And we're here!

After an emotional few days of goodbyes, it felt like a bit of a relief to get on the plane early Sunday morning. My parents were instrumental in loading, unloading, and shuffling kids around. Once we had unloaded the car at the curb and my mom had the boys in the stroller, my dad went to move the car only to find the battery had died! So he called AAA and had to get a jump. Meanwhile, we said goodbye to my mom. There were tears, but no "ugly cry." We did good! 

Security went smoothly and the plane was boarding as we arrived at the gate. So we walked right on... found our seats... so nice taking up one whole row for the three of us... and headed off to our new home. The boys were very excited to be on the plane. 

 Papa had made them some sandwiches which they enjoyed. The seats had tvs, but only one kid friendly channel. So that lasted a few minutes, and then we pulled out the ipad to watch a movie. I had wrapped up a pair of ear buds for both of them. Parker's had spiderman on them and Austin's had mustaches. haha. Aside from having to re-insert the buds every 3 min, it was smooth sailing for the next little while. They were calm, asked politely for their beverages (orange juice for both of them), and no poopy diapers! I had several other wrapped gifts for them to open (small things to occupy them on the flight), but I didn't even use them! They were being so good, I just offered a few snacks and they watched the movie. 4 hours later we arrived in Detroit.

 So glad these boys have each other. They frequently offered each other hugs and told each other "you're the best!"

 We had a quick connection, so made our way onto the next plane. Only got to enjoy our old stomping ground at DTW for about 20 minutes. This next plane was much smaller, and our only option was to have the boys on one side of the aisle with me on the other. It was a recipe for disaster. Still, it was PRETTY good. There was some wrestling, tears, and arguments about wearing the seatbelt (from Austin), but we only had an 1 1/2 to go. The boys were tired and pumped to see Daddy.

 Overall, I just felt peaceful on that flight. We had made it 5 months on our own and had done so with a lot of faith, strength, and patience. I'm proud of us. And I felt like this flight was my reward. I was done being tested... I had done what I needed to do as a mom and a wife, and now I was reaping the blessings. I am so thankful that it all went so well.

We de-boarded and headed for baggage. Daddy was waiting on the other side of security for us. What a sweet reunion. The boys were somewhat quiet, but just kept saying, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!" It was amazing. We are together again. And it's the best.

All of our gear made it, we loaded up the Altima, and headed for our new house. The boys christened it quickly with a wrestling match in one of the bedrooms. It's a nice place with lots of familiar shopping and eating places around us. I think we made a good choice on the location.

 Outside our new home:)

More to come... we are exhausted but happy. Yesterday we took Parker to preschool (success), ran errands, and bought a VAN! But that's a post for tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for their love and support. We feel very blessed and strengthened by the love we've felt.