I wanted to share some photos from Trevor's homecoming. Unlike his deployment, the return happened during the day....
Andrea had put together a few welcome home signs which were placed in strategic locations where Trevor could see them as the bus drove by.... so we thought! The bus actually came in another way, but he got to see them on the drive home.
Alex got to put on a special dress for Daddy's homecoming - she doesn't look like it in this picture, but she was really excited!
Waiting for the bus to arrive was a bit long, but the kids passed the time by playing and the parents had time to talk about things.
There were quite a few people in the area waiting for the arrival.
The start of the procession is just coming into view and the crowd was yelling and clapping to welcome the Marines home.
A proper bagpipe arrival!
The bus doors were open and we could see through the windows a bit.
As you can see from the arm out of the bus window, the Marines were taking it all in.
After they got off the bus, they had to go to the ammunition depo to turn in their weapons and ammunition (yes, they traveled on the planes with weapons...) and then they were able to come down the hill to the waiting families. It was really hard to identify a specific Marine as they all pretty much looked alike.
Trevor is the very determined Marine in the middle of the photo with the sun glasses on, striding purposely and looking at the camera.
Back together again!
We had to wait a bit for them to be released to go home. There were some things for the kids to do and it gave us a chance to talk with some of Trevor's buddies.
Alex wasn't really too sure about Trevor at first. After a bit, Trevor pulled out a worn picture of the three of them that had been taken before he left. I could tell that he had pulled it out a lot because it was torn a bit. He showed it to Alex and she pointed to Andrea's picture to let Trevor know that it was her Mom. Trevor pointed to Alex's picture and asked who that was. Alex told him it was "Alex" and he pointed to his picture and she told him that was her Daddy. He pointed to himself and said "I'm your Daddy" and she connected the two, and gave him a big hug. Needless to say, a few tears were flowing at this time.
As some of you know, there is a certain duck call that Trevor got from my Dad when he was about Alex's age. When you give a 2 year old a duck call, it can get a bit noisy and somehow, the reed on the duck call mysteriously disappeared. Many years later, Trevor took the duck call to Iraq and used it to round up his vehicle crew. After he got his things, he gave it to Alex and she had a great time blowing into the duck call -- and his crew had a good time with it too!
However, Dad, it is still a bit noisy.....
This is an LAV, similar to the one Trevor commanded. For more information, write to Trevor!
The house had a few special signs!
We are very glad to get him home and to be able to be there to greet him. He is now back in "Mama radar range" and it sure feels good!!!!
