When Daddy Came Home this Summer

So I have some pictures and a story of "Homecoming day" this summer and I am so sorry for holding out on you guys... I will tell you what happened and give you some long awaited pictures in this post! :) Sorry. it took so long... I love you! LOL!!

On the day Darrell came home we had the awesome pleasure of winning "First Hug"!! During a Homecoming there are two special traditions the Navy likes to honor. One is "First Kiss" and the other is "First Hug". Back in the day when families were allowed to meet the boat at the pier, this was a super special gig to have because it meant that you got to greet your husband first, in front of everyone else, on the pier, before everyone else!! It was pretty neat... the Navy papers would take pictures sometimes if it had been a particularly long deployment and it was a HUGE deal.... now-a-days... we can't meet them on the pier anymore and it pretty much just means for us, on our particular boat, that if we win one of these, our husbands don't have to go with all the other guys to unload their stuff in the office after their bus ride and they get to come to the "meet-up" place first. LOL Still pretty cool!! Less waiting...

Anyway... We won first hug and so Darrell got to come see us first before the other guys got there... I was waiting and waiting and waiting and getting anxious because there were SO MANY woman and children standing around and I couldn't see when the van would drive up... Then Jason started getting restless because he was tired of sitting in his stroller... I decided, he wasn't here yet so I would take the boys back inside the building and get something else to drink... as soon as I got inside some woman ran in after me to tell me Darrell was here!!! CRAPPP!!! LOL as I was running with the boys back outside he came around the corner and we just hugged!! It was private and sweet... all the other wives were outside ogling the couple that won "First Hug" and we were inside kind of alone! Our good friend Samantha and her kids were there and they took some pictures for us! Darrell had a disgusting mustache that he grew while he was out and Jason was slightly weirded out by that! haha!! We got to spend a few minutes together before the other guys showed up and Darrell had to go help unload the busses full of seabags... it was super special and a great end to the easiest deployment we've had so far... :)