We're back!! (after the traveling experience of a lifetime...)

Well, we're finally home. Our last few days in the States afforded us with some very special memories with family and friends, and Friday we headed to the airport. Five days, five flights, and aloooot of hassle later, we arrived here at our apartment! It's quite a story, really--definitely our greatest traveling adventure so far...

It all started Friday morning at 3:30 am. We were scheduled to leave Atlanta at 8 AM and fly to New Jersey, where we would get a connecting flight to Asia, and then one more flight, arriving home late Saturday night (Asia time). We decided to check our flight to NJ before we left for the airport, to make sure it was on time. Good thing we checked--it had been cancelled! After a while on the phone, we rearranged our flight plans--the fastest they could get us there would mean 4 flights for us instead of 3. We would leave Friday at 4 for Cleveland, connect to New York, get a taxi to the NJ airport 25 miles away, spend the night, and make our flight to Asia on Saturday, finally arriving on Sunday night (Asia time). Unfortunately, David's mom had made a special flight to see us off, and because of our flight changes, we weren't able to see her.

So, we got a little extra sleep and went to Atlanta where my (Gracy's) parents saw us off. The flights to Cleveland and then to New York were fairly short, and the kids did very well, though we were all tired when we arrived at 9 pm. Then the luggage craziness began--we were responsible for transporting our 9 checked bags, 5 carry- ons, a guitar and a stroller to NJ; it wasn't cheap, but we were able to hire a van to take us to our hotel near the NJ airport. Aahhh! The kids, again, did great though, and we had a nice conversation with our van driver as we enjoyed our drive across the Brooklyn Bridge, through Manhattan, to our hotel. After a few hours of sleep, we were up and at 'em, ready with aaaallll of our luggage (now we know why it's called LUGgage!) for our shuttle to the airport, where we re-checked our bags and departed for Asia at 3 PM.

Armed with enough snacks, diapers, formula, toys, and entertainment to make it through a 13 1/2 hour flight with two kids, we were all set for a smooth-as-possible flight. All was going pretty well when after a few hours, the flight crew asked if there was a doctor on board. Uh-oh. We were hoping nothing was amiss, but our fears were confirmed when almost halfway into the flight (when we were pretty much over the North Pole in the middle of nowhere), the captain informed us that due a medical emergency we would be turning around and heading to the nearest airport--in Canada, 4 hours away--where the passenger could then get immediate medical care.

Just wait--it gets better. Two hours after we turned around, the captain announced that the woman was okay and that there was no longer an emergency. However, we didn't have enough fuel left to make it to Asia, so we would be turning again and going all the way back to New Jersey. While we were very glad the lady was okay (it turned out to be a panic attack brought on by stress), you can imagine how we felt after flying for 12 ½ hours, only to arrive where we started!

SOOOO, we arrived around midnight and four hours later we checked into the hotel that the airlines had provided for us, after rearranging our flight plans (again!), picking up our LUGgage and re-checking it for our flight out to Asia the next afternoon.

This is Caleb around 2:30 that morning, while we were waiting for the agents to work out our flight...

And here is Susanna, the Energizer baby. I don't know what she was going on (she only slept a total of an hour on the 12 1/2 hour flight!), but she was happy--crawling and smiling and exploring like crazy!

The few hours of sleep we got at the hotel that night (that morning, rather!) were just not enough at this point, but the kids were still doing great in spite of it all. So we left (I don't even remember what day it was...!) at 3 for a 15 1/2 hour flight to Asia. I was not so sure about the kids this time, because we had already played with all of the toys, read all the books, gone through all of the entertainment we'd brought by this point--AND we didn't have the bulkhead seat this time, or the baby bassinet. I guess the lack of sleep paid off, though, because the kids slept ALOT on the flight, and we had on demand movies for each seat, which helped alot too. Our arms were a bit tired after holding Susanna the whole way (but we weren't complaining--it's never a chore to hold her!), and legs a bit cramped, but we did successfully arrive in Asia 9 PM Monday night Asia time (8 AM Monday Georgia time). Though the LUGgage craziness began again, the Asian hotel staff was very helpful, and accompanied us to the airport hotel (which was very nice and provided by our airline). We were in bed by 10 and up at 3 with the kids (still on Georgia time!). But we had a really great time relaxing, eating a huge, luxurious, complimentary buffet breakfast, and playing with the kids before going back to the airport.
So finally, we departed around noon on our last flight (last!! Can I get an AMEN!) and arrived here in our home city at 2:30 , where we received a very warm welcome from our friends. We could not be any more thrilled to be DONE flying for a while!!!!

All in all, it was a grand adventure. Though it was inconvenient, we really had alot of blessings along the way. For the most part, we had what we needed when we needed it. We got to enjoy our kids, and see others enjoy them as well. We got to spend time together before the rush of being back. We learned that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger! And most of all, we are really learning to enjoy every moment of life--even the ones that are unexpected.