The Journey Continues

We got up on Friday morning to some light snow in Chicago and headed down for breakfast. As you will see from the pictures the boys love to eat breakfast at hotels in their PJ's. We have Grammy and Papa to thank for this tradition that they started! Andy's cousin, Amy and grandmother came down from Beloit, Wisconsin to visit with us. It was great to see them and such a treat for Gray to meet Amy and his great grandma. They left after lunch and we began to pack up things to head back to the airport. We then headed downstairs to collect the 25 or so bags that we had left with the bellman and loaded the shuttle. We arrived at the terminal and I went inside with the kiddos since the snow was really coming down at this point. The boys and I watched as Andy and the driver unloaded the bags. About the time the last bag was put on the ground, I realized that I had left my diaper bag on the shuttle. I look up just in time to see it taking off. I frantically pound on the glass window thinking that Andy could hear me....yeah right. Andy was so calm and called the hotel right away to ask the shuttle to return. After waiting 15 minutes or so we retrieved the bag and headed to check-in.

Checking in was interesting. We had booked an entire middle row and side so that we could all be together. Well, they had changed the aircraft on us and had to move our seats. After 20 minutes or so of waiting we had six seats together in the back of a 500 plus passenger plane. At first, they were not going to let us take Gray's car seat on the plane, but thankfully the manager came out and said it was fine. Could you imagine me holding him the entire 14 hour plane ride? Security went fine and we were now inside for the long wait until the flight. Here is a picture of the boys playing inside the terminal. They were a little big for this play set, but still had a fun time.

We boarded the plane around 6:30pm. Let me tell you that it was a FULL flight....not one empty seat. Did I mention 500 plus passengers? The flight took off around 7:30pm. The cabin crew finally got up to feed us dinner, but had to sit down because the flight was so bumpy. They were not able to get up again and serve dinner until after midnight! There was that much turbulence. At one point, Andy looked over at me and said buckle the baby in NOW! He was just sitting in his seat asleep. I don't really like to fly so I decided to do a lot of praying at this point. Gray cried off and on for the first 6 hours of the flight. Once we could get up I stood up in the back of the plane with him. He then went to sleep and slept for the reminder of the flight.

The big boys did well on the plane. I have to say that the Etihad inflight entertainment kept them occupied for hours. It wasn't until 1am or so that they finally crashed and slept. They served us dinner, a mid movie snack and then breakfast on this flight. It felt like we were constantly eating. We left in the dark, the sun came up while we were in the air, and it was dark again when we landed in Abu Dhabi Saturday morning our time. However, we got here in the evening.

Many of the passengers were heading to India. I never felt uncomfortable...the people were so friendly! This adventure is giving me such a different perspective of the world we live in!

Be sure and check out the picture of Matthew holding his nose on the plane. Wonder who is stinky? Also, take a moment to check back in a few days to watch the video clip of the twins wrestling around once we landed. We were all ready to get off, but I can't end this post without saying the flight wasn't that bad. Our God is good and He delivered us safely!

We joke that on our return trip home we will ship our 30 plus bags and ride first class!

The Journey

Here I sit in a 4,000 sq. ft. villa in the Middle East! You might be asking how I got here. Well, let me back up and fill you in. Back in June, Andy came home to tell me that he threw his name in at work for a possible job assignment in Abu Dhabi. My first response was look at my growing belly....did you forget that we are having a baby in a few short months? I told him that I would talk to him about it when things got more serious. Well, that happened and he flew to Abu Dhabi in early September for the interview. After many weeks of not hearing anything, we got the call that his company had won the job. Matthew likes to tell everyone that we moved because Daddy won a contest! Andy spent most of January in Abu Dhabi getting things ready for us. He returned to the US for two weeks to collect the baggage (family). We really enjoyed his trip back home. It was filled with the twins fifth birthday party and a wonderful bon voyage party with lots of friends!

After two days of packers and movers at the house everything was on its way to storage and we were on our way to a hotel. A 14 passenger van picked us up at our house in Keller to take us to Embassy Suites in Grapevine. We had a penthouse suite with lots of room! After enjoying dinner and the boys birthday celebration at the Rainforest Cafe we spent the night in Grapevine on Wednesday, Feb 3rd. We made our way to DFW airport on Thursday, Feb 4th to head to Chicago. Before leaving, Andy's boss came out to wish us well.....okay, maybe he came to make sure we all got on the plane! That was so nice of him to show his support!

We arrived in Chicago mid afternoon and headed to the hotel. Hold up, let me tell you about the baggage that we had with us. In all we had over 30 bags! Here is a picture of us in Chicago collecting our bags. Since we were flying out the next day we collected everything and headed to the hotel. Up to this point, other people had helped us with our bags. Well, that wasn't the case at the the baggage claim in Chicago. We filled up THREE carts with our luggage. So, Matthew got to push one of the carts while Andy and I pushed the other two. Colin did a great job pushing the baby in the stroller. It was hysterical and I had to laugh to keep from crying! Would you believe that not one person offered to help us? At one point, we had to take the elevator down a few levels, but could not all fit on at one time. Matthew's cart managed to tip over spilling all of the bags in the elevator. Overall, we only left a few marks on the walls of the Chicago airport. Matthew really did a great job pushing the cart. Of course he did, he refers to himself as Spiderman with big muscles!

We made it to the hotel in Chicago and left 25 or so pieces of our luggage with the bellman downstairs. After ordering room service, we all went to bed early.

That is it for now, I'll be back next time to fill you on the 14 hour flight to the UAE!