California: The End

We left Ninny and Papa's at 4:16am... one minute behind schedule already. It was a long drive back to LAX and I didn't get a wink of sleep. Poor Zack and Sheena... it's such a pain to get people back to that airport. Long drive, traffic, the crazy Grapevine! As we drove out of the Grapevine, Zack fell asleep and Sheena realized she had no idea where we were! Uh oh. We stopped at a gas station because I had to pee. That was pretty disgusting. Then she turned on the GPS... finally, we'll get back on track now! Nope. There were a few more wrong turns and by now I was pretty car sick. My nerves were starting to take over and I felt the chunks of puke in the back of my throat. We made it to the airport 51 minutes before my plane's departure. I gave Zack and Sheena a hug and told them I loved them. Zack showed me the time and said, "You need to run." I didn't think I was going to make it and tears started to roll down my cheeks. Once I made it to the front of the line to check my bags, it was 44 minutes to take off. The kind lady (note my sarcasm) informed me that my bags might not make it on the plane because technically the need to be checked 45 minutes prior to departure. Really lady?! One minute?? So I told her thank you and hauled to the security line. Thank the Lord, it was not too long... but I was sweating. After taking off my shoes (definitely the worst part of security), we literally ran to our gate. Poor Kennedy... she kept crying, "Mommy, I can't ruuuuun!" I felt horrible :( But I knew if we didn't run, we may not make it on that plane! And of course our gate was at the very end of the ALL of the gates. We made it, with minutes to spare. Once we got on the plane and her car seat was installed, I literally wiped the sweat from my face in relief.

She didn't fall asleep until one hour before landing. Albeit, in my arms. Poor kid, she was exhausted. Jon met us at security and escorted us to our carousel. We missed him a ton! After 10 minutes went by, I started to doubt that our bags made it. But then five minutes later, they popped up. Thank God! I thought to myself, "Would I still be praising God if they didn't come?" Something we all need to work on at times. God is good, no matter the circumstance! Needless to say, I was relieved they made it.

Our trip in a nutshell: amazing. I would definitely consider moving to California. But it would take some MAJOR prayer. God would have to make it VERY clear that this would be our next place of dwelling. I mean literally, He would have to write it on the wall for me. It would be pretty amazing if it did happen, though. I miss the Searcys a lot. And It would be nice to be closer to the Eichlers. They are ALWAYS a lot of fun to be with! I think about how much fun Kennedy would have too. She bonded with Ethan, Grace and Taylor like no other the past week. To be constantly entertained... who wouldn't want that?! When Jon asked her what her favorite part of California was, she responded, "Taylor." Awwwwwwww, my heart just melted when I heard that!! Don't get me wrong, we broke up a lot of fights, but overall they were all so good.

Thank you Zack, Sheena, Pastor David and Cindy, for making our trip a really fantastic one. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. We'll be back to visit... hopefully sooner than later! This time Jon will be with me :) We love you guys!!!!