Captain Angie Comes Home!

We were blessed enough to be able to be there for Angie when she stepped off the plane after her long journey home from Iraq. This was her second deployment to Iraq and we're hoping she won't be going back!! I'm a little late putting these pictures up, but I'm hoping to get back into updating the blog more regularly. Too much happens and if I don't write about it, I'll forget it!

We started off in the...well, it's not a hangar I don't think, but it's a big open building where the plane pulls up to. Not sure what it's called.

We decided to wait inside instead of outside where the plane comes in, but we could catch a little glimpse of outside through the doors.

Joey started off pretty awake. But it was so miserably hot and late in the afternoon, and we (me, him and Tanner) had driven in from Camp Lejeune where we were spending time with our friends on the beach. Earl drove Angie's car down from VA and met us there.

After just a few minutes, Joey started nodding off. On Earl's head!

Because of all the sweat on Earl's head, Joey kept slipping. Ha ha.

We didn't have to wait too long (we had gotten there late anyway). Angie's unit marched in and luckily, she was almost right in front of us.

This is just some of the troops.

There she is! She saw us before we saw her, I think.

Poor Angie...all sweaty and hot and tired, and still smiling at us. :)

Reunion time! Hope we didn't squish Tanner with our hugs!

Joey trying on Angie's beret.

Aunt Angie and her smallest nephew getting reaquainted.

Tanner had some smiles for his aunt.

Then we went to her work building so she could get her gear. Joey waved the flag so she could find him (there was NO ONE else around where we were, the rest of the crowd was down the street).

Tanner and Daddy hanging out. This was Earl's first experience welcoming someone else in. He's always the one coming in from a deployment. He claimes he much prefers this part. I tried to explain that all of his returns have been much more difficult. We are usually waiting hours and hours in the sun with kids for his unit to come in.

Joey insisted on helping Angie find her bags.

Bingo!

The rest of the night is the big adventure, and I don't have pictures. We tried to find a hotel as Angie was finishing up at work, and everything was booked. We ended up a seedy, shady, scary Ramada in a not-so-great part of town. The A/C didn't work, the rooms were smelly. There was trash and crud all over the floors where it hadn't been cleaned. The bathtub was FULL, I mean FULL, of dirt and hair. It was the most disgusting thing I ever saw. All the rooms were the same, so we got our money back instead. A "working girl" even approached Earl outside, as he was waiting on the curb to show Angie where to turn into the hotel parking lot, and she asked Earl when he was getting off the corner. Ha ha! We went a couple more miles down the road and found a much nicer Quality Inn with vacancies. We finally got into bed around 1am I think.

But it was worth it to get to be with Angie. We are so glad she's home. And I know I speak for everyone (even Earl) when I say how proud we are of her. She's given up a lot of her life to serve overseas, in some of the most miserable conditions ever. We wish her luck and happiness and stress-free living in Arizona for the next year where she'll be doing some more training for the Army. It's been great having her here (lots of pictures of her visits to come), and we're getting spoiled. Not going to like having her so far away again, for so long. But thank God it's not Iraq. We love you Angie!