Christmas arrived early for a Nampa 5th grader after her father who recently completed a tour of duty surprised her at a school assembly.
Amaree Echols hadn’t seen her dad in over a year and although knew he was returning home soon, did not expect him to show up at her school.
It will be the first Christmas in several years that the two will be together.
"I'm happy to be home, I'm happy she was surprised, it's good, and she deserves it. She is a great student. Just do what I can do to keep a smile on her face,” Antoine Echols explained. “You know that's the hardest part is not having your family go with you, but then you have pictures and memories and stuff like this that I get to take down the road and be able to think about when I get into hard times, hard situations, stuff like that."
Amaree will spend the holidays with her father who will then be re-deployed in February.
