getting there

this is how i felt about heading to haiti with this man.
fun, huh? ;-)

we truly we super excited and humbled to be able to do this together.

it was hard leaving our kids. but not SUPER hard. we would miss them. they would miss us. but this was all GOOD stuff.

we hugged them all right after school. i stapled 23 packets that needed to be given to sawyer's teacher of scholastic book order forms. bailey braided my hair. and off we drove to the airport.

our team met there with ALL our bags. we had backpacks with our own personal stuff. and 9 total bags full of donations and gifts. {SO many people RUNNING in airports. so much LIFE and adventure going on. i love them!}

we were able to check our bags from here all the way to port au prince. this was nice because we weren't going to have to lug them to the hotel and back that night. BUT it was nerve-wracking because...um...haiti! how long would they sit there? how in the WORLD would we meet up with them in 24 hours?!? we just trusted and prayed. (and so did you!! THANK YOU!)

that night we flew to charlotte. RAN {we got to be the runners!} to our connecting flight. then flew to miami.

our team: pat, me, abi, aaron and pete.

we slept for 4 hours in miami. then had a 4:30 am wakeup call and were back at the airport by 5 am.

sleepy...but ready to get there!

landed in haiti RIGHT on schedule. and ALL our bags were there! INCLUDING the $2000 keyboard we were bringing for the church. ahhh...we were SO excited!

we had to take a taxi from the international airport to the domestic airport where we were taking a small plane to pignon, haiti.

aaron had this binder with him with ALL our important info. we joked him about it, but it saved us on numerous occasions.

we had to weigh our bags AND ourselves before getting on the small plane. if that doesn't make you nervous...

i was super super nervous. i struggle with motion sickness on a tire swing. so i was not excited about this...but it was TOTALLY fine. not ONE OUNCE of motion sickness?!? on ANY of the 4 flights we took those 2 days! what a GIFT!

abi was so excited to sit up front.

port au prince from the air.

we flew over a few mountains...could see everything the whole way. it's about a 30 minute flight.

and here's our runway to land!

things were so green once you got out to this part of the country.

the airport in pignon, haiti :-)

pastor francois was at the airport to meet us.
i took this picture, knowing it was a special moment. but NOW, having KNOWN the pastor for a few days, i GET this hug and ADORE that smile.

we are here.