February 21-22, 2010

I felt like I was in some other dimension on this Sunday and Monday. Nothing seemed real!! This whole time after Joshua left for Hawaii, I felt like something was going to come in and ruin the whole plan. Yes, I am a pessimist and a worrier, but I am working on these issues! The kids and I went to church and said goodbye to some new found friends. We really felt like it was our new home and that we could really plug ourselves in in a number of ways. After church, we were off to Nana and Opa’s to celebrate Ethan Sky’s almost 6th birthday. Nana and Opa were there of course, Gram and the Dorman family came also. It is very weird to say goodbye to people you love and see so often and know that it could be over a year before we see them again! We headed home. I got the kids in bed as fast as I could and began the task of getting everything ready for Monday, moving day. My dear friend Amy, blessed me with her presence late in the night. I don’t know what I would have done without her and my Mom helping me get boxes weighed, closed up and carry ons packed. I had all 6 boxes right at 50 pounds, all 3 carry on bags over the allowed limit and backpacks for all three of us with the boys’ helmets attached. Along with that, we had the boys vest, a box of medical supplies (one of my 6 boxes was labeled “can be shipped” in case they did not allow me to take an extra box for medical supplies) and a bag with all of the boys’ juices, refrigerated meds and such. Josh’s best friend Raymond offered to take us to the airport. Which was perfect!!! I love him dearly, but I new he would stay emotionally stable, so that way I would have more of a chance of not falling apart at the airport. Raymond came and got us before 6am. Gram woke up and did a very good job at saying goodbye without crying:) It was crazy getting all the checked bags checked. They did allow me to check on an extra box of medical supplies, which was awesome. Raymond was great at making sure everything got taken care of. I was shaking like crazy at this point!!! I had taken Sudafed the night before, as we all came down with a cold prior to leaving. So I think it was mostly that, but probably some anxiety too!! It took a while to get through security. They had to check out the vest, the compressors, my computer, the juices and I am sure there was more, but you get the picture. We made it to the gate and one of the ladies started weighing my carry on stuff. She first weighed the vest and said it would have to be checked. I adamantly said NO, I will not let this $15,000 device be taken from my possession. She weighed my backpack, which had my Bible and other precious books and it thankfully weighed in just at 25 pounds. Praise God they stopped weighing there, as everything else needed to stay with me, since they all contained necessary items, that I could not take the chance of getting lost as sometimes happens with checked baggage. We survived the flight into Honolulu just barely. Caleb’s ears, as well as mine, were not too happy at one point. And the boys were just so darn tired of sitting. Finally the 6.5 hours was over and we were off the plane, in paradise We got a bite to eat and then headed to board our plane. And this is where the excitement ends. The flight from Honolulu to Kona is an island hopper. So the main goal of the airline is to get the people on and off the plane as fast as possible. That is great when all you have is yourself to worry about and one bag, but my situation was much different. I attempted to get someone to help me board the plane, but no one was available. People were getting on the plane so fast, that I had to leave some of our belongings at the entrance of the plane, as people were crowding in and I could do nothing but that. I left the kids in there seat and attempted to go back to get my stuff, but there were too many people. Needless to say, I was in tears, some very important stuff, including my wallet and the boys medical supplies, got checked. Thankfully the flight was very quick! As we started getting off the plane, so many of the passengers helped me out, as they saw what happened and saw my tears. Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to see your Hubby/Daddy after 4 long weeks and 10 hours of traveling!!! That is the end of the story and the beginning of so many more:) By the way, all our boxes and bags made it safe. PRAISE GOD!!!!!