Call us nuts, but we wanted to head to the states for Christmas time. Bruce needed to make some business plans for life after the army and we also thought it would be a good time to have Allen baptized so that family could celebrate with us. So, guess what I did for my birthday? I packed and cleaned and got the family ready to leave for our trip. I had the guts to fix my favorite meal for dinner: stir fry. All I got were frowns and complaints from the kids. I gave them an earful about how I deserved it since it was my birthday and I hadn't done anything for myself all day. Dinner didn't go over very well. Bruce and I put the kids to bed and loaded the car with the determination to wake up at 3am to start our 4 hour drive to Ramstein. The drive took longer because of poor weather, but we made it safely. The flight that we were trying to get on got cancelled, so we waited around the terminal while the kids played on the indoor playground. We anxiously kept tabs on what stateside flights were going out and what number we were on the list of passengers to see if there was even a remote chance of leaving anytime soon. Then our focus became waiting around to see how many people would leave so we could be higher on the list. There didn't seem to be much hope, until a flight popped up to Wright-Patterson Airforce Base in Ohio. In a matter of 5 minutes I did some quick research, we checked our luggage in, parked the car, and were the last passengers manifested on the flight to Ohio. We landed on the 23rd of December at 11:00pm. We had the hope of making it to Utah by Christmas Eve! At lodging I found the cheapest tickets I could to get us to Salt Lake. We found a taxi ride to the Indianapolis International Airport (2 hours away).
We crashed for the night in base lodging. We put Allen on the twin pull out bed, used the cushions of the couch to put Gideon on the floor under the table, and squeezed a portable crib in for Lincoln. Luckily for Bruce and I, we had our own separate room to sleep in.
The next morning we took our 2 hour car ride with a nice man that worked at the hotel front desk that agreed to take us to the airport. He gave each of the boys $1 after we got out of the car. We checked our luggage and went to scout out the food options at the airport. As soon as the boys saw the golden arches, they knew what they wanted! Bruce and I relented on the condition that this was the only McDonald's trip while we were in the states. Bruce and I passed on the McDonald's and enjoyed Chipotle instead.
We had some time to kill, so Allen took up playing cards with this fine gentleman above, while Lincoln and Gideon zoomed cars around on the floor. The flight went well considering that everyone was so exhausted! Flying into DIA was like coming home for me. I was excited to be on familiar territory.
As luck would have it, Lincoln fell asleep during the last part of the flight, so I carried him through the airport until we found our next gate.
Gideon sat down in his exhaustion and didn't move a muscle for a very long time afterward.
Our layover in Denver ended up longer than planned because our plane was delayed due to snow in Texas. At long last we were on our way to Salt Lake. Emilee arranged our covert operation of getting from the airport to my parents' home. We slipped passed the windows and crept inside. Emilee ordered mom and dad to turn around and close their eyes, then Allen and Gideon tackled them from behind. We got them good! They had no idea that we would be in the states for Christmas. This was the best Christmas surprise ever!
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