Our Flight In

So many ingredients that we don't want to leave out the flavor of our arrival.

To sum it up....craziness.

The night before we left we had planned to pack all of our 19 suitcases, 6 carry ons, 2 stroller and 4 small children into our friend's truck. Of course, it would be too easy if it weren't raining. So, we had to change our plans and readjust the entire evening b/c it wasn't possible for all of that stuff to sit in a down-pour uncovered all night. It rained for like 6-8 hours and we scrambled to get the new plan in motion. It all worked out and we made it to the airport at 4:58 a.m. with 25 pieces of luggage, 4 small children, 2 strollers, 1 car-seat and 2 pairs of adult hands! WOW!!! Yes, it was as hectic as it sounds.

Due to the rain the day before, my dad ended up taking us to the airport so we said our good-byes quickly as we hauled our luggage and children out of the van. It happened so fast and he drove off and I was left there sobbing and feeling as if I could not catch my breath. It was difficult to have to keep going with the morning with this pain in my heart.

As we made it to through security, they pulled us aside. Lucky us!!! We were chosen to be frisked and to have every single one of our bags searched. I tried so hard to be patient and loving, but I said kindly, "Did you have to pick a family with four kids under the age of 6 and lots of carry-ons as we are trying to move out of the country permanently?" They even frisked the baby! This sounds funny now, but at the moment it was far from it.

The flights were smooth, easy and without interruption. In fact, on each flight the people who sat around us all chipped in and helped bring our bags and car seat off of the plane. It reminded us that God is in everything and He provides help with all of our struggles. The flight to Costa Rica from Atlanta was neat b/c there was a team going on a mission trip and they took up half of the plane. We were able to tell them we were going on a trip, too....for like 3 years! :)

Once we were in the airport is was LOCO!!! We had to physically take all of our stuff to 3 different check-out points. Oh....did I mention that when we got off of the airplane we went to put our children in their brand new, never before used $600 jogging stroller (thanks St. Cloud Pavement Pounders) that was purchased for Costa Rica (in case you don't know, we don't have a car). I noticed immediately that the stroller had oil on several places. I was kind of like, oh....that's not good. But what really was not good was the fact that wheel was completely broken. It ended up shattering 2 days later. It was quite an ordeal for the 2 of us, but God showed us a lot about our fleshly responses and our need to trust Him for everything. It worked out so far and we were able to have a new wheel overnighted to a team in Nashville who brought it to us and we have a perfectly good, oil-stained stroller that gets the little ones around just fine. :) We are still working with Delta on trying to get them to pay for the wheel and get the covering replaced.

Soooo......all that to say - WE ARE HERE!!! There is so much to write, but I thought I would start off with that. I am going to post the pictures of our luggage and the other 2 family's luggage as well. We had 8 kids under the age of 6 in total and well over 70 pieces of baggage. And no, we did not have any help from baggage handlers inside of the airport. They were not available until once we got outside. The hard part was over at that point. At times I felt like my head was going to pop off. I just tried to smile and stay focused. I think I prayed more that day than I ever have.