American Soil

Our flight from Dubai took a mere 16 hours.

Let me just say that again for emphasis.

Sixteen hours.

Only if you are a parent of a very active preschooler can you understand the depths of fear such a time frame can instill.

We discussed our plans long and hard before buying the tickets.

Would we survive a 16 hour flight with four kids?

The answer was a very blessed "Yes!" But we do not boast arrogantly. We know it was a gift from God.

I also thank the airline personnel who arranged our seating.

Flying with four kids is pretty easy when you aren't seated by any of them. :-)

Poor Jeff. (Can you hear the depths of my compassion?)

He was on the row of seats with our three boys. Kinley was across the aisle from him. And I was seated across the aisle on the other side.

It was an innocent situation, I promise. I did nothing but walk in and take the first seat given to us.

(FYI...when you put that headset on and turn on a movie, its like no one else is around. And my arm was well out of tapping range if I leaned over to my right far enough...)

The kids did handle the flight very well. Our airline had an amazing entertainment system that kept us all occupied for a huge chunk of the time.

Nonetheless, we were thrilled to feel the plane touch down. And I was awash with emotion over the cowboy hats and Texas accents that greeted us at immigration and customs.

It was Texas, Y'all. And it felt good to be there.

We gathered bags, secured luggage and rolled our belongings through the doors to find Nana and Papa waiting. We shared weepy hugs and laughs and smiles and made our way to the hotel.

The next few days were spent recuperating from the 16 hours and the jet lag. We ate yummy food. Celebrated a birthday and Mother's Day belatedly.




We went shopping (Target!!!) and pierced some ears.






And we slept. As much as possible. Our bodies were worn out and we needed to rest.

Those first few days on American soil with Nana and Papa as back ups for child wrangling helped us get our feet back under us before we began more travels.




It was hard to hug them goodbye after only a few short days, but with the promise of a longer visit in our near future, we prepared ourselves for the West Coast.

First stop...California!