tourist sites down the road. We pointed out the upside down building attraction, but there was no fooling Tyler. He knew it was built that way. We should have video taped the conversation because it was pretty funny. Afterwards we went home and enjoyed a delicious meal. Tomorrow we have to wake up super early and go to the airport to continue on to the next chapter on our family vacation to the Caymen Islands!!!! :)
