After 12 months of National Guard Duty, much of it as part of a peacekeeping force in Kosovo,  Victoria City Administrator Steve Sarvi is now home for the holidays with his wife Barb and their children Daniel, 13; Mary Kate, 10; and Nathan, 6.

          Is there anything better than a picture of a family together for Thanksgiving?  Maybe not.  But a picture of a family together for Friday night pizza is pretty good, too.
Steve Sarvi walked into the pizza place carrying what was obviously a fresh-cut, long-stemmed flower, wrapped in tissue and tied with ribbon.  Driving directly from his city administrator job in Victoria, he arrived before his wife Barb and the kids who were joining him from Watertown.
Inside the tissue paper was a red carnation for his daughter whose hamster died earlier that day.  The sadness of little Mary Kate touched the father's heart.
For the past twelve months, Steve Sarvi wasn't home to be part of the big and little things that happen in a family.  As a member of the Minnesota National Guard, he had been called to active duty to be part of the peacekeeping force in Kosovo.
Although Steve kept in touch with Barb and their three children -- Daniel, 13; Mary Kate, 10; and Nathan, 6 -- via email and webcam, it's not the same as eating pizza together.  It's not the same as seeing the expression on your daughter's face when you give her a fresh carnation, because you understand.
"I missed watching them grow up for a year, and being there for them, through trials and tribulations, for the first day of school and the last day of school," said Steve.  "I missed Halloween with them."
Added Barb, "It was hard on the birthdays when he couldn't be there, and we knew he wanted to be there, so we documented things and took pictures.  We're so thankful he's home.  This puts a whole new meaning on being together for Thanksgiving."
Today, Daniel is in eighth grade, Mary Kate in fifth grade, and Nathan in first grade.  Last year, when their dad was overseas, they were all a year younger, of course!
"I was in kindergarten," said Nathan.  "I missed my dad when he couldn't come to my kindergarten program last year so I brought my mom and my friend Mrs. Barthel."
Said big brother Daniel, "I missed wrestling with my dad.  I make him mad and then he comes after me.  I took him down, and that was smooth, but I never win.  We're back into that now."
Did Mary Kate miss her dad?  "Yes," she said ever so gently.  "I turned down my friends to go trick or treating with my dad this year.  This is the first time I get to go trick or treating with my dad in three years."
Steve has been involved with other National Guard duties since 9/11, including a tour of guard duty at the St. Paul and Minneapolis International Airport, and therefore has missed other Halloweens.
Added Nathan between bites of his pizza, "And I missed when my dad would come into my room and lay on my bed and I could push him off onto the floor and I would laugh."
The smiling remembering dad told the rest of the story, "And Mom would say, you kids cut that out now and get to sleep!"
Said the remembering mom, "I missed the little daily things with Steve, and enjoying the sports things together.  The kids play a lot of hockey.  Easter was hard, and missing other holidays.  The hardest for me was after the kids were in bed at night and it was so quiet."
In order to combat the loneliness, Barb would call one of the other military wives and talk for a while.  She is a co-leader of a readiness group that includes up to 120 families in this deployment from the Twin Cities area.

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