We landed at the Atlanta Airport a little early and got through Customs pretty quickly even though a bag of coffee that we bought at the Guatemala City Airport set off an alarm, and they had to put Kelli's carry-on through the machine twice.
We had a really nice sit-down dinner at Chilli's here in the airport, and are now sitting at the gate for a two-hour wait (was four hours) for our flight to Dulles.
The last morning began as we planned. I was up and in the shower by 6 a.m. The foster mother was supposed to arrive at 9 a.m., and we wanted to have the boys bathed and fed before then. The plan was that we would then have an hour and a half to get ourselves packed before leaving for the airport. The boys loved the bath and we were down to the restaurant by a quarter to eight. We were done at 8:40 and went up to the room to get all the boy's belongings.
We panicked as we thought we were going to have a repeat of the last departure when the new foster mother did not arrive at 9 a.m. or 9:30. I went up to the room to get Teo's phone number. When I came back down, the foster mother was there (at 10:00, an hour later that expected). We carried the boys out to her brother's pick-up truck in back of the hotel and said our good-byes.
The boys were happy and the farewell was just what we expected the first time. Kelli did not break out into full boo-hoo's until the boys were gone, and she pulled herself together before we were back in the lobby of the hotel.
We had to rush to get our last minute packing done, but we were on the road to the airport just a few minutes behind schedule. Of course, we had plenty of time at the airport to sit and wait until boarding.
It is now 8:20, and we are scheduled to take off at 9:50 from Atlanta. The plane should land at 11:30 p.m. at Dulles - just in time for a Happy New Year! Tonight, we will stay at my son Seth's house in Centreville and hit the road early tomorrow morning for the trip home. Then the waiting for good news will begin again.
In many ways, we had a much better trip this time around. We ventured out to taste more foods that had been forbidden earlier (water, fresh fruits, creams, etc) and did not get sick one time! We also had a great view of the city and enjoyed being able to see the lights at night and the wide variety of sights during the day. We enjoyed bigger bathrooms that made bathtime easier. And we were not so anxious flying into the airport, or going through customs, or walking into the city to get into the taxi. And, of course, it was not as terrifying to say goodbye, when the boys are calm, instead of sobbing, and giving us kisses, instead of screaming. -- Not that it was easy in anyway, to leave our children behind.
We want to thank everyone for your prayers and other forms of support during this trip and our whole process. We wish you all the best for the New Year!
Mucho amor,
Ray (with Kelli adding between the lines)
(We have more pictures coming soon).
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