A soldier returned home from the Middle East with a new mission, to surprise his kids at school.

Kevin Garber walked through the doors of Wareham Elementary School Friday, May 16 with his wife Sarah unbeknown to their two kids Lincoln, 8, and Kayce, 6, who thought their dad was getting home next week.

However, Lincoln and Kayce were pulled out of class and into the hallway where Kevin was waiting to greet his kids for the first time since November.

“Leaving is always emotional but coming home is always more emotional because you get to hear about the stuff that you miss,” Kevin said. “It takes a toll on you while you’re gone and you get to catch up once you get back. It takes time but every second of it is enjoyable, you can’t take it for granted.”

Kevin and Sarah’s oldest child who is a student at Wareham Middle School Kennedy, 10, was also in attendance and said she was happy to see him.

“I’m just glad that he’s home,” Kennedy said.

Kevin was on a 6 month deployment in Iraq and Syria as a member of the tenth mountain group, a light infantry division that specializes in working in the mountains. He said he is excited to be back and wants to make every moment count, especially because he will be stationed in Maryland in about a month.

“It’s going to be so nice to be able to get up at 9 in the morning and make breakfast for my kids, do nothing, relax and watch them play,” he said.

Kevin is currently stationed in New York and Sarah said the whole family is going to spend the summer traveling from there to the new base in Maryland in their camper.

“It’s awesome to have us all back together again,” she said. “We’ll get to kind of go everywhere and travel as a family so it’s going to be a fun summer.”