What started out as a school assembly Wednesday morning, ended in hugs and tears of happiness for two Mark Twain Elementary School students.

Army Sgt. First Class Lesley Slade recently returned to the United States after being gone for about nine months on her fifth deployment in Iraq. However, Slade and her husband did not tell their daughters when she would be back in town.

A school assembly was held Wednesday morning and various guests including local police officers talked about the subject of respect to a gym full of students. Lesley Slade hid backstage for most of the assembly before walking out to surprise her daughters Ashley, 10, and Maleah, 11.

“It was really hard to keep a secret from my girls because I always like to tell them everything,” Slade said. “I wanted to surprise them, especially since I knew I was coming back when they were still in school, so I wanted them to feel like they were as happy as I was and that they could share it with the whole entire school.”

Maleah, who was emotional when she saw her mom, said she had no idea her mom was back in town.

“Whenever she goes into deployment, I always get super sad because she’s going to be gone for awhile, and whenever she comes back I always get super happy.”

Slade said she hopes that was her last deployment. She added they are planning a family trip to Disneyland when school is out for the summer.