A grandma couldn’t believe her eyes when she thought she was on a video call to her military family overseas, only to realize they were sitting on her porch after three years apart.
Grandma Kim Baxter, 51, from Greeneville, Tennessee, hadn’t seen her family in so long that daughter Katelyn, 29, had welcomed a new child into the world, who Kim had yet to meet.
Katelyn’s husband, Joshua, is a warrant officer with the United States Army, so the family has been living overseas for nine consecutive years – first in Hawaii and now in Germany.
With Joshua heading off for a 16-week military school, Katelyn, 29, decided to head back to the U.S. with her kids, who, at the time, were out of school for their summer break.
Having decided she wanted to surprise her mom, Katelyn liaised with her sister, Adrianna, and her dad, Ronnie, who collected her from Atlanta airport and then drove to her childhood home in Tennessee.
While sitting on her mom’s porch on June 4, Katelyn made a FaceTime call to her and, after a few seconds, said, “I love what you’ve done with the place,” before turning her camera around to reveal her location.
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As soon as Kim, 51, recognized her home, she immediately ran outside, where she froze in shock when she saw Katelyn and her four kids – Kimber, 10, Remington, 7, Bridger, 4, and Stanton, 2 – waiting.
The family then headed in for a huge group hug three years in the making.
Katelyn said: “When we pulled up, I Face Timed her to say, ‘I l love what you’ve done with the place.’
“She replied in shock, saying, ‘WHAT?!’ and ran outside to the front porch to embrace us all with love.
“We were all overwhelmed with emotions.
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“From me coming home to the house where I grew up to hugging and seeing my parents and siblings again, it was very much needed.
“Time is too short and any chance we get to be home and see family we take.
“I’m thankful God allowed us to come back before we must head back to Germany for two to three more years again.
“Everyone was so glad to have us home, from friends to family and everyone in between.
“The southern hospitality was definitely felt as soon as we made the announcement that we were home for the summer.”