Our New Life

well our day started at 4 AM as neither of us could sleep for fears of not making it to the airport on time for a 6:50 departure and all those other things that go through your head as you are about to embark on a new adventure...we got to the airport at 5:30 and started the process of checking in our luggage and we found out the our 4 large suitcases were all 2 to 10 # over weight...I spent the next 10 minutes (although it felt like 30) rearranging our stuff to make the magical 50# weight limit (or suffer the $150 fine) I had no trouble doing it but I started my day in a good sweat...well we get to security and they find some bottles of fluid in our carryon bags that we forgot that were illegal and were then confiscated...and slowed us up by another 20 minutes as security had to search our bags for the illegal contraband...well by now we are all starving and ready to sit down to a quick bite to eat...well about 10 minutes into our meal we hear over the loud speaker "LAST CALL FOR NORTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT TO MEMPHIS" we all looked at each other with an incredible look of terror in our eyes and grabbed all of our belongings (minus a cup of coffee and a bottle of water we just bought) and headed down the terminal just in time to beg the airline worker to open the jet way back up and let us on the plane...the flight was smooth and a lot of fun for all the kids to be in an AIRPLANE...we landed ahead of schedule and I started to think of all the food I was going to eat while waiting for our next flight...well the terminal was packed and so we had to sit in the plane for about 30 minutes until our spot came open...the flight to Jamaica was long...Anna decided that the airplane and playing games with all her new "friends" was way more important than sleeping...luckily she fell asleep in her stroller while we waited in lines for immigration, luggage and customs...
well we finally made it up to Robin's Nest on this very hot day...it was so nice to see Glaston and Michelle and all the kids...we were given a warm welcome...Sam was instantly ready to meet all his new buddies and explore this place that his parents have been trying to explain to him for the past 3-4 months...WE HAD FINALLY MADE IT!!! Praise God for that...
after having dinner we were taken to our "new home" that is about one mile up the road next to a church that they go to...I am not sure what this place looked like prior to our arrival but is was clear that many, many man-hours were put into making this a nice place for us to live...Thank you to all of you who were a part of that…this is a very nice house in Jamaica, but compared to the house we left behind in Iowa it felt more like an oven…I guess no central A/C, running water, and windows to keep the noise of dogs, goats, birds, frogs, a donkey and who knows what else out made it a little hard to get a good night sleep…we only had one fan as well…I spent most of my night fanning the kids and trying to get comfortable myself…I woke up on the couch, Sam was in a chair, and Carly, Anna and Angie were in our bed… Our new home has two bedrooms…Carly and Sam share one room (they seem to be getting along ok for now!!!thank you Lord) and Anna has a nice crib in our room…we have a nice bed and some dressers that were full of clothing that we sent with a team…I am sure that every day in Jamaica will be better than today…I feel about as far away from home as I ever have but I am confident that God will provide that peace of mind that comes with embarking on a life-changing adventure such as this