Finally! My hubby is back from Afghanistan! Yesterday was a very emotional day and I am so happy that he’s back in my arms, safe and sound.

A few months ago, I started coordinating with our family and friends to send out fabric squares for them to sign and return to my amazing big sister, Kay, to make this quilt! I didn’t see any of the squares until I received the finished quilt in the mail, and I was SO ecstatic with how it turned out! I had the idea to make the quilt to hang on the garage door, but Kay had the idea to have everyone send in their sentiments. I was blown away. I hung it up in the afternoon so I could take some photos to send to everyone who contributed!

Then I spent the next several hours putting some finishing touches on the house, baking a pecan pie (which took twice as long as it should have–guess that happens when you forget to turn the oven on!), and working on some photo edits before my in-laws met up at our house to drive to the parade deck. We arrived at the parade deck in the San Mateo area of Camp Pendleton at about 10:30pm. The Marines and Sailors flew into March Air Force Base then rode buses to Camp Pendleton, arriving at San Mateo at about 11:30pm. At that point, they took about an hour to return their weapons to the armory before they marched over to the parade deck and were released!

At this point, my friend Stephanie of stephanieZphotography ordered me to drop my camera so I could give my hubby a big fat hug when they were released. I obliged!

It was SUCH a great night!

Huge thanks to my big sister, Kay, for the amazing quilt, and to all of our family and friends for supporting us over the past several months! And to Stephanie for capturing our reunion! Check out her facebook page if you want to see some of what she captured!