Homecomings, Homecomings and MORE Homecomings!

September 29th was a great day for my friends and I was lucky enough to be a part of it! 3 of my friends welcomed home their husbands from a 7 month deployment and myself, along with another friend, got the honor to be there to capture the moment. I've said it before and I'll gladly say it again - I LOVE HOMECOMINGS! =) There is nothing better than seeing families being reunited after an extended time away. (well, there's nothing better aside from actually BEING the family that is being reunited, of course haha)

The day started off at the crack of dawn. Actually before that. haha Mason and I got in the car when it was still dark out to go to the first homecoming of the day - Kayla and Jeremy. I've known Kayla for a few years now and she's always been a good friend. This was her first deployment and she did AWESOME! Jeremy left when his daughter, Madi was only a few months old and he came back home to a walking big-girl! You'd think since she was so small, that she wouldn't really remember him and would be kind of shy, but she was one HAPPY little girl the second she was back in her daddy's arms. It was such a sweet moment and I'm glad I could help capture it for them =) Welcome home, Jeremy!


{Here they come!!}


{Where is he?!?!}


{relieved}


{complete}


{yea.. this is my dad and he loves me.. how could he not?}


{happy little family}


{look at me walk, daddy!}




Immediately after the "K" family's big moment, it was time to go help another friend welcome home her husband - Gabrielle and Brett. I just met Gabrielle while my husband was deployed. She is my friend, Christina's neighbor. Although I don't know her as well as the other ladies, she is awesome. She's so sweet, friendly, funny and kind and I just love her. Gabrielle, who was always a beautiful girl, made it her goal to tone up, get healthy and lose some weight while her husband was gone... she succeeded and then some. She lost 25 pounds, looks AMAZING and did it the right way - eating healthy and hard work at the gym! She lost weight, got a major haircut and couldn't wait to show off her new fab look to her husband! Judging from the pics, I'd say her hard work paid off, because he couldn't keep his eyes off of her! Congrats Gabrielle and Welcome home, Brett!

{waiting}


{look at his smile!}


{together at last!}


{nothing like that first kiss after 7 long months}


{lost in their own world and so in love!}


{this is one of my favs. Time has STOPPED for Gabrielle and Brett, but the rest of the picture looks like it's still in motion. Look at all the wives running. It's like a mad dash to the finish line! haha}


{I think we embarrassed her a bit by making her do a little spin to show herself off to her hubby. But look at her!! She looks amazing and I'm not gonna lie - I'm slightly jealous of her legs haha Hubby seems to be enjoying his view. hehe}





We had a nice break after the first two homecomings. The last wasn't until late at night. - Britt and Jimmy. Britt is one of my nearest and dearest. I seriously don't know what I'd do without that girl. She was there for me through my husband's deployment and was one of the girls who took pictures on homecoming day, so I wanted to be there for her as well. It meant so much to me to be there! Unfortunately, I'd never done night homecomings and just don't have the right equipment for them, so the pictures are pretty bad haha No super cute ones like the other two homecomings I did. My flash wasn't bright enough, it was taking FOREVER to reload after I took a picture and it was having a hard time focusing in the dark. Thank goodness Christina was there and had an external flash thingy, so she was able to get some good ones (see I dont even know what they are called, let alone how to use one! this is another reason I am NOT a professional LOL I just don't know enough about it yet) Anyway, Jimmy left when his daughter was about 10 months old and came home to a running, talking, full of personality - TODDLER! I couldn't wait for this family to be reunited and am SO happy for them! CONGRATS AND WELCOME HOME JIMMY! Here are a few sorry excuses for homecoming pictures haha


{waiting for daddy!}


{bus is here!}


{reunited at last!}


{taking it all in}


{yea, I think he's grabbin a little booty, but can you blame him? lol}


{taking daddy home!}