As I sit here exhausted and reflect on recent events, I cannot help but to be filled with pride and gratitude for the life we live.  I have been blessed with the opportunity to be His wife, the mother of three beautiful, resilient children, and to be surrounded by a top-notch village.

The time had come for us to say “see you soon” to our hero.  Being that we had chosen to relocate back to be closer to family, this called for a cross-country trek.  When our local Moms in Motion (MIMs) team learned of the opportunity, they quickly rose to the occasion and blew us away with their support.  They coordinated our flights and hotel, allowing us to focus our energy on being together.  When I joined MIMs three years ago, I’m not sure I truly understood how much this team would change my life.  I could not be more grateful for the support and friendship of each of these women, some of which I haven’t even yet had the opportunity to meet!

In the weeks and days leading up to the start of the Adventure we focused on readjusting to our new home and being together.  We missed our Hero deeply and we’ve chosen to replace fear and anger with honor and pride.  When travel day finally arrived the kids couldn’t have been more excited to board the plane.

The kids did remarkably well on the plane; they kept busy with books,coloring and games.  I was a bit worried about being spread across the aisle from them (the joys of traveling as a family of four – no divide and conquer!)  When we arrived in DC, we were treated with the ability to deplane right on the tarmac.  The expressions of wonder and awe as we walked down the small staircase were amazing.  The trip was truly an adventure explored through the eyes of our children.

Throughout the day we had talked about surprising Daddy.  I had told them that he knew we were coming but didn’t know when.  We arrived to our destination late in the evening.  It was a struggle waking the kids when we landed and they were zombies coming off the plane.  Up we rode the escalator, Keira clutching her camo bear, Garrett and Ella stumbling, bleary eyed.  As we stepped off, Keira started to complain that she was just too tired.  As the kids were heading straight to baggage claim, unaware, I asked her if “This guy” could make her feel better.  All three were completely shocked that their dad was there and it was in fact them that got to be surprised.

For just a split second, all was right in the world.