"My happy place": Army reservist mother surprises her children at their Garden Grove schools

Julian Labunog looked unsure as to why the Bell Intermediate School mascot was talking to him – then it unveiled itself to be his own mother, come home early after being deployed overseas for more than a year.

U.S. Army Reservist Dely Labunog said, "wow, you're so smart," before taking off the roadrunner mascot costume's head and revealing herself. She held out her arms to her son, who wore a face mask, but could be heard saying, "mom?"

The military mom had been serving in Kuwait and Iraq for more than a year, but came home two weeks early, according to Garden Grove Unified School District officials. So her husband, Fabian Labunog, planned to surprise their children, with some help from the principals of Bell Intermediate and Enders Elementary, where their daughter Elizah is a student.

Elizah and her first-grade class had been told they would have a special visitor from the military, but didn't realize it would be her mother until Labunog walked through the door. Video taken by the district showed Elizah jumping up from her classroom rug and into her mother's arms.

Labunog, who has been serving in the military for 12 years, graduated from Rancho Alamitos High School.

"It was hard being away from them for more than a year, but I would look forward to our happy times when we could talk on the phone," she said in a statement. "Now I'm home and in my happy place."