This weekend was a whirlwind.

Tom’s bestie returned from his 9 month “business trip” to Afghanistan in the wee hours of Sunday morning. It was so touching to be part of that moment when Martin saw his family again. I felt extremely privileged to capture those moments for them.

And of course to see the relationship between him and Tom be rekindled was heartwarming!

I love Martin’s family’s faces in the background.

Martin and Tom went to basic together. They were part of a small handful of that graduating group who moved here to Ft. Campbell. So naturally they stuck together despite being put in different brigades.

They are brothers from other mothers. It is ridiculous how much alike they are.

I am super pumped about Martin being back because while I love my husband and wish I could provide the world to him, I know that I cannot be everything to him. We all need a bestie. I have come to terms with the fact that there is going to be less time for Tom and I, or that some nights we will have another roommate. I know Martin being home is going to up our quality of life exponentially! (And I hope that his lady and newest baby will be coming to visit more often because quite frankly I love them too!)

They picked up like they have never been apart! Love it!

Since the unit came in around 3am, it meant that none of us got sleep since you have to be there for hours before the plane lands. You also have to wait for hours afterward while they turn in sensitive items. So to let his family go back to their hotel to get some down time while we waited for Martin to be freed, Tom volunteered to wait the extra couple hours in the parking lot.

Which meant, Tom slept in the parking lot for a couple hours.

Tom- “I was sleeping in the Jeep waiting on Martin.”

Tom- “When I woke up, I thought what was that smell?”

Tom- “OH MY! Is that my mouth?!?! It tasted like I smoked a dog turd.”

Tom- “So I used Wrigley Spearmint to hide my shame.”

Me- “So you can be fresh for when you reunite with your bromance?”

Tom-“Yea. You don’t want your first post deployment kiss to taste like dog shit.”

(sorry about the language)

They are two of a kind. This was one of my favorite shots.

This is just a preview of the ceremony pictures. I have tons more to share next week after editing (and some catch up on sleeping-this girl doesn’t do all-nighters very well friends.) I am going to include them in a post about fun facts about home coming ceremonies. I hope you come back to read all about it!

So even though it was a rough weekend on my body, it was a great weekend mentally!

It was a true testament of the friends turned family that you can make while in the Army.