Three Texoma kids got a special surprise on Wednesday when their father, Air Force Major Adam Groves walked into the Wichita Falls Chuck E. Cheese's.
The Major had been deployed to Afghanistan for the last 6 months. With his kids distracted by Newschannel 6 cameras pretending to film a commercial, Major Groves was able to sneak right up behind them.
Another parent, distracting the group of kids, asked, "What would make you even more excited, especially if you were the Groves kids? What do you want more than anything?" To which the 2 oldest immediately responded, "For dad to come home!" When they turned around, there he was.
Major Groves said, "It feels great it's absolutely fantastic to be able to hold them again. It's different from being able to see the from Skype."
Once the Major's youngest son, got his arms around his dad, there was no letting go. "I think he was a little worried that daddy showed up for 2 weeks and then he left for 6 more months. He's not going to let that happen again and we just got to convince him that it's not," said Major Groves.
Just as happy to have her Airman home, is Jody Groves, the Major's wife. She said, "Very nice to have him home, I'll be able to have a really good nights sleep tonight!"
She said it was great for her kids to have so many of their friends there for the big surprise. "It's good because, without him for a year, sometimes they fell like they're in it all by themselves. It's nice to have their friends and everybody here to support them and encourage them that they weren't alone there were people here who were behind them all the way."
The kids, all smiles from ear to ear, have some pretty laid back plans for spending time with their dad. Anthony and Isabella Groves both told Newschannel 6 they can't wait to get him home to play X-Box.
Groves said he's got some other plans, ones centered around the outdoors. He said, "Maybe head up to Yosemite, let the kids see that they haven't seen it before." But whether its just sitting on the couch relaxing, or hiking through Yosemite, one thing for sure: this family is just happy to be back together. The Major has been assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base for the next 2 years.
