We Have Arrived

We made it!  For Christine and I, it was not such an easy trip.  You see, because our tickets were purchased separately (we purchased round trip tickets for me & Christine when the adoption was finalized) we had a slightly different schedule.  We were flying through Toronto, then to Belgium, then Kigali.  Mike, KaLia, & Nate were flying through New Jersey, meeting us in Belgium and then we would fly together from Belgium to Kigali.

HOWEVER, for Christine and I our flight was delayed 1 1/2 hours from leaving Portland (due to mechanical difficulties) and then once we reached Toronto they made us get our luggage to go through Canadian customs (such a ridiculous thing).  The baggage was delayed another 30 minutes before it started coming out, so when they finally did come out we grabbed all 4 of our bags and ran for our next flight-- only to find out we were a few minutes past what is considered "minimum" transfer time.  They wouldn't let us continue.

They tried to reschedule us, but the Belgium/Kigali flight doesn't operate every day.  We were going to have to stay in Toronto for 2 additional days!  Finally they found they could fly us through London, Nairobi, and then to Kigali.  With the additional flights and layovers it ended up adding 18 hours to our travel time, for a grand total of 45 hours of traveling!  Ew!

But we made it.  There was even an empty seat next to me on the last two flights so I was able to curl up and lay down on those two seats for some much needed sleep.  Mike, KaLia, & Nate came into Kigali Tuesday evening at 7pm and we arrived Wednesday afternoon at 1pm.  Now we have been working on getting over some serious jet lag, which we should finally get into a good rhythm in another day or two.  KaLia had her first day of 7th grade on Friday.  She seemed to have a pretty good time, and almost all of her friends from last year were there.

All of us are very glad to be reunited again with our son Michael.  He had a very boring and long break from us, so I think he's glad to have a full house again.  Christine is enjoying seeing her friends and catching up with people.  Nate is doing fine and keeping himself busy with the Wii and his movies.

Mike and I are getting ourselves back into the work of the ministry here.  Mike has some new plans for the Home of Innocence and other projects.  We thank you for your continued prayers for our effectiveness and for us to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit so we can draw from his strength, power, and wisdom.

God Bless You,
Lisa