Thursday, March 28, 2013

Well, we're back..

So, the last few weeks have been extremely stressful. I'm sorry I wasn't able to post sooner, but things just got so busy, I really never had time. Our last few weeks in Scotland, Steven and I were going through all of our things and deciding what we could get rid of and what we needed to keep. It was a shocking amount of stuff we got rid of, but we still had a ton of stuff to bring home. I was happy to donate our old toys to the Ward Nursery, so all of the little kids we've grown to love there will be able to play with them now. Its nice to know they have a good home.
I was stressed about how many bags we were bringing home. When we came, we were all allowed one bag, a carry on, and a personal item. We ended up coming with 5 big bags and I really didn't want to have to pay to check that bag again. My Goal had been to keep it down to 4 bags, but we just had too much stuff. It physically wouldn't fit in 4.. and then there was the issue of weight. It was really stressing me out, but then Steven's Dad had the foresight to double check how many bags we got. It turns out we were all allowed 2 bags instead of 1, and I was SO happy. What a load off of my mind. Then my only stress was worrying how to get all 7 of the bags we ended up bringing from the airport home. (We ended up buying a cheap one, and just checking one of Steven's carry ons. It was nice to have less to worry about carrying through the airport)
It turns out all of our luggage was under the weight except one, but it was just BARELY over so they let it go. YAY! Once we got checked in, security went quite smoothly as well. Once we got to our gate there was a little corner with some toys for the boys to play with, so it didn't seem like a major wait.
When we got on our first plane to Iceland we found out that they had put all 4 of us on aisle seats. We were all across from each other, but not sitting together. Luckily, the stewardess was standing right there and realized that Gavin was NOT going to be able to sit on a sit by himself so she asked the people around us to let us sit together. It all worked out quite well.
We were lucky and had movie screens on the back seat of every plane we flew on. And since we flew Icelandic air they gave the boys a meal on the first two flights. They got Pizza the first one, and chicken the second. It really helped knowing that they were getting food. Sadly, Steven and I weren't given anything to eat, but we had a few snacks so it wasn't horrible.
Flying into Iceland was so strange. The airport was right on the ocean and so we were literally flying in from nowhere. It looked absolutely gorgeous though. Steven and I would like to go back one day when we can actually leave the airport and look around a bit. I loved seeing all the signs in Icelandic and hearing it over the speakers was really cool. We only had to wait about an hour and then we were put right back on the plane we had just gotten off. This time we were in the VERY back of the plane. I don't really mind that, except all of the people waiting to use the toilet just kind of hover by you, which can be a little irritating. But, it really could have been worse. I ended up sitting with Rhys and Gavin and Steven sat in the seat across the aisle from us. He was lucky and pretty much got a stress free flight since there wasn't much he could do to help. But the boys were amazing, so I shouldn't have worried about it. Gavin fell asleep for a tiny bit, but even when he wasn't sleeping he was being good. The stewardesses even commented on how good they were, saying they'd forget kids were back there. Always a good thing to hear. =)
I had been really stressed about landing in Denver because we had to go through Customs, pick up our luggage and then re-check it and I wasn't sure how long that would take. It turns out that the luggage pick up was only about 100 ft from where you check it back in and there was NO line for baggage check or security. The whole process took about 20 minutes which was wonderful. Then we found out our flight was delayed almost an hour so it ended up not being a problem anyway. By then Steven and I were pretty hungry so we thought we'd have our first American meal. We REALLY wanted Taco Bell since we didn't have anything at all like it the whole time we were in Scotland, but of course the only one at the airport was all the way on the other side and through security so we couldn't. So, instead we went to.... McDonald's!! It tasted exactly the same as it did in Scotland but of course seemed SO much more expensive. It wasn't.. but with the conversion rates it just seemed like a lot more. The boys were happy to get McDonald's but Steven and I were a little sad since we had a ton of it in Scotland. Oh well.
The last flight was good as well. Since the flight was delayed they let us watch their T.V.'s on the back of the seats and Steven and I were thrilled they were playing the Avengers. We both fell asleep though, and pretty much missed the whole thing. But it was nice having all of us sleep that last little bit.
It was WONDERFUL finally getting home and getting to see my Parents. The boys were excited to see them. It was so weird walking outside to the warmth of California though. We were wearing coats in Scotland, so it was a huge difference really fast, but we have since adjusted. (Well the boys and I have, Steven's still working on it.)
Anyway, that pretty much sums up our trip home. I'll write another post soon about what our life has been like here since we've been home. Love you all!!