Sunday, August 03, 2008

Traveling to Haiti-

Friday, July 25~
I hardly slept the night before thinking about the fact that we were really going to pick up our children soon. I was at my parents house and when I woke up the reality of it all hit me like a ton of bricks. I was so nervous that I was fighting the urge all morning to just throw up. I could hold back no more and had already snuck into the bathroom a couple of times to let the tears flow but there was no hiding it from my parents. One look at me and they knew I was a mess! ;) They were so kind and understanding about it. Mom, Dad, Me, Kyle, Johnny, and Luke got together in their living room to pray over our trip and the tears flowed even more. Then I had to say goodbye to the boys. :( I knew they were going to be in great care so was not worried about them but the very idea that when I saw them again our family would be changed forever really got me going. After saying goodbye to them I cried for at least a half hour into my 3 hour drive. Once I ran out of tears the trip to meet up with Jim in the bay area went great! We had a night alone without any kids so we went out to dinner together and had a final date.

Saturday, July 26~
Jim and I packed up our things in the hotel and headed home. The drive was long and crummy. Jim was feeling really sick so I did most of the driving. I also was still sick to my stomach and was not sure if it was nerves or if I was coming down with a flu. By the time we got closer to home Jim continued to get worse and we decided he likely had a sinus infection so instead of heading home we headed to urgent care when we got into town. We were right! Of all the times to get sick. So he was able to get some antibiotics started Saturday night and just pray that he would not be miserable flying Monday morning. When we finally got home we were exhausted and both sick but did our best to start getting things ready. Our trip to the bay area was so last minute planned that we had left our house a huge mess with clothes and donations everywhere! So we spent all of Saturday evening and Sunday cleaning, packing, trying not to forget anything, and running last minute errands. Whew, we were so exhausted.

Monday, July 28~
3 AM (ugh) we headed to the airport and met up with our very dear friends, Jim and Debbie, who were traveling with us. Once we got checked in and through security everything went very well. There were no problems at all on our flight and we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale right on time. We thanked God and knew people were praying for us because it all went so great. Once we were checked into the hotel we were able to go out and eat (and boy did we ever EAT) with Jim and Debbie. We have been great friends for years but had never been out together without children. Then Jim and Debbie got some rest and me and my Jim hit the swimming pool. The hotel, pool, and area was just gorgeous and we laughed and splashed around and were so relaxed. It was exactly what we needed! We even went to bed around 7:30. I was woken up just a couple hours later and was never able to go back to sleep so once again I was heading into Haiti totally sleep deprived.

Tuesday, July 29~
Up early and back at the airport. Again everything went almost TOO smoothly. We praised God for the traveling grace again. The flight into Haiti was comfortable and quick. However, once at the airport everything was CRAZY! We received all 8 suitcases though... Again, nothing short of a miracle and gift from God. It was driving us nuts though to know after all this time our children were just outside the doors of the building and we had to stand there going through immigration and picking up our luggage. The urge to just jump the fence and run and find them was pretty intense, but who wants to get lost forever in Haitian jail?

I'll post soon about what happened next in finding our children and the two Jim's meeting their kids for the FIRST TIME!!! What an amazing day it was!!


On the final flight to Haiti, knowing that we were SO close to seeing our children!

After getting off the plane and placing our feet on land in Haiti....SO CLOSE TO OUR KIDS
Jim and Debbie exiting the plane and beginning their adventure too. What a HUGE blessing it was to be able to travel and experience it all with such wonderful friends!!!

5 comments:

The Haiti Lady said...

Who is it that Jim and Debbie are adopting??
Love ya,
LeAnne

Ericka said...

ugh, I can't wait to hear what happens next!!!!!!
I'm so sorry you guys were sick. Of all times :) that's MY luck :)

Amanda said...

Oh, I love reading day by day accounts!

So, is the orphanage that close to the airport or was it just the feeling of being there??

Mr Nice Guy said...

@Haiti Lady
Debbie and Jim (YT) are adopting Charline.

@Amanda
I don't know if it's close or not, but considering the dynamics of traffic there (so much take in) it's hard to say for me. Didn't seem that close.

Anonymous said...

Angela, I hadn't even thought of looking at your blog. Thanks for reminding me. I enjoyed seeing your family with your new children included and reading about the trip.
It's so uplifting when I know how long you waited.
Have fun today.
Cindy