Last Friday was truly one of the best days of the year so far. The USS Nimitz came home from their 8 month deployment bringing our family back together again. It was a very long day for us but well worth it to have Jay home again. We started the morning off with meeting up with our dear friends and fellow Nimitz family the Hyde family. Robyn and her husband Jared have become good friends to Jay and I and their kids are great. Robyn and I are deployment buddies and look out for one another while the boys are deployed for any reason.
We drove to the base together and walked to the pier to pick out our perfect spot for the ship coming in. Homecomings are insane when you are on a carrier and this year was no exception. The theme for this homecoming was USO 1940 and the live band they had was playing swing and Jazz music all morning long. The kids were having so much fun together while we waited to see that "floating city" begin to pull in. Sorry in advance for all of the photo's (this isn't even half of them).
The Hyde kids! (left 2 right: Brady, Ariana, Kalynn, and Bryant)
Kaden and Kalynn were just having a blast listening to the music. They were acting so cute that one of the ship's photographers snapped quite a few photos of them and even interviewed them as a possibilty to be in the Nimitz news.
The top of the ship's radar towers!
All of these sailors are doing what is called "manning the rails" which is something that they do each time they pull into a US port, even home port.
Thanks to Robyn for getting this photo of the kids and I watching the ship pull in.
Almost pulled in!
At one point Brady was giving Kaden a pigyback ride.
Jay is back here actually manning the rails.
My deployment buddy and dearest friend, Robyn
Jay was talking to me right there to the left of that large tower as this photo was taken by Robyn.
One of the best parts of this homecoming was Annabelle's reaction. The moment I saw Jay coming towards us I pointed him out to her and she took off running right to him. She missed him like crazy and got the first hug from him too.
Our first kiss after 8 months apart!.
Our family is whole again.
I love homecomings. They are honestly the best part of any deployment and this one was just truly special for us. We feel closer as a couple than at any other previous homecoming and even this deployment with all of the challenges and stress that came with the extention (originally it was a 6 month deployment) the homecoming and readjustment have been truly wonderful. I love having Jay home with us once again. Welcome Back USS Nimitz!
