Saying Goodbyes.... and Hellos!

We left on Thursday…  It went really well.  My mom, dad, John’s mom (who drove from Parker), my aunt Robin and my favorite cousins Megan and Stephen came.  We left from Terminal 2 at Sky Harbor Airport which doesn’t have coffee so we stopped by Starbucks on the way over and Stephen bought us some Decaf via.  We tried the new cinnamon Via which is absolutely delicious!
It was so nice to have the support of our families there.  I love them so much and will miss them dearly.  God has given me a really great peace about being away from them during this time in my life.  Here are some pictures from the airport with my wonderful family.  My dad bought us some neck pillows when we arrived at the airport.

Megan is planning to give birth today or tomorrow!  I am sad to miss it! And John’s sister is giving birth around November 15th.  Thank goodness for skype!

We made it through the airport security with flying colors.  A few hours later we flew into O’Hare in Chicago where we only had a 40 minute layover.  I was hungry and hoping to buy some airport food because it is usually better than airplane food, but once we got to our gate most people had already boarded.
John and I walked onto a pretty full plane and looked for an overhead bin to store our oversized carry-on luggage but most were full.  John told me to sit down while he searched all the overhead bins to find room.  I was worried about not finding room but it turned out to be quite comical because most of the passengers were watching John struggle.  They would laugh when he couldn’t fit it in, some turned back and smiled at me telling me in another language that our luggage was causing “problems”.  I’m not sure what language it was… sounded like something French or Dutch… I assume whatever they speak in Brussels.  I just smiled and nodded because I had no idea what they were saying.  A few passengers were cheering John on and some jumped up to help him.  Finally he managed to squish our luggage up there and joined me.
When we flew to Tanzania we each had our own personal TV’s and could choose from about 50 movies.  This was not the case on the way to Brussels.  You could choose the channel of about 5 movies.  I chose the latest Twilight movie while John watched Grown Ups.  I tried to sleep after dinner and the movie.  We even bought these sweet pillows that rest on our laps and rise up to face level.  Airplane Pillow   For some reason I couldn’t get comfortable and didn’t sleep that well.   We woke up in the morning and landed in Brussels.
We had probably an hour wait before boarding in Brussels.  I bought John a sandwich and I got some tasty roasted cashews and almonds in smoked paprika and a green apple.

 I started to sleep once we boarded because I was pretty tired.  I used the neck pillow my dad bought me and slept for a good long while.  Two decent sized naps with a meal in between.  John had some beef meal with sweet potatoes (which I later ate his sweet potatoes) and I had some fish in a yellow sauce.  It came with some kind of whole grain-ish bun, butter and this wedge of fancy looking cheese.  Dessert was a cupcake and a square of Belgium chocolate.  The chocolate was different than American milk chocolate… sweeter in a more floral way.

I didn’t realize that we were supposed to stop in Dakar, Senegal on the way.  Most of the passengers got off the plane there.  We stayed on for probably less than an hour.  Once in the air we got a snack of a cheese and butter sandwich. John ate his sandwich… I just had some cheese and some more nuts.  The sandwich reminded me of when I was a kid and ate cheese and mayo sandwiches EVERY day for lunch.  The thought grosses me out a little now, but man did I use to love them! 

Once we arrived in Freetown Lungi, Chad was waiting for us.  So good to see him after such a long journey.  Here we are on the ferry once we arrive.

I love and miss you guys yet I’m expectant of what the next few days and weeks will hold for us!  Here are the cuties that were waiting for us when we finally got home.