Homecoming

Can I just tell you about my morning??  Awful, awful, awful.  First, I barely slept last night.  Though I was super excited to feel the baby move for the first time, I could never find a comfortable position.  Second, two outfits I tried on this morning didn’t fit.  Then, my hair would not do anything so I had to pin it in this awful ponytail.  I also discovered I have completely lost my wedding bands.  I have no idea where they are!?!  I have looked everywhere.  This continues to be a source of worry for me because in my state of forgetfulness I could have accidentally thrown them in the trash... or worse one of my students thought they were part of the prize box... or even worse they could have been stuck in my Long John Silver’s tray and I could have ate them!

Despite my terrible, horrible, no good, rotten morning it has been such a wonderful day.  Today we had church at the Mountain Recreational State Park.  The scenery was so gorgeous, the weather was perfect Fall, the sermon was so good, and the fellowship was a lot of fun.  After we had sandwiches, we joined up with another family and took a hike through some of the trails.  With the exception of my labored breathing, we all had a good time laughing and joking.    

We only had one little problem…when Connor (who is TERRIFIED of heights) realized how high we had gotten he grabbed a hold of me (5 months pregnant here) on the slippery rocks and refused to let go.  He was screaming in my ear like a boy getting slaughtered, ‘GET ME DOWN, GET ME DOWN’!!!  I said “child we are both about to GO DOWN in a broken leg kind of way!”  Everyone was staring and he was pulling and I was holding onto the railing for dear life.  It took his dad three tries to get him off me.

On the way home we saw several bridges with patriotic signs and flags.  Darren reminded me Cpl. Josh Kerns will be returning home today.  Josh Kerns is a young marine who was ‘severely injured by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan’.  He has undergone numerous surgeries and procedures.  As a result ‘the IED blast cost the 2008 highschool graduate the loss of both legs below the knees and his right arm below the elbow, among other severe injuries’.

 As we approached our exit we noticed no one was there except for a fire truck and rescue workers.  Darren said ‘let’s run home and get Connor's American Flag and watch them.’  I said ‘but nobody else is out here’.  Darren looked at me like ‘first when does this family ever do what other people do’ and then he said ‘it doesn’t matter this guy needs all our respect, prayers, and good wishes…if this were Lindsay Lohan there would be a million people here’.  My husband is a pretty smart fellow most days!  We ran home and got the flag and pulled into a grassy spot. I started to wave the flag like crazy.   

Connor stayed in the car because he was scared of the loud motorcycle noises 

and Darren walked over to the bridge.  The next thing we know…two more cars followed our lead…

then two more and the whole bridge was filled!

A few minutes later we got to proudly watch Josh Kerns return home, escorted by a 100  motorcycle convoy of the Patriot Guard Riders!   

It was really cool to watch everyone waving, beeping, and bringing home this special young man who served for us!   God Bless Josh, and God Bless all of our men and women who risk their lives for our freedoms.

 So you know I had a pretty awesome day…I just hope those wedding bands turn up.