Our Holiday Journey

I've told the story of our trip to the States for Christmas so many times, but thought I should write it out to have. It's long....

Dec. 18, 2009 We found out in the morning that our flight from Abuja to New York was delayed 5 hours due to mechanical issues. This means our flight is scheduled to leave Abuja at 3:00am. So, we drove to Abuja, enjoyed a great meal and then went to the Baptist Guest house for a short nap…had to leave for the airport at midnight.

Dec. 19 Our flight arrived in New York too late to catch our connection to Atlanta. There was a snow storm coming so Delta cancelled ALL flights Westbound for the rest of the day (except on to San Francisco). They put us on a flight for the next day and gave us hotel vouchers. We got to our room and ordered Chinese…but I couldn’t enjoy it as my throat felt like it was on fire!

Dec. 20 We arrive to the airport at noon for a 7 pm flight. The line is wrapped around the lobby a couple of times!! After standing in line for 6 hours (with 2 year old Caden) we found out that our flight was cancelled and they most likely would not be able to get us on a flight until the 26th!!!! Can you believe it? So, our parents arranged a rent car and a flight out of Pittsburg for the next day. We hit the road and drove to Philidelphia, arriving just after 9:00pm.

Dec. 21 The drive to Pittsburg took over 5 hours! My throat is killing me…it feels like aweful indigestion. The only thing that doesn’t hurt is a milkshake. Caden is such a trooper…her has been wonderful this entire time. In Pittsburg we find out that we won’t get to Houston until almost 10 pm!!! 2 ½ days late! We won’t even get to see Toby’s parents. It is such a bummer. Fortunately, the drive to Pittsburg was beautiful, with farms and mountains all covered in snow.

Dec. 22 It is so great to be done travelling for a bit. Caden and I went to the Dr though. He has an ear infection and I burned my esophagus! Yes, you read that right…I didn’t drink enough water or eat enough with my malaria meds on the plane and the got a chemical burn on my esophagus! It’s hard to eat or drink anything.

Dec. 23 We took Caden to get a photo with Santa. We got there first thing so we wouldn’t have to wait in line 3 hours like last year! He did great. Then, in the afternoon, Caden had an appointment with Dr. Anthis- an ENT- to check his tubes. They did a hearing test but the ear infection has one of his tubes blocked, so we’ll have to go back another day. We also met up with my brother for lunch and to shop at SAM’s club…fun times.

Dec. 24 We stayed home and relaxed most of the day except for a little shopping. Kyle and Eni came over to spend the night with us.

Dec. 25 Christmas! Mom did a GREAT job preparing breakfast. We had a wonderful time opening gifts- it was so fun to watch Caden pass out all the gifts and open his one by one. Later Angel came over and two of Toby’s friends was WI. We enjoyed a great late lunch and had fun chatting with everyone. Overall, it was a fun day.

Dec. 26 We drove up to Dallas for the weekend. On the way we stopped to visit my friend’s Becky and Aaron and meet their newest little one, Emily. She is so precious! Then we headed to Little Elm to pick up the key for Steve and Amy’s house in McKinnery where we were staying for the weekend. Once we got there we had just a few minutes to unpack before heading to Richardson for dinner with friends at a yummy burger place!! Caden and I returned home exhausted while Toby met another friend for sports and hot wings….where he got his energy that day, I don’t know!

Dec. 27 We got up early to get to church, only to find out that there was a server failure on Christmas Eve and we were not on the schedule! During the service, the staff set up a table for us and we left after worship to get everything put out. We had a few people come by after the first service but lots after the 2nd, which was nice. It was fun to see friends and be in our home church. Plus, Caden wanted to go back to the nursery for the 2nd service, so that was great! We stayed at church so long that we were running late!

Our friends Jennifer and Amphone hosted an open house for us…which we arrived late too. Fortunately, everyone else did too! Unfortunately, not many people came. But it was so great to see those who did come. I got to meet my friend’s fiancé, which was especially great!

After the open house we drove over to Lewisville to have dinner and hang with our LifeGroup. This was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable times of our entire trip home. It was so nice just to hang out and enjoy being with friends. Toby even got to watch football with the guys, and Caden got to play with Mark Christian and the cat! This was a long, busy but great day!

Dec. 28 Dr. day! We all went to see a Dr. of some kind and all the appointments went well. Then, we met the Kallas’ and Purdin’s for lunch and an afternoon of hanging out. Amy and I drove down to Richardson to meet Carla and Alli for dinner while Steve, Toby and Eric headed out for a guys night. It was so great to hang with the ladies and we were so grateful that Amanda agreed to watch Caden! After dinner Carla and I went to one of my favorite stores: Central Market. Such fun!

Dec. 29 We started the day with Caden visiting his Occupational Therapist. She observed him eating and drinking and said that he looked like he is doing great! Such good news! Afterwards we drove up to my grandparents farm for a day with family. It was so wonderful to see so many people.

Dec. 30 We drove to Hot Springs, AR to see Grandmom. Caden rode with mom and dad while Toby and I took a detour through Dallas as we had forgotten to pick something up at church.

Dec. 31 Toby drove to Little Rock and flew to Milwuakee while Caden and I stayed in Arkansas enjoying time with family

Jan. 2 Caden and I drove back to Houston with Mom and Dad…it was a long trip but our little traveler did great again.

Jan. 3 Toby arrived back from Milwaukee and I don’t remember what else we did that day.

Jan. 4 The week of Dr. visits begin. We took Caden back to see Dr. Anthis for his hearing test. They still could not get a good test and they were worried that he might not be hearing all the tones. So, they wanted us to get a special test but the first available appointment was not until Jan. 13- and we were to fly to Nigeria on the 10th. We decided to try the tests again in the morning (as the 2 prior ones were at naptime).

Jan. 5 We went for another appointment. He still didn’t cooperate well enough, so we decided to try at naptime and get him to fall asleep. That afternoon the test showed all was well. But Dr. Anthis was still worried because he didn’t perform well in the sound booth test…he would respond to voice but not environmental sounds. He still recommened the test. So, that night I prayed that an appointment would open up for that week.

Jan. 6 We called the Dr. offices one more time in hopes of getting something set up. They said they would try to get us in on Friday- the day before we were to fly away. That helped us feel better. I can’t even remember what else we did that day…probably shop. That night we got a call asking if we could bring Caden for the test the following morning. Someone had gotten sick and cancelled! Praise God!!!

Jan. 7 We took Caden for his hearing test and he passed! We are so thankful that he doesn’t need hearing aides. Later, Sonja came and got me and we went out to lunch and to shop. So much fun!!!
After dinner my parents hosted an open house for us. It went so well. Mom went all out and the party was great. It was so nice to meet people who have been praying for us and to share with others.

Jan. 8 Packing day! We did some last minute shopping and spent the rest of the day packing…packing and more packing. We ended up with 9 boxes, one suitcase and 3 carry-ons!

Jan. 9 We only slept 2 hours! We got to the airport, checked our bags in, and started our journey home. We were so glad to be headed back to Nigeria. In New York, we thought we had more time than we did, but when it came time to get on the plane we rushed. We shouldn’t have…that rushing caused us to drop Toby’s passport (and not know it). We arrived in Abuja to find that he did not have his passport (he had showed it at the gate and we lost it somewhere on the jet-way).

Jan. 10 Oh what a mess!!! The Nigerian government did not want to let him in. We called our Director and the US Embassy. Somehow, they all worked hard and Immigration allowed him in! Praise God! Caden and I had left earlier and gone to a hotel, so he joined us there. We were so glad to be back in Nigeria, together.

Jan. 11 After spending the morning in the US Embassy and the afternoon driving around trying to figure out what to do about Toby’s Immigration, we headed to Jos. We were so glad to be home!

Jan. 17 Riots broke out in Jos. We spent the next 2 weeks at home, staying mostly on our compound. It was a sad and scary time for our city. Selfishly, it gave us time to recuperate from our tumultuous trip to the US.

Jan. 25 My grandmother passed away. We are so glad that we got to see her one last time while we were in the US….
What a month!