Born in the USA! Annual trip home February 2010

There's nothing like seeing an American flag flying when you've been out of the country for almost a year.  My heart skipped a beat when we arrived on American soil.  We landed in Washington D.C. after a 19 hour flight from Johannesburg, worn out, but thankful to have arrived safely.  Wyatt had started off the trip with a fever, yet travelled beautifully in spite of it.  The plane was quite empty and we were able to lay down in the rows and sleep!  

As we looked out the window and saw the piles of snow left over from the snowstorm the week before, we felt a little giddy.  The week before, 49 of the 50 states (except Hawaii) had received snow.  It had been one of the snowiest winters on record, and I was glad to have endured it in subtropical South Africa!  It was strange to think we had just left the southern hemisphere summer and arrived in the northern hemisphere winter.  I always feel in awe after I've travelled half way around the world and am still amazed that we have the capability to do something so incredible.  

We stepped into customs and I was so excited to get in the line for U.S. Citizens.  As I was asking Cam to pose for this photo, the customs officer harshly called out, "Ma'am, What are you doing??!!!"  All of the sudden I realized this must be illegal!  "Come over here now!" he yelled.  I quickly went over to the officer and told him I was taking my husband's photo because we were so happy to be back in America.  He took away my camera, checked the contents of the photo and then eventually gave it back to me.  "Don't take anymore photos in here!" he said.  It was then that I remembered about the attempted terrorist attack on the plane in December and realized I better cool it before I got us arrested!

One piece of our luggage did not arrive in D.C. and the delay almost cost us our connection to Dallas, Texas.  After filling out claims, we quickly got on the plane and headed south.  Dad met us at the airport.  It was so surreal to actually be seeing him after so long.  I felt like a little girl again when I went to hug him.  We filed a final claim for our lost luggage and attempted to load everything into his car.  By God's foresight, everything barely fit.  Had the other bag arrived, we would not have been able to carry it.  

 As we were driving down the road, we saw many American signs and places that immediately made me feel nostalgic.  Barnes and Noble, Olive Garden, Wal-Mart, Holiday Inn, Dallas Cowboys, Chevy trucks....  it's funny that I associate these brands with being American.  We met up with mom at Cracker Barrel.  You should have seen the kids faces when she came in!  You never outgrow that feeling you get inside when you see your mom.  Here we were at one of our favorite meet up spots - sitting in the rocking chairs and listening to country music again.  The kids played checkers and we ate a delicious pancake breakfast with REAL maple syrup and Cam enjoyed their famous hashbrown casserole.  The kids ran out in the parking lot and jumped in the snow.  Then they pelted the car with snow balls.

As we drove to my childhood home, I thought about how life seemed to pick up right where we had left it the year before.   I thought about how the children must seem so much bigger to my parents.  I contemplated how much our family had changed and grown.  I realized how the big state of Texas  didn't feel so big anymore.  Then I thought about how much bigger my God seemed to me then when I had left -and I knew everything was just as it was supposed to be.

2009 Leaving 

2010 Arriving home!