and we're back!

We woke up on Friday morning still feeling exhausted (even after 8 hours of sleep).  We debated the flight to Paris, Rome or home.  Ultimately, we decided that the money spent to get to Paris wouldn't be worth the outcome of a one day stay in the state we were in (exhausted and saturated with sight seeing).  So we decided to head home.  Because the trip was rushed to an end we didn't get to say our final good-byes or get any more souvenirs (we saved money :) ) and we rushed to the airport for our flight.  We arrived 58 minutes before the scheduled take off time and were reprimanded several times for being so late (we were 2 minutes late).  We got 4 seats to ourselves on the flight.  We watched 3 movies in a row along and a couple of TV shows.  I really loved the movie, "The Vow" which I felt had a slightly similar theme to "Heaven is Here" which is a book I read on the trip.

It was a 9 hour flight to Philly, then 2 hours to Charlotte, then a 2 hours layover and a 4 hour flight to Salt Lake.  My parents got us at 11 pm (We had been traveling for 24 hours at this point) and we crashed for the night, eager to see our kids in the morning.

The kids were happy to see us and we really enjoyed them all day.  They both seem a lot older.
Here are the hats we got the kids from Germany.

We were fed well at my parents house and then headed to Phoenix in the evening so we could attend church on Sunday.  I am glad we came home a bit early!  Even after 3 days of being home, we are still tired and our sleep schedule is off.  I hope we get back on track soon!  Last night we went to sleep at 8:30 and would have gone to bed earlier if our kids didn't make us stay up with them :).



Here are some photos from my parents of what the kids did while we were gone.   My parents are so amazing that they are willing to watch our kids for so long without complaint.  they are so patient and kind.  They have more energy to take care of kids at their age than I feel like I do.  We are so appreciative for their willingness to serve us, the comfortable and kid-friendly home they provide and the hours they spent to help us have a successful and enjoyable vacation.

We 'talked' to the kids via Google chat video every night (or morning for them).  It was fun to at least see them, even if they were silly.  Hallie learned to lean off camera and then come back on and say 'there she is'. she is such a mimicker.  Love that girl!

 Grandma made Jackson a tool belt and he couldn't have been happier.  When he grows up he wants to be a construction worker and fix things, just like Bob the builder.

Marcie also helped out a lot!

 A joy ride with grandpa (Hallie wouldn't get near the motorcycle)

We had the most wonderful trip.  Everything worked out perfectly and we fit almost everything in that we wanted to see.  It was amazing for me.  I felt confident that the kids were happy and well taken care of, which allowed us to relax and enjoy ourselves without (ok, maybe a little) worry.  We had great success with getting on the flights we wanted and ended up spending less on the entire trip than we would have on just 2 round-trip tickets to Europe - I would say that is successful!  I hope that we get to go back again soon.


Links to the rest of the trip:  Getting there  Saturday    Sunday    Monday    Tuesday   Wednesday   Thursday     Home