Friends and family erupted into a round of applause for Army First Lieutenants Kate and Chris Meadows.
However the Meadows thought the applause was for Kate's little sister Kelly. Call it a two-way surprise because Kelly thought it was for them.
"I was like, 'What's going on?' She was like, 'It's for you.' I was like, 'No its not,'" said Kelly Gregorio.
The Meadows live in Colorado and are making their first trip to the East Coast since a deployment to Kuwait together.
While there, they missed Kelly's graduation from James Madison University, where she also served in the ROTC.
"I was extremely confused I saw the balloons then the camera crew and I was confused she graduated six months ago," said Kate.
Kelly is on leave from her new post at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. With her sister and brother-in-law on a rare trip home, her dad took the opportunity to surprise everyone.
"Kelly, graduating six months ago, didn't want to have a graduation party until Chris and Kate were back from deployment so it was kind of a joint effort at the last second," said Bill Gregorio.
"Feels great, feels great to have everybody home safe," said It was a joint effort that brought this military family back home in time for the holidays.
