An unforgettable homecoming...

We have been back home and settled in for about a week now. We had some pretty major jet lag to overcome, but with time and commitment to not letting ourselves sleep much during the day, we pulled through it around day 5. We are happy to be back home, in our own beds, and back with our friends here. We have started back up with our language studies and have hit the books with a renewed vigor! After saying all that, I wanted to share a bit about our process in getting back here last week.

We arrived at the Chicago airport during the evening only to find the unexpected...no lines! We walked right up to the counter and handed over all of our passports. Scott asked the guy who was helping us "I'm sure there aren't any more available, but if possible could we get a bulkhead seat..." When we tried to set this up in Jordan, the night BEFORE our flight left, we were basically laughed at. However, to our great surprise and joy he told us there was one available. Plus, our flight that could hold about 250 passengers was only bringing back around 80! We were thrilled that it would not be like our packed out flight coming. So, we got through security with relative ease and started making our way to the gate, with only about 30 minutes of our 3 hour wait having passed. As we made our way down the corridor we found the most wonderful thing....a little play area for kids! It was one of these areas that teaches kids about the dangers around them, but it had lots of things that he could touch and play with, plus it was a contained area, so we could just sit and watch him play. After a little while another little girl came with her mom and the two of them played together for a little bit while us parents talked.

Finally we boarded our very empty plane and settled into our wonderful bulkhead seats. After a nice chicken dinner they gave us a bassinet for Zeke to sleep in. He was too big for it so we put it on the floor and he settled into it with his legs hanging out the end. He likes to be contained, though, so it wasn't too long before he fell fast asleep. It was probably about midnight central time. Zeke stayed down for about 4 hours and when he was awake he was happy to sit with us or play on the floor. The time passed quickly and we even made it in half hour early!

So, after our wonderful flight we were getting our baggage when an airline employee came and asked us if we were transit. We told him yes and he promptly escorted us to a counter where we could recheck our bags for the next mornings flight AND escorted us to a shuttle that took us to the hotel that we would stay at overnight for free! The hotel was a little creepy, but clean enough and comfortable. Zeke and I were up most of the night, but survived on snacks and Thomas the tank engine videos. Our short flight the next morning was just as uneventful and we were greeted at our landing by our friends Darrell and Cheryl.

Our friends drove us home only to discover that someone had been in our house...doing all sorts of improvements! Our fearless leader, Darrell, had put his handy man skills to use while we were gone by installing towel bars, a lattice for our grape vine, and even covering up some ugly cement in our bathroom with nice white paint. There were several other wonderful things he did and it was a wonderful way to come home! We are very blessed to have such good friends here and it made us feel as though we were missed and they wanted us to come back!

The only small downside to our homecoming was the discovery of a new tenant in our home....a mouse! He came across the floor as we were cooking dinner and we have yet to track him down! However, he will be dealt with in good time. Overall we are thrilled to be back and have even had a few catch-up visits with a few friends, including one who just had a baby about a week ago. So, back to the grind of real life and looking forward to our next adventure...our next baby! Who, by the way....is a boy!