Homecoming 3 - Wordy Details

Good morning all! It is not calm and quiet here but I am sitting on the bed just relaxing and to be honest, this is a relaxing activity for me! Also, if I don't go ahead and blog about this now, I will forget all the things that made this so interesting - NOT!!!!
Sunday was quite the interesting eventful day! We got up to get ready for church and the fun began. We found out that David was definitely coming home and would be arriving on Tuesday at noon. So we began to make hasty arrangements for both us and Carrie. She was with the choir and about an hour after she left Christa's house for their next service, we found out the homecoming details. It was pretty fun there for awhile!! Anyway, Christa and her Dad went to get Carrie Sunday afternoon and Dave and I decided that we should probably go ahead and start on our journey. We left Hobe Sound around and traveled up 95 to just across the Georgia line and spent the night! We got up on Monday and started off on on the rest of the journey. Carrie and Christa and her parents were headed this direction also. Monday the homecoming plans changed about 4 or 5 times so it was an emotional day to say the least! We arrived at the hotel and got all checked in and unloaded. THEN we found out that David's flight had been cancelled and he would not be arriving until Wednesday at the earliest! I thought I was going to die!! Finally around 7 or so, I received a phone call that said that David WAS on a flight and he would be arriving at 2:55 on Tuesday! The rest of our group finally arrived here around 8 and so we got together for supper and then took the girls downstairs to the heated pool to spend some energy!!
Tuesday morning - oh boy, where do I start?? We got up and started getting everyone ready for our big day. Christa sent me a text to tell us that David had called her from Ireland so we had proof that he was actually on his way home! At that point, we still believed that he would be landing at Cherry Point at 2:55 and would be on base at Camp Lejeune by about 4. The girls made their posters, we ate lunch, wrote on the windows of the vehicles and headed off to base at about 1:30. Then the fun really started! We got to the right spot for where the buses come in and they had a place with coffee, donuts and pizza for the families! The longer the afternoon went, the more the families showed up. They had tents set up outside since it was raining off and on and was a little windy! We had a really nice Staff Sergeant that kept us posted off and on as to the progress that our Marines were making! He came in the room and said that they had landed at Cherry Point and the noise was unbelievable!! Around 3, we decided to head outside for the rest of the time. We got out our own chairs and sat under a tent and the waiting really began then. There were more changes than you can imagine! They land, go turn in their weapons and find out that the charter buses are not getting there until 5!!! To make a long story short, (oh wait - too late for that, right?) we sat and waited until the word came that the buses were almost to the main gate of the base! We were standing along the street and before long, a lady turned and yelled that the buses were coming! There were four buses that turned and past in front of us and David was on the 3rd one - we found that out a little later!! We headed towards the Marines that were coming off and Ashley spotted him first! You have never heard such screaming in your life! He was immediately attacked by Christa and then his two sisters and then his dad and then his in-laws and then finally, his short little momma!!!!!! Of course, then there was more waiting as these guys had to stand around and wait on the semi to bring their luggage! It arrived, it was unloaded in a matter of minutes by some fast moving Marines and we headed off with David to our hotel!
It was the best thing in the world to gather in the hotel room and stop and take a few minutes to just thank God that he had brought David home safely! There were no dry eyes let me tell you!
We got to bed but I am afraid that didn't last long! His body is on the wrong time! Anyway, we were up around 4am talking and looking at pictures. I went back to sleep and his dad got up with him. I think they ate and went out for a bit and then down to play some pool and who knows what else? He pretty much had everyone up by 7:30 with his hyper ways!!! I must admit that I missed that!!
So - that's it for now! I feel so much better to have this all down in writing and to share it with those of you who have prayed so much for our family! I am sure I will have more to post later on!!