Family Day!

We all got to Fort Leonard Wood the night before family day. It was a great feeling to have our families together for something exciting like this! We all had dinner at Panera in Rolla and made a trip to Walmart. We even got to enjoy the late-night cookies together in the hotel lobby. Marley was so excited to see Asa. For two days I had been saying, "We're on our way to see Daddy!" She was probably starting to wonderif I was lying! But luckily she went to sleep easily and we got to wake up the next morning and see him for real!

The anticipation was killing me! We got up early, got all dressed up, ate at the hotel breakfast, and then caravaned to Fort Leonard Wood. We knew that Asa would be allowed to leave for the day around 9 am so the whole family was ready to go. Asa had told me the night before where we would meet him so we waited patiently outside. We found tons of recent graduates everywhere. We searched and searched through them, Marley thinking each one could be Dada, but we couldn't find him anywhere. Bill and Joel were asking Drill Sargents, and I was getting worried he was in trouble somewhere. Marley was annoyed that we had been talking about seeing Daddy for so long and now we couldn't find him!
He finally called and had told us to wait outside of the wrong building! But it almost made me more nervous to know that we were really about to see him! He was outside looking for us! And then we finally spotted him! I was walking behind everyone, but they all parted down the middle and let me run up to him with Marley. He had tears in his eyes when we got to him and hugged us so tight. And then immediately took Marley from me!

He looked so great! All the pins on his jacket, the tears in his eyes and the smile of his face. He was so happy that all of us were there, and he was proud that everyone was there for him! We all took tons of pictures as he made his way through the crowd and hugged everyone. Marley stayed in his arms most of the time, giving the stink eye to the people who were trying to hug him. At one point he put her down to pick up Malachi and she did NOT like that! She got her Daddy back, and she wasn't about to let him go again!

You can read about the next few minutes here, and see why Asa's smile was this huge!

By this time it was almost lunch, so we all packed up i nour cars and headed back to Rolla. Asa got to drie his truck, which made him very happy! We all went to Applebee's for lunch and then headed back to the hotel for everyone's nap time!
While the kids were napping, most of the adults played cards in the hotel lobby. The Vermeulen family loves to play games together and it was so great to see the four of them getting to it again!
After Marley woke up, we decided we should all go to a fantastic park they have in Rolla. Kids could never get bored here, it's amazing! So, we played and played! Even the adults in the group.
My grandparents were here by then, so we all needed to get cleaned up before dinner. We showered and got dressed in our cute outfits for our reservations at the Matt's steakhouse! I somehow managed to not take a single picture from dinner, which makes me really sad, but it was great! Marley and Billy were a little grouchy, but the food was great and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. It will definitely be our date night restaurant!

Since Marley was ready for bed, Bill drove Asa back to base that night. It was his last night to stay in training! He was so excited about being done, but even more excited to show off the pictures of his new truck to his friends! Evidently they said he had an awesome wife!!