aaaannnnndd…. Matt's Home. BOOM!

Okay, so from mid-Nov to now has been a big old blur.
But something of great note is that MATT. IS. HOME.  Say, "What?!?!?!?!"

He's been home a week.  It's been a fun, family centered, new phone and car, eating turkey and mashed potatoes week!   So good to have Matt home.  So good.

I'll just go over the homecoming, and hopefully catch everyone up on other events soon.  I promise--soon.

The homecoming synopsis:
Matt flew out of Afghanistan on Wednesday, Nov 20 to Romania.  Flew out of Romania on the 21st, stopping briefly in Amsterdam, then a straight shot to Savannah with the other 250 soldiers in his group. (There were 6 "main body groups" and Matt's was main body 4.)  At the airport they were loaded into buses then driven to the base.
Me and the boys made it to the base an hour before Matt and his group were scheduled to arrive.  We just hung out, climbing all over a Blackhawk helicopter for almost an hour.   It was pretty amazing ;)
It was dark by the time the buses arrived, but we had made a plan:  no matter what, me and the boys would stay in one spot--to the right in the bleachers and holding a specific sign.  (Too many horror stories of families unable to find their soldier in the first few minutes.)
The soldiers unloaded from the buses, got in formation, walked onto the field.  A prayer was said, the national anthem sung, a few short words from the commander were said, THEN THEY WERE ALL RELEASED.
Because it was close to 7:30pm, and pretty dark, I didn't see Matt at all.  Me and the boys were straining our eyes, but to no avail.  I just waited in that spot, to the right in the bleachers, holding my sign… then BAM!, Matt ran up to us.
I had no tact, screaming "THERE YOU ARE!" And jumped and hugged him.  I then realized the boys needed to see Matt too.  They were unsure what to do for a second or two, but quickly gave Matt big hugs.  Eli didn't want to let go.  (Insert tears from me and Matt.)
After picking up a few bags we were able to head back home.  The boys talked Matt's ear off the whole time--getting like 20 stories from each boy in 5 minutes.  All the highlights from the last 9 months were retold, including everyone's birthday cakes and finding crabs at the beach and running into mirrors at the hotel.  

Matt's adjusted well to being home.  Not really stressed, pretty relaxed, and almost completely caught up with sleep.  (Apparently he didn't sleep on any of the flights home so that he would be on our time with us.  Crazy dude, being up for over 24 hours.)

So life is good, guys.  Really good.

Here are a bunch of photos from that night.  Fabulous Paige took them for us, and considering the time of night, and lack of lighting, they actually turned out pretty great.  Thanks, Paige!