Afghanistan veteran surprises stepchildren

Four-year-old Ayrianna Lo used scissors, glue and pipe cleaners to decorate a piece of green construction paper amid a rambunctious group of Head Start students Monday morning.

The loud classroom suddenly turned quiet as the little girl’s stepdad walked through the door wearing his camouflage Army uniform.

Whipping her head around, the girl’s eyes lit up. “Daddy!” she yelled as she ran into his arms.

The two hugged and kissed for several minutes while teachers and students watched silently, admiring the surprise visit.

“I missed you Daddy,” she said. “I love you more than a billion, Daddy.”

Spc. Williamraymond Harris, 21, was deployed in April and spent the last several months closing down military bases in Afghanistan.

The work, he said, was easier than he thought it was going to be.

“The hardest part was being away from these mongrels,” he said.

Though Ayrianna has seen the digitized version of his face countless times during his eight-month deployment, Monday was the first time in months that she got to hug her stepdad — which she did at every opportunity.

Harris held the hand of his “little princess” as she pulled him around her classroom, which he hadn’t yet seen.

“Daddy,” she said. “I want to show you where the paper is.”

Harris’ wife, Stephani Allen, 31, has three children from previous relationships. Her oldest, 12-year-old Dominick Muehlhausen, has seen the YouTube videos of other kids being surprised by their military parents and mentioned that he wanted to be surprised at school by Harris.

“The second thing on his Christmas list is his stepdad,” Allen said.

After surprising Ayrianna, Harris went on to surprise Dominick and his third stepchild, 9-year-old Cristian Muehlhausen.

Allen, on the other hand, demanded to be at the airport when her husband arrived.

“I needed to see him as soon as he was off the plane,” she said. “I didn’t cry at the airport but I’m crying now.”

The east Vancouver resident said it took restraint not to run to his house on Sunday when he got off the plane and that it was a long 24 hours before he saw his stepkids.

“It was worth it, though, for that smile,” he said, looking at Ayrianna, who beamed back at him.