The Day We Have Been Waiting "All Summer" for

It actually worked to upload these pictures so I am not going to get over eager and we are just going to go with 2 for now and see how we do!  I know I am starting a little behind.  I am hoping to catch up quickly...but for now, let us start at the beginning...

8.30.12

I slept awfully last night.  Mainly because despite the fact that we had 2 rooms all of the kiddos were in our room and Brooke was in her own room across the hall.  Things didn’t start off this way-the night before had gone perfectly!  We had adjoining rooms and Brooke and the two older girls had slept in one and Addyson, Toby, Rob and I had slept in the other.  When we couldn’t get adjoining rooms the 2nd night we thought it would be no big deal to have the same set up.  I don’t know if it was the fact that we didn’t eat supper until almost 8 pm, the fact that we were making so many “last chance” Skype calls with family and friends, or the fact that in the morning their lives were going to change forever and maybe they felt that a little bit.  Who knows :)  But one by one, they girls joined us in our room.  This resulted in Gracie and Addy in one bed, Karys and Rob in the other and Toby in a pack in play.  I was left in a very similar spot...struggling to settle in due to the evenings festivities, cramming in my final blog posts and uploading pictures and showering (my last hot one-but also this funky yellow tinged water :P ).  So ultimately when I ended up laying at the bottom of Gracie and Addy’s bed, let’s just say it didn’t invite relaxation and sleep.  I think sleep must have finally come around 12:30 and the alarm was set for 440...awesome.

So when I woke up today, I was definitely a little out of it.  I was not thinking about the fact that if we actually moved forward-went to the airport and got on this plane-there was no going back...we were actually going to do this.  That was probably for the better don’t you think?  That right there was where I found the benefit of my foggy mindset :)  We all enjoyed the continental breakfast, probably actually at too much, and loaded up in our big ole 12 passenger van and drove off to the airport.  Once we got there I realized this was more of an airplane hangar than an airport similar to the ones we had been in the previous few days.  We got busy right away unloading all of our luggage and getting it on the scale.  We got 50lbs for Rob, Brooke and I and then 25lbs for each of the kiddos-this included carry on luggage.  So if I can paint you a picture, we were allowed 250lbs of luggage and we had 12 pieces of checked baggage alone, not counting any carry ons, that all weighed at least 48-50lbs and a couple that even weighed over 50!  We were WAY over our weight limit!  They usually don’t care, you just pay $1.50/pound for every pound you are over...but b/c it was a full flight today they had us choose 2 bags to leave behind that would come on the planes next week.  Weird feeling, but we were able to leave a suitcase of shoes and some extra bathroom products (Rob’s shoes alone quickly lightened our load ;)

Toby ADORED being able to go into the hangar.  Everything about it was right up his alley.  Being able to stand in awe of the “huge” plane before him, watching the forklift go back and forth to carry luggage over to the side of the plane, the lift that was then used to bring the luggage up onto the plane...this little man was in HEAVEN with all of these motorized vehicles moving around him!  It was so fun and cute to watch him just chase them to a point he could see them well, the eyes got big and the finger quickly went out to point and grunt about what he was seeing.

I sat by Addy on the plane, right behind Gracie and Karys and a few rows back from Rob, Toby and Brooke.  I think us four girls slept almost the entire way from Fort Pierce to Exuma, Bahamas where we stopped to quick fuel up the plane (it really did only take like 15-20 min and we were back on the plane).  After Exuma, I would say the rest of the ride was a little rough-mainly for me.  I did not feel well at all and took my little bag out of the back of the seat a few times to prepare myself for what felt like was coming.  It got a little better at one point...I really think it was b/c another girl kind of like “passed out” in the aisle on her way back from the bathroom and the pilot’s thought that it would help to drop the altitude a little bit.  I was like, “ok, whatever” but I really think it was helpful.  Nonetheless I was THRILLED to land in Cap and get off the plane!  That was a little bit challenging.  Word of advise: When traveling outside of the country minimize your carry on baggage to the BARE NECESSITIES so that you aren’t stuck carrying it all off the plane.  I was the last one off and came out carrying blankets, backpacks and AG dolls b/c the girls didn’t feel like it.  Um, not cool...

Nick was there, right outside the plane to meet us!  It was surreal to see him, but at the same time it was so good to see him and to know that we had FINALLY arrived at the destination we had talked about for so long...we almost, we were in Haiti and had 5 miles to go to be at COTP.  As we were walking to the terminal I asked Karys what she thought.  “Mom, it is so nice here!  And not so hot either...”  Not going to lie, I was surprised (yet thrilled) with this response!  Oh the optimism of a little one, I will take it! Once all of our luggage was gathered up (thanks mom for all of the “picnic basket” ribbon!), we loaded up into the jeep with all 7 of us and Nick to head to COTP.  We could only fit the humans and the carry on luggage so Rickens stayed at the airport with the bags and got them through customs and then came with them later.  Thinking about it right now I am not even sure what car they used to get them back here, who picked him up, or how much after us they arrived...huh?  Guess I was not worried about it :)

The drive to COTP was interesting for everyone.  I think that we were all trying to take in all of the sights we were driving past, but at the same time between the high level of sensory stimulation and the fact that we were all crammed into this jeep liberty and the road went from pretty smooth to pretty...um, not smooth, kept us from fully being able to take in everything that was around us.  Soon enough though we were driving up to COTP’s gate.  The girls were thrilled to see all fo the kiddos handprints painted onto the gate.  As we drove in and got out I tried to watch their faces.  They were wide-eyed and slightly hesitant.  You could just see their minds going...”Are we here?  Is this it?  Where are the babies?  Where am I going to fit?”  Yet the only thing that Karys said was, “Mom, you guys were right!  This is SO nice!”

The rest of the day was spent getting as settled as we could.  We put all of our luggage into one room in the volunteer house and then saw that there were 6 beds set up in one room for us to sleep in.  A queen for us, bunk bed and one single for the girls and then a crib for Toby.  That was ok...we are used to sleeping together or with others and it felt “safe” in a way to know that we would all be together on our first night in a new place.  If anyone needed anything I knew I would be right there.  I liked that!  

The kids quickly met the babies and Toby quickly found toys laying around to play with-Addy did help with this as she gathered up every outside toy (most of which were broken in some way) she could find and brought in under the mango tree for Toby to play with.  Karys was quickly off getting babies out of the baby house to hold and just smiling from ear to ear.  There will have to be conversations about boundaries for this girl tomorrow :)  But today you could just tell she was LOVING all of the kiddos.  Gracie and Addy hung back a little by the mango tree and just took whatever interaction came to them under the tree.  We had Bible study that night, our first Haitian meal (beans, rice, Creole sauce), our first showers in Haiti-the girls were PLEASANTLY surprised when they were so warm! and got tucked in nice and early!  What a long day it has been...but we are here...we have arrived...not sure how I feel about this.  It is different than I anticipated.  I feel like my senses are heightened-I think that applies mostly to my kiddos and their new environment, feelings and interactions.  I also feel a little numb, like I can’t quite tap into what I am really feeling about this b/c I am so tired and there is so much info coming at me.  My head is spinning right now and I need to be getting ready for sleep...I need to calm down...Jesus, I need your peace.  The peace I know only you can bring, the peace I know that comes with trusting you...I trust you, Lord!  I trust you...remind me of this first thing in the morning when I wake up in this place and it all starts again...be near to my children, Oh, God.  Grant us all rest and multiply our hours...we love you...above all else and all circumstance, we love you...I love you!