HOME!

We were out the door of our Hotel in Giza by 6:20 am, to catch our flight in Cairo. On the drive I asked about the Arabic word Bokra (boo-k-a-ruh) meaning "tomorrow". I had learned it on my mission, but didn't know if it was a regional word or across the board. I hadn't heard anyone say it while we were here and I hadn't had any luck with Google translate. It is across the board! And he told me how to spell it! Cool!! Traffic was good and we made all the security checkpoints in time. 20 min to spare!

Our flight from Egypt was delayed by more than one hour (after we got on the plane of course). We didn't even know why. The flight was boarded, the flight attendants had run through all the safety measures with us, etc... and we just sat there. Anxiety filled us (that we wouldn't make our next flight in NY). We all prayed.

EgyptAir was hands down the worst flight I've ever been on. Huge packed plane. Screaming children, especially right in front of us. Her set of lungs rivaled Mimi's- and that's saying a lot!! Coughing and hacking people surrounding us (with no masks). No air vents! It was loud and stuffy. The population was mostly made up of what seemed to be Egyptians. And they just threw their garbage on the floor (and smashed food in the carpet). And the flight attendants didn't do anything- they just sat and talked. The plane was trashed. The flight attendants had no allergy information and wouldn't even attempt to be helpful. And getting a glass of water took at least 3 asks before it was heard. The trays kept slipping down into our laps when they did bring food, which was especially hard for the kids. Emma threw up. I had a killer migraine and felt like I was going to throw up any second for 2 hours straight. Yuck. It has never been so painful counting down the minutes. It felt like a place I never ever want to be ever again. Now I know why those plane tickets are the most expensive ones we got- it comes with a built in cleaning fee.

I couldn't wait to get back to the USA!!! I couldn't wait to get HOME! To somewhere clean and safe and beautiful! We got to NYC and heard about the outage they had TODAY with flights all across the US. It caused a bunch of cancellations and delays. We had no idea if we'd make it- we had to switch airports (we scheduled an Uber) and go through security again. I relished the "Welcome back!" at customs! We've been up for 18 hours so far. The luggage took SO long to come. The Uber driver took a couple minutes to find us, but did! Emma fell asleep on the drive from JFK to LaGuardia- totally out, poor thing. We decided Peter would check the bags and I'd take the kids through security so at least most of us would make the flight if possible. He caught up fast though, thank goodness! At LaGuardia, we checked our bags, got through security, hustled to the terminal, and got in the plane in 40 minutes (Emma sleeping in my arms to security & then on Peter's shoulders)!!! 40 minutes!! We got there in time to walk right on the plane!! We learned our flight time had changed times 3 times that day (all earlier than when we booked)! An absolute miracle it landed on a time we could make!!! With all the cancellations and craziness we read went on today, the airport was surprisingly calm! And the plane to Chicago was not full, so each girl got her own row to lay and sleep!! Miracles, miracles, miracles!!! Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude!!! Still a crying child and a snoring man in our ears, but much easier to bear on a clean plane!

We had a layover in Chicago, where we got second dinner. Emma was able to sleep some more. All Addy wanted was fruit. Poor deprived children these last two weeks! Clara exclaimed her surprise how there was nothing in/on the toilets here! Boy have we learned a lot!

Unfortunately the plane to SLC was packed, so the kids were trying to make the most of mom and dad's laps to sleep. Screaming yelling children across from us- I really wanted to offer them benadryl. And so happy we didn't have to use it the whole trip!

After we landed and got our luggage, Papa was a complete sweetheart and met us at the airport (1 am)! By the grace of God and what felt like 12 miracles making flights and everything falling into place, WE MADE IT HOME!!! We all have a new appreciation for our home - it has never felt quite as inviting and wonderful as it does now.

Theme today: Grow Through What You Go Through (overall trip theme)

We traveled for 29 straight hours today (not including time zone changes). Nuts!!! Just SO grateful to be home!!!

I will be forever grateful for our family and friends who prayed for us on our trip! I know God hears and answers each prayer! We felt others prayers so often!!!

Our favorites:
Emma: My favorite was being home.
Clara: My favorite was getting to stay up late! It was like celebrating New Years!
Leesie: Coming home!!!
Addy: My favorite thing was getting the fruit cup! It was good!!
Kathy: My favorite thing was that we made it home today!!! SO nice to be back in the U-S-of-A!!!
Peter: My favorite things were: being back in the States, being home, in a clean house, being able to sleep in my own bed, just everything.

Now that we are home, the trick will be to keep as close as we've become this past month. Being within eyeshot of one another all month has caused us to be closer- we did everything together all the time! We all had the same schedule and goals. One of the challenges of coming home is that we aren't right on top of each other anymore (we can just disappear in the house); and we are all on different schedules again. I am so grateful for the closeness we had and hope we can each make efforts to continue to nurture it!

Love my family so much!!!!!!!!!!!