Derek actually came home when he was originally scheduled to but a couple months before he told me that he was going to have to stay 2 extra weeks because the guy replacing him was going to be late getting there. I know things like that happen all of the time so I believed him.......and started making plans for my parents and the kids and I to meet him when he arrived back in Texas. Things started getting a little weird when with about a month to go Derek was looking less tired on Skype and I was wanting to buy my parents plane tickets to come back home from Texas and my Mom was holding off on me getting them because she "wasn't sure when they would come back." I started getting extra suspicious when Derek hadn't made an attempt to call/Skype/email in about 3 days, which wasn't like him. Then, all of a sudden, I get a call from Kaiserslautern, Germany and it was Derek. I kind of figured he was trying to surprise us so I didn't ask any questions about why he was calling from Germany. He did mention that they sent him to a remote location to do some work because he was the only one that could do it. I knew that was possible but also a little far-fetched since, at this point, he was down to about a week or so until he had told me he would be leaving.......and why would they send him out so close to him leaving? While this was going on I was also getting some visitors on the blog from Germany so I figured if I get any hits from North Carolina in the next couple of days I KNOW he's on his way home. Sure enough, I did have a visit from Fayetteville, NC! The icing on the cake though was when some dufus from Lackland called me and said, "I know your Dad or spouse is on his way home from his deployment and we're needing a good number to reach him at." I felt bad because Derek doesn't even try to surprise me anymore because I ALWAYS figure it out.
All along my parents and brother & sister-in-law were in on it. They arranged for us to come to Bryan & Kim's house for a cookout the day he was coming home{Saturday, June 29th} (they conveniently live 10-15 minutes from the Indy airport) and also hired a photographer to take the "kids" pictures. Obviously, since I knew what was going on, I coordinated my outfit with theirs and also got something for Derek. If there was going to be a photographer there we might as well all look good together! Also funny, when the photographer got there she asked, "Is he here yet?!" Not sure if she knew it was supposed to be a surprise or not. Derek wasn't there yet.........he was supposed to be........but his flight ended up being about an hour and a half late. When he got there the first thing he said to me was, " I know you knew I was coming......I don't know why I even tried to surprise you." He didn't ACTUALLY know that I knew, but he was right. I was still incredibly nervous. All day I felt like I was getting ready for a first date. :) The past 6 months was the longest consecutive time we had ever been apart in the past 13 years! All I know is that it was way too long!! As far as the kids, the girls kind of knew something was up because I started thinking out loud after Derek called from Germany and Allie heard me and asked questions.......then they heard my Mom and I talking about my suspicions at dinner one night. However, they had no idea that he was coming when/where he did.......so they were surprised! Blake was hesitant at first and hid around the corner just observing everything that was going on. But when Derek got down to his level and reached for him Blake did go to him and laid his head down and I don't think he ever wanted to be put down.
Now for the pictures....
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