He's Home!

So, Paul may not be home for a LONG time (20 days), but I'll take what I can get! He arrived at the SLC airport on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd at 8:30 p.m. We checked into a hotel right before picking him up, and that's when the butterflies hit. I thought to myself "WHy in the heck am I nervous to see this man that I've been married to for almost 13 years?" It was so amazing to see the reunion of Paul and the kids. Of course, I totally forgot to get pictures of me with him that day, so the pictures I have of us are taken a few days later.
We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon and went to my parents home in Rexburg for dinner. On our drive home that night, we noticed a big yellow ribbon as we turned into our neighborhood and then yellow ribbons EVERYWHERE (in all our neighbors yards). They also had hung a huge yellow sign that said "Welcome Home Paul" and was signed by all of them. It was so touching. I LOVE our neighborhood and feel so blessed to be here, AND to have been here the whole time Paul's been gone.
We went to Meridian on Friday to go visit Paul's family. All four of the Beck brothers were there (we can't remember the last time all four were together, but think it's been a couple of years). It was wonderful to see the family (although Paul's sister got sick and wasn't able to make it :-()
My M.I.L went to so much work to prepare a wonderful meal on Saturday (our Beck THanksgiving), and the Beck boys even succeeded in doing something silly together (climbing up into a closet at the church that was six feet up. They also got to go to a hockey game together. YAY!
I can't believe we have already used up 6 of our 20 days. I LOVE having him home. The other day, my 4th child kept asking the same question over and over, and just wasn't quite understanding my response, so I got to defer her to her Dad. LOVED THAT! ;-)
We have a lot we're trying to squeeze into 2 weeks, but that's why we have calendars. I'm not sure when exactly the kids and I will get to go meet up with my sweetheart in Germany. (It all depends on our passports and orders coming through). I'm hoping by Christmas, but we'll see. (I don't count on much with the army.)
I'll be packing up all our stuff here the 2nd week in December, and we'll take it from there.
Life is good. I love my Soldier. I love having him home. I'm excited for this NEXT stage in our life.