| What it's all about. RTWT. |
When Capt. Brian Lisle emerged from the cardboard, his children shouted louder still and rushed forward to hug their father. It was the first time they’d seen him since February. “It was a great reaction, actually,” Brian said. “My oldest daughter [AuBrianna, 9] and son [Jaden, 7] attacked me, and my daughter got a little teary-eyed, as did I.”
Five-year-old Trinadi was in awe, Brian said, and it took Taxer, 3, a couple of hours to warm up to him. Koryanne, 1, took to her dad right away, probably because she’d heard his voice every week on the phone for the last several months. Having Daddy home from Kuwait is the only thing her children wanted for Christmas, Sabrina said — but the kids aren’t the only ones whose Christmas wishes came true.
When the Lisles purchased a home in Bigfork in January 2005, they hoped they’d found their dream home at last. Instead, they found an uninhabitable building with a daunting list of problems, just when Brian had to leave for the Middle East. But thanks to the generosity of the Bigfork community, led largely by members of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Lisles finally have the house they’ve dreamed of — just in time for Christmas and Brian’s discharge from the Army.
Before moving to Montana, the couple lived in Virginia for a few years, and in Georgia and Germany before that. They planned to move back to Montana when Brian was discharged in 2005. Sabrina’s parents lived in Bozeman; Brian had family in Libby and Hamilton. But the Lisles wanted to make the Flathead Valley home for their four — soon to be five — children.
“I’ve always thought this is the prettiest place in Montana,” Sabrina said.