Home, Sweet Home.... Kinda

Well, we made it. We are officially living in Germany! I'll give you a brief synopsis of the trip and fill you in on whats going on. I've got so many boxes to empty and things to do that I can't spend a ton of time. I have so much to tell....

For those of you I didn't talk to, here's a quick overview of our trip. We were supposed to head out of Little Rock on Thursday and be in Germany by Friday afternoon. We checked into the airport (outside w/ the porters) and got our boarding passes. My father in law was set to fly to Baltimore with me so he was with us. We were told our plane was delayed by 3+ hours so we chose to go back to my brothers house instead of hang around the airport w/ 3 children. That was mistake #1. Before we head back, I call to make sure we aren't delayed anymore and low and behold - our plane was NEVER late in the first place and it has departed!!!! Devastated - we get back to the airport to see if we can get on the next plane. Thanks to a rude lady, nope, we can't. I sit in tears w/ 3 kids who were ready to see daddy and tell them we are going back to my brothers house. Hayden asks, "one more night?" "yes, honey... one more night". I make several phone calls and end up driving to LR Air Force Base the next morning to get everything re-scheduled. They put us on a plane heading out the next day (Sunday) so I once again have to tell the kids - "just one more night!" Poor things. Oh, I forgot to leave out the fact that ALL of our bags made it to Baltimore - so they are no longer with us and we have no clothes. We wear our clothes 4 days straight (yes, we washed them every night.) I did end up going to Target and spending about $150 on underwear, extra clothes, toothbrushes, etc.... and my parents, who stayed in LR until we really got gone (thank you!) and brother made lots of donations. We had to buy more baby formula, diapers etc... it was such a nightmare!

On Sunday morning - we head out to the airport, needless to say my father in law doesn't get to go with us. He did, however, see me through until I got re-booked and tried his best to get the bags back. Thanks, Pops! He stayed so calm through all of it - I bursts into tears about 15 times. LOL. So, we check into the airport - get through security and that is quite an event in and of itself when you are flying by yourself with 3 small ones. We made it through (I'm sure we were a sight) and the worst thing that happened was that Jordyn had a dirty diaper that I could smell, lol. First things first, we changed her diaper got some breakfast and got on the plane. OH - and now my bags are no longer in Baltimore - they are officially losts :-(.

Hayden has flown before, but he was a baby and doesn't really remember. He sang, "I believe I can fly..." at the top of his lungs as we took off into the air. Jordyn cried the first 30 minutes straight and then fell asleep the second half of the flight to Dallas. We landed, found our way around the airport (including riding the sky rail) and got to our next gate. I found the kids some lunch - oh yes, Landen spilled an entire coke all over the floor which is always fun. It went straight onto Hayden's beloved bb (blanket) but we recovered. During that fiasco, I thought I heard a page for my name. I called Matt and they were all trying to get a hold of me. My phone was shut off - I had given a few extra days notice, but should have given more. Anyway - they found all of my bags and they were suppose to meet up with me in Dallas!! :-) I wasn't counting on it, but excited.

After 3 1/2 hours in the airport, we board our next plane. This one is just a short 9 1/2 hour flight. There is a poor man sitting between all of us on the plane and thankfully, he agreed to move over so I could be by all of them. In a nutshell - the boys did really well. They went to the bathroom a million times. Jordyn cried a good 4 + hours of the flight and slept part of the rest. I forgot to mention Jordyn had been running fever and I had been to the doctor the day before we were "suppose" to leave. She broke out into a rash the day after we got here but seems to be fine now. I didn't sleep a wink on the flight, Hayden slept from about 8:00 to 11:00 pm and Landen might have slept an hour.

Finally, we touched down!!! Only, we were now in Frankfurt, Germany instead of Ramstein and had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us, as opposed to a 1 hour drive. We get through customs, find the baggage claim (just followed the crowd b/c there were not many English signs) and called Matt. He was right outside the baggage claim but couldn't come into help me! I get two carts - and lo and behold - all 8 of my bags are sitting there waiting on me, plus the one I checked in with. I push a cart, Landen pushes a cart, and Hayden has to push Jordyn in her stroller. Out we come and there stands Matt!!! RELIEF!!!!! I was so happy - we did it! BTW, I don't plan on doing that again by myself unless I have to. I've learned to never say never.

We made our drive home and I stayed awake for the pretty drive home. I've never seen so many vineyards and windy, curvy roads. It is really hilly and green everywhere. The weather is brisk and cool - a far cry from the 100+ in Arkansas we were having before we left. The house is great - its 2 story with LOTS of room downstairs. I'll get some pics up when I get everything settled in like I want. It will probably be a week or two. The Air Force Base is bigger than I expected and fairly nice. Matt definitely made the right decision to live off base. It was also really nice to have food at the house, diapers & toiletries. Good job, daddy!

I will be posting a lot more about where we live and what its like. The name of the village we live in is Herforst. I need to go work on unpacking some more boxes. Mom & Dad, Nana & Pop, Uncle Derek & family, Uncle Steve & family, Aunt Terri and all our friends - we miss you all!!! Thanks for a GREAT summer of fun. All of your help is much appreciated - babysitting, laundry help, cooking dinners, and entertaining. It really went very quickly and the boys had a blast staying so busy. Hayden is swimming w/o his floaties which is his big accomplishment for the summer. Landen got to pitch on his cousins baseball teams tournament game and struck somebody out! That was his highlight....as well as learning to do a back dive and back flip off the diving board. It was hot, but fun! Jordyn is standing by herself more and more, but not walking. Oh yes, she is finally clapping too!!! I tried all summer.

One last thing - I PASSED my drivers test today so I can officially drive in Germany! Woo-hoo!!! I made a 94 and was glad to get that thing behind me.... I studied quite a bit.

More to come.... check back periodically. Thanks for all your emails!