Our Journey Home, Aug. 11th...

Tuesday night, August 10th, Abi decided it would be a good night to wake up frequently, Bella had mosquito bites covering her from the weekend and Josh yelled, "Bella stop it!" in his sleep. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much.

Wednesday morning, I woke at 3:45 to get ready for our departure at 4:30am. We woke the kids at 4:15 and they did so well. They got right up and put their clothes on. Grabbed their own carry on bags and went downstairs. Abi was also a jewel. Changed her into her red, white and blue, plaid dress to match Bella and we were off! We had our luggage, carry-on bags and 5 bananas in hand. Jaime was prompt, as usual, and the drive to the airport was uneventful...too tired to speak.

Our plane was scheduled to leave at 7:55am but Jaime HIGHLY suggested we arrive 3 hours beforehand. We thought that was a bit of a stretch but trusted him. We arrived to stand in several lines! Abi was in her stroller, the kids put Bruce's carry-on suitcase flat on the ground and sat on it while I made jokes and we all laughed together. When we FINALLY got in line to check in, we stood, moved a bit, stood, moved and bit and got to the counter. The lady asked where Abi's ticket was? Of course, we explained that she didn't need a ticket because she will be sitting in our lap, etc. She said, no to our explanation and sent us to a new line...after all that waiting!!! We ended up having to buy her a ticket ($200...the spending never ends)...ugh! At least they allowed us to leave our 5 huge suitcases and come back to the front of the line after purchasing her ticket. Then we went to immigration. We had a very rude, man on the other side of the glass that viewed our passports. When he got to mine, OF COURSE, there were eyebrows raised and questions. He spoke in Spanish very rudely. We spoke back in English and that angered him even more. He said, "I don't speak English!" Then he turned to the guys working next to him and said something ugly about us, they looked and began laughing. I was NOT happy. I finally confronted a guy in line and asked him to interpret for us. He explained that my passport DOES say that I'm Colombian born. However, I DO NOT have a Colombian passport because I was adopted when I was 8 months old, etc. He made us stand there for a good 20-30 minutes. I'm not sure what he was doing. It looked like alot of nothing to me! At any rate, he finally let us through. I gave an ugly look when I walked away and I didn't feel bad for it either. Mr. Meany!

At this point, Jaime, our Gladney interpreter was long gone. I profusely thanked the gentleman that interpreted for us. Thank God for him! We made it through, made our 7:55am flight and we were off to Houston! We got on the plane to find that our seats were, once again, in the back. I noticed one of the flight attendants being short tempered with the passengers and really wanted to give a note to the pilot about our adopting Abi. I wasn't about to ask her for a favor. As I was walking against the flow of traffic on the plane, yes, while others were boarding (but not many)...she stopped me..."Maam, is there something I can help you with ?" I answered, "no" and explained that I wanted to give a note to the flight attendant up front for the pilot. She loudly, says, "So you don't trust ME with it??!!" Before I knew it, I said, "You seem a bit stressed. I'll go ahead and take it forward." Oh, she didn't like that a bit. She started asking everyone around us if they thought she was stressed. Ugh! I kept walking, found a sweet, male flight attendant up front and he gave the note to the pilot. Mercy!

Our flight went really well. We all sat on the same row and everyone was sleepy but happy. We had alot of snacks since it was a long flight. None of us were too interested in their ham and cheese sandwich...ick! Everyone helped with Abi when needed and life was good. We were finally almost home to TEXAS!!!

THEN...the pilot comes on!!! "Folks, we have about 35 minutes until we land in Houston, Texas. The weather is 95 degrees in Houston...blah, blah, blah. I also have another announcement to make! When our plane lands in Houston, Texas, Abigail Menefee will become a United States Citizen! We want to congratulate the Menefee's on their adoption!" I GOT IT ALL ON TAPE!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME! She slept through the entire announcement, oh but we didn't!!!

We landed in Houston on time...1ish. Went through Immigration...that went well. Then one of us was asked to go to a private room with the baby. Bruce quickly volunteered. Josh and Bella came with me, downstairs to Customs. We got our luggage all on our own. Josh and I were pretty proud of ourselves...putting those massive suitcases on the darn cart! Then we found a spot to wait. We waited and waited and waited.

To make a long story short, Bruce came RUNNING down the center area of this huge room! We could see him from afar! We jumped up, grabbed the carts and off we went! It was 2:15. I thought we would make a mad dash to the gate and be off. I thought our flight to Lubbock left at 2:45. It left, without us, at 2:20. We were so sad. We couldn't believe it. The kids started asking questions...how will our friends know that we won't be there?...do we get to go home today?...what's going to happen to our stuff?...what does this mean?...etc. We were all about to melt down!!!

We talked with a precious woman at the Continental ticket counter, Priscilla. She worked with us for over 30 minutes and finally said that we MIGHT be able to make the 6:35pm flight. She said, more than likely, 2 of us would make that flight but the other 2 may have to take the next flight which was at 9am the next day. We thought through all our options..there were 2 other options as well. We decided to FAITH it and hope that we all made it on the 6:35pm flight. Priscilla was precious!!! By the time we left her counter, she had told her coworkers about Abi, they had ooowed and awwwed over her, we had a taken a photo of her with Abi and she said commented that she was going to prayer meeting at 7:30 and the women would all be praying that we made it home together and safely! Her encouragement was wonderful as she was hopeful because of JESUS!

Oh my gosh!!! We were sooooo tired at this point. And also hungry because we had only really eaten "snacks" and a bit of fruit. We headed straight to Chili's! We enjoyed a delicious meal there...soo much fun! We decided to be thankful we were in Texas and we were still all together.

To make another long story, short...the 6:35pm flight was delayed twice. Continental had sold 49 tickets and this plane only holds 48 passengers. It didn't look good. At all. BUT GOD...we made it!!! ALL OF US TOGETHER, LEFT HOUSTON, TEXAS AT 7:15 AND ARRIVED TO LUBBOCK AT 8:45PM.

OUR HOMECOMING WAS MAGNIFICENT!!!!! Even as I type this, I'm crying!!! It was EVERYTHING I dreamed of and more. I've had quite a few expectations over the last month and few have been met...some too high...some made out of ignorance, etc. OH BUT THIS WAS UNBELIEVABLE! We certainly missed our Menefee family but look forward to their visits SOON! :) Seeing the faces of friends, my Mother and dearest friend...was priceless!

JUST LIKE I IMAGINED...we went through the turn-around glass door, heard everyone cheering, some crying, everyone smiling, some holding posters, lots of children...I can't even begin to put into words what it meant to Bruce, the kids and myself. It was truly one of the most remarkable days of my life, personally. I had Abi in my arms, thinking she may need the extra security. NO, not at all. She was just fine, thank you very much. I put her down and she walked with cameras flashing all around her. At one point, I looked over at her and a group of children had surrounded her. They were all on their knees and she was standing in the middle, just smiling as if to be a STAR! She cracks me up! She received red, white and blue balloons. She received her first set of flowers, pink carnations, from the Kirksey's and TONS OF LOVE. She didn't want to be touched alot or picked up but she LOVED THE ATTENTION! There must have been 40 people at the airport...WOW, WHAT LOVE! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR WELCOMING US HOME. IT MEANT SOOOO MUCH TO US. (more tears)

After SIXTEEN hours, we arrived to Lubbock, Texas and we were welcomed with more love than I can begin to tell you. We finally got home around 10pm. Josh was FULL because Aaron and Tyler were at the airport to greet him. Dena, Tyler's mom, even took Josh for a "treat" after we landed and then brought him home. He was craving Rosa's and wanted a chicken burrito! She's precious and met that need for him! Bella was full because she was met by several friends! She felt so special. All were exhausted, happy and fulfilled!

Henry Reimer brought our luggage home. He's a dear, dear friend to Bruce. We are thankful for the Reimer family!!! Everyone was helpful and so very kind.

We decided to put Abi at the foot of our bed in her pack-n-play for the first night...just in case she woke and didn't know where she was. No need. She was out. Woke at 7am, happy and alert. What a perfect doll!

It was the longest day of my life and one of the best days of my life.

"I'm so thankful to You, Lord for today...You moved mountains on our behalf and we were able to travel home together, as a family AND then receive soooo much love!"