Welcome Home 1/3!

Yesterday our friends Alan Trammell and Ben Croes returned home after their 7 month tour in Iraq with 1st Battalion 3rd Marines. Both were previously Ugly Angels and were chosen to do a FAC tour and were assigned to 1/3.

Alan is the husband of my friend Sherree, and the daddy to Hudson and Hannah, and Ben is a great friend who has helped Nick SO MUCH on the house... so we loaded up and headed to the hangar to help welcome them home. I brought my camera along, but took pictures for Sherree with her camera so she could focus on the kids and watching for Alan. Meridith was on video camera duty for her as well. We were more than happy to help them capture all the moments of the homecoming!

The group was scheduled to land at Hickam Air Force Base and load the buses to KBay, but last minutes changes diverted them directly to KBay! It was so neat to watch the jet land on the runway and welcome them home as they came down the stairs off the plane. The red carpet was rolled out and the Marine Corps Band was jamming the whole time. Addison was a big fan, as she wiggled and bopped her head along to the music.

Trevor however, was in a different mood. He was very upset that his daddy wasn't going to be coming off the plane. He cried and just wanted to go home. Part of that was due to being tired and needing a nap. He is still recovering from his sickness and was not feeling 100%.

We hung around for a bit. Meridith walked Addison around the hangar full of Marines for a while.....it was a win/win situation there. Addison needed to move around, and Meridith was able to 'mingle' and check out all the single Marines! Luckily for Meridith, Addison was very excited to show any of the Marines her crocs! She would randomly walk up to them and lift her leg and point to her shoes and babble as if to say "Hi! Do you like my shoes?" Then she would just smile and wait for their response.... SO FUNNY!

We have been storing Ben's jeep in our garage, so we gave him a ride to our house so he could get his jeep and drive home. He was very tired and so glad to be back in Hawaii. Addison stared at him the entire time and showed him her crocs all the way home. I had made and frozen some casseroles and lasagna for him to take home so that he could just throw them in the oven and eat, since he didn't have much in his condo I'm sure. I also made him a plate of scotcharoos!

We are so glad they are back home, safe and sound!