The Last 2 Years: Aaron's Home!!! January 30, 2013

Words cannot fully express what it feel like to see your loved one walk off that plane after 6 months. If you ever have a chance to go or you offer to take pictures (which will always be GREATLY appreciated) don't pass up the chance.  It is an unreal experience.

Aaron emailed me to let me know that he would call when he was in country (i.e.: USA) .  There was a deployment hotline that we were to call to check on the arrival time. We had been told that their plane would be in at 10:30 the morning of the 30th.  Great.  good time to get some sleep, get everyone fed and to the base without having to wait all day.

I had all the kids lay their outfits out the night before so things would go smoothly.  I had my alarm set for 6:30 in case I fell asleep at all.  I NyQuiled myself because that's my go-to sleep aid and I figured that it would be a rough night so I tried to catch it before I laid awake for hours. I called the hotline.  There had been a change; 10:45 am.  No big deal really so long as it didn't get pushed back further.  

At 1:30 my phone rings.  "Carolyn, it's me!" I'm trying to shake myself awake because I want to talk if he has the time but sleep is still in charge. "We are boarding the plane here in New Hampshire and will be there in 4 hours".  Now I'm awake!  with them being 2 hrs ahead on the east coast, I do some sleepy but quick math and figure that they are looking at a 6:30-7 show time.  "Are you sure?" I ask still not believing they would be home so soon.  "The Hotline said 10:45!"

"I don't know about any Hotline but we are wheels up in 20 min.  See you in 4 hrs"

So now I'm wide awake.  I call the hotline again.  Still 10:45.  I try to call Dana the commanders wife but now answer.  I get on my computer and there is a flurry of activity on the Tiger Spouse page.  Apparently all the husbands called their wives and we are all scrambling to figure out what to do. My biggest concern is whether or not to get the kids up or let them sleep.  I ended up talking to my friend Joice and we both decide to get ready and wait and see.  I shower, get my hair and makeup done and get dressed.  It's 3:30 now and I still haven't gotten a call and the Hotline still says 10:45.  I don't know what to do.  So I lay down, spread eagle on my stomach, so as not to mess up my hair and makeup, and dose off.

6:00 my phone rings.  "Get those kids up momma!"  It's my friend Amber Hollis "Our boys will be home in 40 minutes!".  CRAP!  I race to all the kids rooms, yank everyone out of bed.  I let them know, in a slightly elevated voice that dad's coming home early and it's time to get ready.  The 3 big kids jump in the bathroom for 5 minute showers, I get Ainsley dressed and hair done, get the big girls hair done and we are int he car by 6:30.

I'm half crying, half laughing and full on speeding as I head to base. I keep checking to see if I have my ID card to make sure I can get on base.  We play our deployment song "Coming Home"  by P Diddy on repeat because hey, what can be more perfect?  Me arrive to the Pride Hanger at 6:50 and the doors open at 7:05!  Just made it!!

Even though it's (literally) 3 degrees we wait outside as their plane taxis and comest to a stop.  Even thought it's only about 5 minutes, it feels like an eternity for the doors to open, and then one by one they start to come out. Really from that far away they all look the same in their brown flight suits.  I'm scanning and scanning, trying to see where he is....

... then in the middle of a group of green I see a lone brown, and I know it's him.  Aaron is home!!

You can expect the rest I'm sure.

The feeling of being a complete family again cannot be matched.  It almost makes the previous 6 months worth it.  Almost.

The kids had decided to wait and have Christmas when dad got home.  Santa had come on Christmas morning, of course, but we had family gifts for each other.  The tree was still up and it was a fun time.  

tiger head for dad

And last but not least, we finally got to cut Alex's hair.  He had cut it right before Aaron left and decided to leave it until dad got home.  It was a happy day for me!

The Last 2 Years: January 2013

Hooray to the end of 2012 and the beginning of January and Aaron coming home!  I was never more glad to see a year end and a new January to begin.  I mean really, who likes January?!?

Look how short that chain is!!

* Alex got tickets for the Harlem Globetrotters game for Christmas.  We hit Fudruckers Burgers for a pre-game chow fest and then headed to the game.  It was a blast!!

Homemade 'Jimer' jersey

I'm going to brag with this next picture.  I couldn't do one pull-up before Aaron left.  Here I am doing a weighted one.

OK - brag over

My friend Ann Mines got the great idea of getting some snow machines and taking a fun day in the snow.  We ditched the kids at school and drove up through Lead/Deadwood and had some fun.

I had taken Alex out for a date, and even though it was part of his Christmas, I thought it fitting to also take the girls out before dad came home.  Sydney and I went and got pedicures (of which I took no pictures) and then I took Camryn because she thought it sounded like so much fun.  It was!

Nearing the end of every deployment we start planning out come home outfits.  It's just a part of the process.  For this deployment we constantly reminded ourselves that we were all on the same team; working together to make it to the end.  Our homage to this teamwork was that we made jerseys for the homecoming.  Thanks to Amanda Simpson (a fellow Tiger) for the graphic.

The Last 2 Years: December 2012

I'm not going to lie, Christmas without Aaron is pretty terrible.  I believe I said the phrase "I hate Christmas/this time of year" more than a dozen times this month.  I kept having flashbacks of when Aaron deployed in 2010.  He got a semi short notice assignment and only had 6 weeks to get ready.  Ainsley was 2 weeks old when we got the call and Aaron was headed out the door for his second 2 week AMP course.  It was a blur and on Dec 8 Aaron flew out of Rapid City Regional to head to Afghanistan.  Ainsley was 10 weeks old, our 11th anniversary was a week away and Christmas was a week after that.

Fast forward to 2012 and we are again facing Christmas with Aaron gone.  The bright side was that we were on the downward hill of the deployment.  We decided as a family (and with a stern pep-talk to me from Aaron about the kids and Christmas) that we were going to be happy and excited as the holiday approached.  We filled our tim looking for ways to give service, had a "25 days of Christmas" elf that dropped off treats every night for the month, enjoyed parties at school and church, and spent our time getting Christmas to send to Aaron so he could have a taste of home.  

A girl in our squadron gave us the idea to send a mini Christmas tree to Aaron.  I don't care what the Who's say, Christmas isn't Christmas with out a tree.  I then emailed our family and friends and asked each one of them to send Aaron an ornament to decorate his tree; something from where they lived or something that would be unique to the sender. 

*It turned out AWESOME!

*The Rushmore Plaza Civic Center is one of my favorite places here in Rapid City.  Maybe it's true of all city Civic Centers but I feel ours goes out of their way to provide great events for all tastes and ages.  Segway to the beginning of December when I took the kids (minus Ainsley) the see the Broadway rendition of Beauty and the Beast.  Never hurts to have front row seats!

funny that our neighbor Chris Haugo is sitting right behind us!

*You can never have too many Christmas parties right? We had a ward Christmas party, med group party, Tiger party (mom's only so no pictures) and then school parties in each classroom.  

Canyon Lake Ward Christmas party

Med Group Christmas party

*Alex had his first cello concert at school as he is now part of the Orchestra at school.  I'm so glad that he has chosen this instrument and hope he continues to love it!

*Anniversary flowers!  Between my hospital stay, birthday and anniversary, Flowers By LeRoy got a lot of our business in a 5 week span!

When my parents heard that Aaron would be gone for another Christmas, they planned almost immediately  to make the trip out to the RCSD to celebrate with us.  At first I was worried about the company at a time that I wasn't really all that pumped about but the closer it got to them coming, the more excited I/we got.  As Christmas got closer and closer, Scott, Andrea, and Christine all planned to join us; Nelson family Christmas in Rapid City.  It was so much fun and keep us not only busy but it was a better Christmas that I thought I would ever have (minus Aaron of course).  

*Lights at Storybook Island:

Sister Andrea and husband Jed

Mom and Dad Nelson

*Christmas fun! (puzzles, baking, video games and GUTS):

*Christmas morning and hours of present opening:

I didn't get a lot of pictures but Ainsley LOVED her Squkies Castle

Mom and Dad opening the flag that Aaron flew for them

Whitley giving Nathan the DVD that his mom had given him 3 weeks earlier, that she found and re-wrapped 

*Mt Rushmore of course (freezing!!):

My brother Scott's family

Right before everyone left home we went to dinner, all adults, to Alpine Inn.  Alpine Inn is the best thing that ever happened to steak for dinner.  Their dinner menu?  Filet Mignon. Large or small, baked potato, wedge salad and bread.  That's it!!  The whole dinner menu.  Perfectly cooked steak overtime.  I mean, if that's all your making you should know how to do it correctly right?  And that's not their signature dish.  It's their homemade desserts!  I usually go for the Caramel Apple Napoleon but have lately had a love affair over the Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie.  

*Dinner at Alpine Inn in Hill City, SD: (probably my most favorite of all events)

New Years was pretty low key as far as partying goes.  We called a few people to see if they wanted to just hang but in the end made home made rootbeer and toasted the year that dad was coming home!