Home!

I am so excited to see my kids. I have missed them so very much! Our flight leaves London shortly after 2:00pm.

We checked out of the Foreign Missions Club at 10:00am and began our walk to the tube station (with luggage in tow). I'm sure we were a site to behold! This time, it was much easier, as we only had to carry luggage down the stairs and not up. 

After about an hour on the tube, we arrived at Heathrow Terminal 4. We checked in at the British Airways desk and made our way through security. We stopped to pick up a sandwich before boarding the plane. I also wanted to get a Diet Coke to take on board with me. One tiny little soda on a 10 hour flight wasn't going to cut it. This Diet Coke addict was already in withdrawal from my time in Uganda where I had none.

I was certainly not looking forward to this flight. So far, on three long flights, I had not managed to sleep more than 2 hours total. Another team member was kind enough to give me a valium for this leg, so I had high hopes that I would be able to sleep a few hours away.

A few of us gathered at gate 24 (this is what the agent at check-in had written on our boarding passes) and began to eat our lunch. As we chatted and ate, we watched the clock and none of the other team members were arriving at our gate. As we neared what we thought would be boarding time, there were still none of our team members there, so we asked a gate agent and were told that our flight would be boarding at gate 11! We gathered up our belongings and RAN to the gate. It was a long way! I was glad that I had logged all those hours, running, on the treadmill before our trip! We made it to the gate just as boarding began. 

Safely on board, and in our seats, we left Heathrow. In 10 hours, we would be back in the arms of our loved ones. I took my valium and settled in for, hopefully, a few hours of rest. I could feel the valium in my system and was very relaxed, but sleep still did not come. Valium usually knocks me right out. I have come to the conclusion that I just cannot sleep on planes. I will have to buy a sleeper seat if we ever fly overseas again. At least the valium helped me relax and so I was not anxious, a good thing, since I was once again stuck in a middle seat. Someone needs to tell my wonderful husband that he needs to share the aisle seats every now and then.

Once we arrived in Phoenix, we began the process of customs and baggage claim. I had pictured customs in America to be the worst we had encountered so far, but it was actually the easiest. We went through the line fairly quickly and our bags arrived shortly thereafter. Now we could make our way to our families. We we came through the doorway for international arrivals, there was a large group of people from the church, waiting there to greet us. People were grabbing me and hugging me, all very happy to see us. I had only one mission and that was to find my kids. We finally managed to push through everyone and found our kids waiting on the outside of the group, smiling from ear to ear. It seemed like an eternity before we could get to them. Oh, those hugs and kisses were the best ever! I missed my babies so much. It felt so good to see them and to hold them. They had roses for me and fudge for their Daddy. They know how to get to him. LOL!

We said our goodbyes to everyone in the group and headed home, only stopping for some mexican food at Chevys. ; )