Up, Up and Away...

Our journey to Africa was lonnnngggg!  We left Seattle at 11:18pm on May 12th, flew to Washington, D.C., then after a short layover we flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Another short layover there and we were off to Lubumbashi, DRC arriving at 11:30am, May 14th.  After almost 2 days of flying, we finally made it!  Talia and Brady were easy...give them movies, earphones, and snacks, and they were good to go.  Charlie, on the other hand, was not quite so easily distracted from the monotany.  We gave him the snacks and he shoveled them down in 10 seconds flat and then wanted more.  And sitting longer than 5 minutes is almost asking the impossible of a 19 month old!  He loved to walk the aisles touching everyone and every button he could find.  Most people didn't mind, except probably the sleeping ones.  He also tested out his speed in the airports.  He liked to take the opportunity to run off while we were loaded down with luggage.  He was fast and I found myself wishing I had brought one of those kid leashes! Overall, the kids did great though and we felt God's gracious hand over us.  Thank you for all of your prayers!

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a warm, sunny day.  As we stood in line at customs, the kids and I were hurried through while Sam handled the passport/visa things.  I couldn't see Sam and stood in the luggage area while swarms of young guys surrounded me asking for my baggage tags so they could get my bags.  It was a little overwhelming, but I was also grateful that I wasn't going to have to hold onto 3 kids and retrieve 10 giant dufflebags!  Sam had the tags with him, so we just waited until he crossed through and sent the guys out to get the bags.  Then our fellow MAFers, Dan and Nate, arrived to pick us up.  Our flight was an hour early which they weren't expecting.  It was so great to finally meet them and to have some experienced people with us! 

As we got into the van and waited for our bags to be loaded, we found a basket of waters, bananas, and yummy muffins that Dan's wife, Karen, had sent along.  It was a great treat and such a welcoming gesture as we arrrived tired and excited to our new home.  We were so happy to finally be here!

10 bags of "essentials" to make it through our first two months until our shipment arrives (Sam will fly to Zambia to get it at the beginning of July)

If you are trying to stay sane on a 30 hour journey, try this!

My last latte in the States.  I enjoyed every sip of it!

This is how we spent much of our time in airports...chasing this guy down!  Can you see me in the back hauling luggage? 

"I wonder what it will be like to sit in that thing for the next 14 hours?"

"All-you-can-watch-TVs, am I dreaming?!"

"Yes, I'm dreaming..."

Getting ready to board our last leg...from Ethiopia to DRC...wasn't sure how I was going to stay civil during this last 4 hour flight. However, all the kiddos slept which meant that Sam and I got some sleep.  It turned out to be quite pleasant!

After arriving at the airport in Lubumbashi, we headed over to the MAF hangar to move the plane to the neighboring hangar so a construction crew could begin expanding our hangar to fit the Caravan...the Caravan Sam flies is behind the kids

Talia was so tired she couldn't even make it to her new bed...half on/half off the couch had to do.  This was our temporary house for our first month here.  All our checked bags arrived!