ALMOST TIME

The only way Mommy could dressed...

Hanging the banner.

Showing off her new toy!

The reunion was held at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL. SgtMjr Carter sent a car for us and we were picked up at the hotel and driven to the arena. We arrived fairly early as we were told there would be many, many people. Each Marine was allowed 4 people on the arena floor. There were over 300 Marines that were returning to Chicago. About 1/3 of the number that were deployed together. (don't quote me on the numbers-not official) After what felt like hours and hours of anticipation, we were informed that one of the buses bringing the Marines in from Midway airport had broken down. (OMG! Are you kidding me?) So with an escort from the state police and the motorcycle vets, the freeway was literally shut down while the bus was repaired and the Marines were once again on their way. At this point Dayden had been just as good as she could be-so I broke out the DVD player. You would be amazed at the number of children who were suddenly quiet.