The Adventures of Barbie Dolls and Super Heroes: Uncle Matt's Home!!!!!

Yes, just shy of 7 months later, Uncle Matt is safely back on United States soil! He left for Afghanistan on November 11, 2010 and arrived back at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina at 7:40 p.m. on June 2, 2011 and we couldn't be happier! About a week before his arrival, we started receiving notifications of his whenabouts, and of course that changed pretty much day to day. When we got confirmation that he would be back in N.C. on Thursday, we packed our bags and headed to Flowery Branch to spend the night at Granma's with her, Hannah, and Daddy. We got up early on Thursday and started the long drive to Jacksonville, NC. You two were absolute rockstars in the car and we only had to stop ONCE for you, Nolan, to eat and in the same stop, you, Mack, had to go potty. We got on base a little before 4 p.m. and were lucky enough to get our passes to go on base. Instead, we headed back to the "hofel" to freshen up only to turn right around and get back on base.

In the "hofel" parking lot balancing on the sidewalk.

Pretty girl with pretty curls.

We got on base a little after 5 p.m. and we got word that the Marines were on base, but they had to go through every letter of the alphabet for attendance and turn in gear. Even though we were only a mile or two from the ocean, it was sweltering, stifling, hot. There wasn't a breeze blowing and forget looking cute, we were looking HOT! The Marines do it right, and had all kind so of carnival food to munch on, plenty of drinks to keep hydrated, and fun bouncy houses for the kids. And speaking of the kids, can I just say how many times I almost cried knowing that some of these babies were meeting their Daddy's for the first time? The vibe in the atmosphere was so happy and anxious. I was completely overjoyed and beaming with pride as we impatiently waited for the buses to arrive.

The sign as we approached the base. I was pretty much up out of my seat at this point.

Uncle Matt's Battalion.

We were so hot!

You two did such a good job sitting and waiting in the extreme heat....during your supper time.

We waited, and waited, and waited. My stomach was in knots.

Discussing that you must take your "fast shoes" off before getting in the bounce house.

We danced...a lot.

The Family Readiness Officer announced several different times that she would keep us informed as to when the buses would be heading our way, and that's all it took, everyone bolted for the road. It was so neat to see how many people were anxiously awaiting the return of their Marine. About an hour later, the music stopped and the FRO announced that the buses were in route to us. The tears came as they are right now as I type this. I was holding you, Nolan, and Daddy was holding you, Mack while he stood on top of the stroller. Hannah was holding her sign, and Granma, Oh Granma, she was a mess at this point.

The first bus turned the corner, and then the second, third and finally the forth.

The doors all opened everyone started running. Can I just mention every male Marine looked exactly the same! What got me, was a female Marine returning home to her husband who we believe was also a Marine. Her feet never touched the ground from the bus as she flew into her husband's arms. There were no babies, no children, just a wife coming home to her husband. As I got all caught up in their homecoming, I almost missed Scott shouting to Matt! He found him! I now know why my mom bought a treadmill. I have never in my life run so fast. She finally had her son back. Hannah got to him next and that was sweet, all the funniness of her left and she was just so happy to be back in Matt's arms. Hannah is such an amazing girl. She was just 16 and a sophomore when they started dating. They've stayed together through Matt's boot camp, and now a 7 month deployment. Amazing. Mack, you were extremely shy with Uncle Matt and we found out later it was because you didn't like his pants. You had a problem with his pants being tucked into his boots and that all the Marines looked the same as Uncle Matt. He was nice and bought you a really cute blue bear from Camp Letherneck and you and Daddy affectionately named him/her Semper. As soon as Matt got off of the bus, he was ready to leave. He really wanted to head back to GA right then, but we needed a rest. Thankfully, the Marines gave him Friday off and he didn't need to report back to N.C. until today, June 6, 2011. Now, Matt left Afghanistan on May 29th and it was now June 2nd...and he hadn't taken a shower since. Matt needed a shower, and we needed a minute to regroup. We enjoyed a fun dinner at Texas Roadhouse where Matt, Hannah, and Daddy acted like a bunch of fools, but what else is new!

Self explanatory, they're nuts.