"REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD!"

That was the song I was singing all weekend long when we went to pick Brady up from his basic training graduation at Ft. Leonard Wood. Maddie and I flew into St. Louis the night before and stayed on base with two of his brothers. The next morning, during an exciting graduation ceremony, we saw Brady for the first time in over 10 weeks. After the reception in a different location, we were finally able to hug and kiss him. It was one of the most anticipated and happiest days of my life!

Maddie kept her head buried in Brady's shoulder for a long time-it was so sweet.

Sgt. Patrick Harris, PFC Brady Harris, SSG Kurt Harris with their military faces on!

Brady in his Class A's and I-don't let it fool you though, he is totally ripped underneath there!

Brady with Drill Sgt. Davis. Brady mentioned how weird it was to be friendly and shake hands with one of his drill sergeants after being smoked so many times by him.

Taking pictures around base. It was different than I anticipated. Ft. Leonard Wood was really pretty and a very big base.

At a park on base. We had the day with Brady and went to lunch and hung out and had to have him back to his barrocks by 9pm. He wasn't released until the next day.

Maddie was exhausted by the end of the day and was carried by a very handsome gentleman!

After Brady was released, we drove to Nauvoo where Maddie dressed up like a pioneer-she really loved that.


Later that night, we went to a carnival taking place before we saw the Nauvoo Pageant. Here she is playing a pioneer game-she loved it and it is so much cheaper than some of the stuff I buy!

After Nauvoo, we drove to Carthage-this was seriously one of the coolest places that I have ever been (and I have traveled to over 11 countires)!

Here we are in front of Carthage Jail. Can you guess the photographer? Yep, our own little Madeline!

Next stop was downtown St. Louis. Here we are in the middle of Forest Park. This park is bigger than Central Park in NYC and has tons of free museums, zoo's and lots of water and sites. It was beautiful.

This one is in front of the St. Louis Art Museum.

Just us at the airport coming home. This was when I experienced my first military treatment. In SLC, the flight attendants asked all the passangers to stay seated so we could deplane first. Everyone was clapping as my belly hit them in their heads! Just kidding, I felt sort of silly but it was very sweet.

When we got home, my sister had brought D-train to the airport to see his dad. When he saw him, he ran up to him yelling "daddy!" It brought tears to my eyes.

I think Brady and I both learned a ton while we were apart for 10 weeks, but our time together for this weekend was so precious and full of experiences that I will never forget.