Soldier surprises his children after year-long deployment

After a year-long deployment in Afghanistan, Ryan Lissau returned to the United States and surprised his children at their day care Thursday afternoon.

Mercedes, 5, and Duke, 4, were expecting their mother, Cayce Lissau, to pick them up from Acorn Children’s Academy in Ammon, when their father walked in. They jumped up, ran towards Ryan and threw themselves in his arms.

“I was really hoping they’d just come running to me,” said Ryan.

The family has plenty to catch up on. In a year, Ryan missed holidays, birthdays and his sixth wedding anniversary. Cayce is happy to see Ryan without using a webcam.

“We got to Skype with him at least every other week while he was gone,” said Cayce. “We would talk about him every day, so they always knew he was there.”

Ryan plans to spend time with his family for the next month, and then return to a 9-5 job.