Details of our trip to the other side of the world!

We were picked up from our apartment in North Carolina at 11:15 am.  We were working on packing and cleaning right up until we left, but we got everything done!  When we checked in at the airport, the ticket agent said that we did not have a paper ticket for J (our 10-month-old "lap" child) and that we would need one for all of our international flights.  This did not make any sense to us, as none of us had paper tickets, but e-tickets. But K made a call to the guy who helped get our tickets and asked if he could call and ask about it while we were on our first flight to DC.  The first flight was delayed about 30 minutes.  We were SO thankful that we had called to change our layover in DC from 38 minutes to 5 hours!

We arrived in DC and called the guy to see what he had found out.  He said that he was told that we still needed to pay for a ticket for J, that as a lap child, you still have to pay 10% of a ticket and that had not been paid yet.  But he said that the people on the phone didn't seem to really know what they were talking about and they were quoting $800 for it (meaning it would be $8000 for a one-way ticket)!  So, he suggested going to customer service in the airport so we could talk to someone face-to-face.  We found the customer service desk pretty fast, but there was a long line.  K got in line and I sat with the boys. It probably took an hour for K to get through the line and then they told him that they could not help him with that, as the tickets had been purchased with miles, so it had to be done through the "miles customer service number".  We called the guy back who had helped get the tickets and told him what they said, asking if he could call again, as K was running out of the minutes remaining on his phone.  We got something to eat and hung out a while near the customer service line.  Maybe an hour later we heard back from the guy that he had been on hold almost the entire time and he said it really would be better if we could go talk to someone in person again.  Well, by this time the line was about 2-3 times as long as it had been before!  So, K got back in line.  In the meantime, I was feeding the kids, changing J's ever- dirty diapers (he had diarrhea the entire trip) and trying to keep them entertained.  After another hour and barely moving in line, I took B and we went to the gate where our flight was supposed to leave from.  The airlines person had just come to the desk, as it was just now 1.5 hours before our flight was supposed to leave.  I told her the whole situation, she got on the phone and she was told the same thing we had heard before: J needed a ticket, one had not been purchased for him yet (even though he showed up as a lap child on our itinerary, we found out that you cannot buy a lap child ticket with miles, so that had not been taken care of yet) and the problem was that they were to charge 10% of an adult fare, but had to search what it would cost THAT SAME DAY to fly from NC to Jakarta.  So, it was going to cost $889 to get J a ticket!

In the meantime, our friend had been on the phone the entire time.  He eventually talked to someone that was extremely helpful and seemed to know exactly what he was doing.  He suggested buying 4 new tickets
with miles on a different flight, which was leaving for London only 30 min after our original flight (and only a few gates down from us).  We started heading to that gate and got the word that the tickets had been purchased, right as they began boarding the plane.  K went up to the counter and they printed our boarding passes and got our luggage all switched to the London flight.  We were the last people on the plane, but had 4 seats
now instead of 3!!  We had 2 seats in front of 2 other seats, which worked really well, as we could each have one boy with us and have them sleeping on the other seat.  And it was in the economy plus section, so we had some extra leg room too! We were SO thankful for the extra room! [Bonus: I had been praying (and asked some friends to be praying) for a bassinet for our flights, so that J would be able to sleep in it and not be on our laps the entire time!  As it turned out, having an extra seat was much better!  Yet another example of how God knew the details and worked them out in His own way and time!]

Seven hours later we arrived in London.  We only had an hour to make our connecting flight, as we had been put in the holding pattern for landing for about 1 hour. When we got off the plane we asked the first airport employee we saw where we would need to go for our connecting flight.  When she heard what airline and what time it was supposed to leave, she looked quite concerned.  She radioed the control tower to get permission to drive us to the other terminal in their own vehicle.  She had another guy who worked for United come with us and as we raced across Heathrow in a van, he briefed us on what would happen (this part is so crazy to think about now!).  He said we would need to go through security at the next terminal, but that he would try to get us to the front of the line.  Then we would need to race to our gate (of course, it was at the opposite end of the terminal) and get our boarding passes.  However, he said that we didn't have much time and there was a good possibility we wouldn't make it, but we could only try.  Well, he did get us to the front of the long security line, but the guy chose my backpack to pull aside and check everything inside!  K went on ahead to try and get the boarding passes, while I waited for my backpack.  However, by the time K got to the airline counter (I think it was one close to security) they said that they would not allow us on the flight.  We really don't know why (we heard that the plane was only half full and that it ended up leaving 45 minutes late), but the United guy told us that that airline is known for this kind of thing happening and he was really frustrated by it.  He helped us get a later flight set up, but the soonest one we could get on was leaving at 9 pm (it was noon).  He said that United would be happy to have us stay in their premier lounge and give us meal vouchers as we waited, however, their lounge was in the other terminal (the one we had flown into), so we would need to go back via bus and then back through security there.  Well, that still sounded like a better option than just hanging out in the terminal for 9 hours, so we went back.  The problem at Heathrow is that each terminal has security, so we ended up going through security 3 times that day (the 3rd time being when we went back to get on our flight).  The lounge was pretty nice, they had complimentary food and drinks.  They also had a room for kids, with a few toys, small tables and chairs, a TV with kids shows playing and some mats on the floor.  That was where we hung out for 6 hours.  We were able to turn off the TV and even with other families coming and going, B was able to fall asleep and slept for a couple hours!  J didn't sleep then, but did for 3 hours later in the moby wrap (wrap which I tie him to my front) when we went to the terminal to catch our flight and eat dinner (with our meal vouchers from United).  When we went back to the other terminal to get our boarding passes for the next flight, they informed us that we were not on that flight and they did not have room for us!  Thankfully, they sent us to another airline (right beside them), who had a flight going to the same place, leaving at almost the same time and did have seats available for us!

Our flight from London to Bangkok was the longest...I think 11 hours.  But both boys did really well.  They both slept a fair amount of that time.  We were in the very back of the plane right by the bathrooms, but I was able to cover J's face to keep the light from waking him up each time someone opened the bathroom door.  K and I really didn't sleep much, however.  Near the end of the flight the flight attendants (Thai) came and took J from us and played with him in the back for over an hour (really we have come to discover what an incredibly popular child he is!  Praise God that he LOVES people, thrives on the attention and is not afraid of anyone!) That was the only time I was able to lie down for a bit.

When we arrived in Bangkok, we knew it would be another tight connection.  We didn't have our boarding passes yet (it was yet a different airline that didn't have a desk in London).  Unfortunately, I got very nauseated at the end of the last flight, so I was trying my best to not throw up while we were waiting for our strollers to come up to the jetway. We waited about 15 min & then they came and said they couldn't find the strollers, so we needed to go pick them up at baggage claim. We told them we had a connecting flight and couldn't go to baggage claim. He said to let the next airline know we needed the strollers sent to that flight instead. That sounded pretty doubtful, especially since we were supposed to leave within the hour.  But we didn't feel like we had a choice.  So, we found a small shopping cart to put our bags in and one of the kids sat on top and we took off running across the airport. We kept asking people where the airline desk was, but of course, most people had no idea.  We eventually found it and thankfully we were able to get boarding passes.  She said they would get our strollers as well, but again we were pretty doubtful that would happen with the short amount of time until our flight left (and the fact the airline we came on had said they couldn't find them!). We ran on to our gate and got there about 5 minutes before they began boarding.

We arrived in Jakarta around 9 pm, completely exhausted and in a daze.  As we were flying in, we saw fireworks going off all over the city (it was New Years eve).  We went to the wrong line in immigration at first (based on wrong information given to us before coming), but after K asked someone, we found the right place to be.  We got through without any problems (although we now know that they stamped our passports with the wrong stamp, which cost us an extra $30 per person) and went on to get our bags.  Only by God's grace, every single one of our bags AND both strollers were there waiting for us.  We got a couple carts, hired a porter and K asked him about where we could store our large bags until the next day.  It was certainly helpful that K could communicate with everyone and find our way around.  The porter was super helpful and offered to use his cell phone to call our hotel's shuttle to come pick us up.  He even walked out to the road and waited with us for the
shuttle to come (which ended up taking an hour).  We finally reached the hotel around 11:30 pm.  That was where K realized that he had forgotten to take his debit card back out of the ATM at the airport (you have to push a button to have it returned to you, so it was still inside the ATM).  We checked in, got the boys to bed and K called our bank in the US to cancel his card.

Unfortunately, J was not able to sleep in the bed that they had provided for him.  Every time we tried to put him down, he would wake up almost immediately (we think maybe they had sprayed the mattress with something?).  So, he had to sleep on one of our chests or next to us in bed the whole night.  Both boys woke up multiple times throughout the night and I was so tired and delirious, I don't even know what all happened that night.  But B was up at 6 am, ready to go :)  We had a good breakfast provided for us at the hotel.  We didn't
have to check out until noon, so we went back to the room and took naps and skyped with K's parents.  Then we went to hang out at the airport until the 2 orientation guys arrived from P and another family from the US.  It was pretty hot and humid walking around, we bought lots of bottled water and found a cool place to sit inside for awhile.  The family coming in took 2-3 hours getting through immigration and customs (they have 6 children and had 14 checked pieces of luggage!).  We were pretty happy when we saw them!  Then we had to all get on
a bus with all 30 bags and go to another terminal.  That was the craziest part.  We couldn't all fit on one bus, so we had to split up with bags.  Then we had to go through security, then up to the next airlines desk to check our bags (this was now a domestic flight).  Our next flight was delayed about an hour, so we didn't leave until 7 pm.  It was only an hour flight and then we had to get all the bags, load them in a truck and 2 vans and drive to the guesthouse.  It took 2 hours to drive and we arrived just before midnight.  We all went straight to bed.

By the way, if you take the longitude and latitude coordinates from where we were in North Carolina and invert them, you pretty much come up with where we are now!  In other words, we traveled as far away as we possibly could (on earth)!

Total travel time from our apartment to the guesthouse: 36 hours, 45 minutes
Total ticket/airplane changes: 3
Total Boarding passes printed on our behalf: 32
Total Boarding passes used: 20
Whew!  Praise God that we made it!

In our first line (with many to come)!

Hanging out in DC

Hanging out in London

One of the MANY reasons the Bob stroller is the best!

Riding the bus at Heathrow

Watching "George", a life-saver with B!

J slept the most!

Thankful the boys are small enough to sleep like this!

Taking a "bath" in the hotel!

God's "LITTLE" blessings.

We made it.

We finally arrived in the place we have been preparing for.  Over 11 years of preparation.  Of seeing God direct us, one step at a time.  It still hits me sometimes....we are really here.

There have been several "little things" that have happened since being here, which God has used to encourage me.  Little reminders that are whispers of His continued love and continued direction, one step at a time.  I want to record them so that I can look back and remember what He has done.  And I want to share it on here, so that others can be encouraged and praise Him with me.

Before we left the States, J (our now 10-month-old), could hardly eat anything that wasn't super-fine pureed.  If I mashed up bananas, he would gag and then throw up.  If I gave him tiny pieces of bread, he would gag and throw up.  So, I was only able to feed him pureed baby foods.  I packed a few containers in our suitcases, hoping that it would last us until I could find them here in the store or buy a blender to make our own.  Well, God had a different (better) plan!  Almost as soon as we arrived in our new country, J was miraculously able to eat solid foods!  It may seem like a small thing, but it has been such a blessing to be able to give him whatever we are eating (especially as we found out they don't sell pureed baby food here!)


We arrived here on December 31, with 2 small children, 7 suitcases/action packers, 2 strollers and more carry-ons than we could count.  That was it (even though it seemed like a lot when you were dragging it around the airport).  We found a house to rent for the year we are here.  It is a beautiful, new house.  However, it was completely empty.  No furniture, no closets, no cabinets, no shelves, no TP holders, no fridge, no stove, no place to put any of our belongings....you get the point.  We bought the basic necessities for being able to live (i.e. fridge, 2-burner stove top, towels and mattresses).  We moved into our house with those things and quickly found out the challenges of not having other furniture.  And then we found out that a sister organization of ours had a storage room full of furniture that we could borrow!  And the best part?  It was all RIGHT NEXT DOOR!  Only God could have planned that as He directed us to this house.  What a blessing!


Both of my babies have had digestive problems.  When B was small, his "problem" was extreme, many of you know that story.  J was not quite as bad, but he did seem to be bothered by certain foods, particularly dairy.  I went dairy-free for a while, which was difficult for this milk, cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, ice-cream-lover!  A couple months before we left, I was able to add back all dairy, except for milk.  Milk seemed to still bother him, giving him more gas and discomfort.  It was hard to not have milk, because I had heard that you could only get powdered milk in the place we were moving.  I was giving up milk for a much longer time than I had anticipated or wanted.  To our pleasant surprise, we arrived in our new city and found out you can buy fresh milk here!!  I tried adding it back into my diet and J has been fine with it!  What an unexpected blessing to now be able to enjoy fresh milk again. [As an added bonus, it gets delivered to our door, 3 days a week, at no extra charge...actually, we pay less than we would if we bought it at the store! And it's cheaper (and fresher) than most places in the US: $2.36 per gallon].

Worry and Fear

We have been in a new country 4 days.  My youngest son had a double ear infection the week leading up to our departure.  He has had diarrhea for over 2 weeks.  He has a severe diaper rash that improved some, then got worse again.  He has a rash on his chest and back, likely a heat rash or allergic reaction of some kind.  My oldest son had an ear infection and horrible cough the week leading up to our departure.  His cough is improved, but he does not seem to be completely back to normal health yet.  He woke up with a 101 fever this morning and it has been coming and going throughout the day.

As a mom, in a new place, with my kids not being healthy, it is too easy to worry.  To allow myself to give into fear.  The devotional I read today was a challenge from God, that He used to speak directly to the situation I find myself in.

"Try saying, 'I trust you, Jesus'" in response to whatever happens to you [or you kids]....think about Who I am in all my Power and Glory...ponder the depth and breadth of my love for you [and your kids]".
-Jesus Calling, January 4.

Here is the God of the universe, the Creator of my children, Who formed them in my womb before I even knew they were there, the Giver of life and health and the One Who loves each of us more than we can comprehend...so much that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son because of His love for me [and my kids].  How can I not trust Him?  How can I not say, "I trust you, Jesus"?  He loves them more than I ever could.  And He brought our whole family here to this new place, not just K and I, but B and J as well.  Praise Him that He can give me the ability to let go of my worry and not give into fear, but rather trust Him.  Because even that, even that comes from Him.  And He IS Good..ALL the time.