Many of the country's service members are often away from their families during the holidays.
An East LA Army colonel knows that feeling all too well, but this year she's home right in time to celebrate Christmas with her loved ones.
There are three generations of women in the Moreno and Donovan family and you could never tell, but these moments together for the family are limited to one or two times a year.
Tania Donovan is a lieutenant colonel in the Army and stationed in Texas away from her parents and siblings in LA.
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"It is hard not to know when you can come home, it is hard to not make plans," Donovan said.
Donovan has been serving in the Army for the last 17 years. She graduated from West Point and soon after she was deployed.
"Sept. 11 happened while I was in the academy so soon after graduation I went to Iraq for 15 months," Donovan said.
Along the way she met her husband and they started a family and had their daughter, Paula. Together they have all moved around a lot.
"I have been stationed in Washington state to Virginia to DC, Kansas twice, in Hawaii and now in Texas," Donovan said.
Because it has been so long since Donovan has lived at home, these moments around the holidays mean a little bit more. For them, it is about the quality of time, not the quantity.
"It is so important to be around your loved ones, so it is hard to be gone but in times you can be with your family take full advantage of that and enjoy it as much as possible," Donovan said.
