It's been four years and thousands of miles, since Petty Officer First Class Jeremy Alexander could spend a Christmas with his two daughters.
"Being with our dad this morning on Christmas. That was our best present," 8-year-old Annika said.
"It is great and it is really fun because Daddy is here," added 5-year-old Sierra.
Alexander is deployed on a ship in Guam. Last week, he drove home to Cleburne from San Diego, where his submarine is currently docked
"I got off of work at 8 in the morning on Thursday, and I started driving by about 11:30 that day. So I arrived in actual Texas at about 8:40 in the morning the next day and then got to their school at around 9 o'clock," Alexander said.
His kids were thrilled.
"Whenever we saw him in the cafeteria at school it just made my heart melt, because it was amazing," Annika said.
And Alexander, who has been in the Navy for 15 years, was able to stay to watch the kids open their gifts.
"I love giving gifts and I like seeing their surprise," Alexander said. "I just want to tell the service members out there that are out there fighting, and serving, and on deployments, thank you for being out there so I can see my kids."
FROM DPD: Dallas police responded to a shooting call in which the victim and suspect were involved in a verbal altercation. The suspect presented a weapon and shot the Victim. The victim was transported by DFR to a local hospital in critical condition. Suspect is still at large.
