Day Seven...Heading Home...

Phoebe & I got up Wednesday morning & finished packing. We ate a "quiet" breakfast compared to the past several days with one or more of the kids by our side. I was dreading going to the O for just as few minutes to say "Good bye." To me it seemed cruel for all of us to go in there, get everybody worked up & then say Good bye. The team leader said he needed to go by to pick up something...would have been nice if that would have been taken care of the night before but it wasn't so we went.

Shakira immediately came running to me & Phoebe. She was so excited to see us & then we had to tell her "Good bye." Samara immediately started pouting & ignoring us. I didn't want to go to the nursery because I knew Caleb would start crying as soon as I got out of his eye sight but I could not be there & not see him so we went up. He was in his crib & the team was ready to leave so I just loved on him through the crib slats & told him that I loved him. We quickly walked out of the nursery, down the steps, & into the van. This is getting old. Saying Good bye to them...to put it bluntly..stinks! They are tired of it...and we are tired of it. Please Lord, bring them home to us very soon! Thank you!

We had a very interesting ride to the airport. We actually had a short wait through the line & then had lots of wait time after we got our boarding passes. We went upstairs to look at the shops & had a bite to eat before going to the gate area. We then had our final devotion as a team. Phoebe & I were very blessed to be a part of this team. Each person was awesome & it was so very cool to experience a trip with one of my bestest buds, my "older brother"...aka Don, & my "younger brother"...aka Jarod, not to mention my "boss"...aka Tim, & the "Creole translator"...aka Jason :o)

Suprisingly our flight left Haiti on time...I think that's a first for me! Phoebe & I had the priviledge of sitting behind the "3 Amigos" which was quite entertaining :o) We flew into FLL which was also a first for me. That airport makes a lot more sense than Miami...imagine that! :o) We left 92 degree weather in Haiti to arrive to 75 degree weather in FLL with their AC's on full blast. We were all shivering. Most of the team put on their jackets that they had brought with them but I couldn't do that because "we" accidentally left my jacket on the plane going to Chicago on the way to Haiti. So unfortunately, my very nice $2 thrift store jacket was replaced by a very over priced, "okay" sweatshirt that said FLL on it :o( We had lots of time at FLL before our flight to Chicago so the team ate an oversized late lunch at Chili's & a few of us topped off our meal with a delicious ice cream cone from Edy's...yeah, I know we were freezing but we still wanted ice cream :o)

Phoebe & I sat next to Tim on our flight from FLL to Chicago. We were suppose to only have 35 minutes or so to make our next flight but our flight from FLL was early...which was an answer to prayer...unfortunately we were very delayed leaving Chicago due to having to have the plane de-iced twice & then needing a new battery in a cart or something. This time Tim was sitting behind me. About 10 minutes before the plane was ready to take off, Phoebe stood up & threw up into her seat. Mr. "Quick Reflex" handed me a puke bag but we didn't need it anymore. The stewardess came running to us & handed me a bunch of towels, wipes, & a bag. After I got Phoebe & the seat cleaned up, she came back with Ginger ale & a wet cloth for Phoebe. Thank goodness she didn't have any more emesis on the plane. When we finally got to our airport we were all exhausted. The team said brief good byes & then we headed out. This time it was "Randy's taxi service" & we dropped off Jason, Tim, & Don before heading home. It was 12:30am when Phoebe got into bed & I had already decided that she would not be going to school in the morning.