Passports, family, & leaving the US

We got into Dallas at 5am.  Mom & dad stayed at a hotel in the airport so we went back & showered & printed off the tickets for us to take yo the passport agency.  This was the one piece of the puzzle I had been most nervous about.  We had to make sure all our paperwork was in & correct.  We were praying they would issue our passports same day.  If not we'd have to change our plane tickets.  It was a leap of faith but felt that we could trust God to provide! Left at 730 to get to the building in downtown Dallas.  Never know with rush hour traffic if a 20 min ride is going to take 20 mins or 2 hours, but thankful we made it & were parked be 815.  Was able yo call the girls then go in. When all prayed before we left the car that the agent would be gracious & everything would go smoothly!  We checked in & were #5.  I looked at Matt & said I hope this one guy helps us,  he just had this gracious look about him.  Thankfully he did! He must have seem the anxious look on my face because he told me several times not to worry it would get done today! It took 2 hours of waiting & going through paperwork but at 11 we signed the paperwork & were told to come at 2pm to get the passports! Praise The Lord! We could get home!! So grateful that He went before us to prepare everything & work it all out! Now we could enjoy some family time before leaving Sunday!

Well jet lag hit us hard! I hadn't really slept in 3 days & was emotionally, physically. & mentally exhausted.  The boys were so tired & confused as well.  I just tried to stay awake.  Relaxing at David & Kay's with mom & dad was so special though! No one slept on Friday night though & Isaiah had multiple meltdowns, screaming for an hour in the middle of the night! Not fun! Needless to say I had a meltdown on Saturday morning! Mom & Kay told me I had to sleep & not to get up till we left for lunch. Reset was needed! The rest of the day was better, Mexican for lunch, good naps for the boys, & a target trip for me. 

I realized that there might be an issue with the boys tickets.  We had them issued in their Chinese names because we didn't know we could get their US names in their passports.  We ended them to travel on their US passports though.  I talked to our agent & he said we couldn't change them without loosing the tickets.  Then I found out there was a big storm coming to London & flights would likely be delayed or cancelled. Needless to say I did not need anything getting us home or adding extra stress.  I just kept praying for peace & that a God would orchestrate the details despite the barriers for us to be home Monday morning.  Sunday afternoon got word that long haul flights to the UK would nit be delayed! First praise! We get to the airport in plenty of time to check in.  The agent said we couldn't travel on the boys US passorts because their names were not the same & they couldn't check us in on their Chinese passports because they didn't have visas to the UK.  Is was exactly what I was afraid of! Not only that but they couldn't change them because the tickets had been issued by British airways & it was an American Airlines flight we were on.  We had to go down to the BA desk & ask them if they would change them.  It took them an hour! We still hadn't checked in for our flight.  Finally at 630 we got back to the AA counter to check in for our 730 flight.  The agent who helped us was wonderful.  We got up there & she said that our tickets were no longer in the computer & she couldn't check us in,  she called her supervisor over & she just said sorry can't do anything until they show up in the system & we'd miss our flight because it was already 645.  I started crying & praying.  The lady was on 2 phones & the computer  trying everything she could.  It was 7 & we still couldn't get checked in.  She called another supervisor over & they both started working on it together.  She called the gate & told them to open up the system again so she could check us in.  At 720 she took our bags back & rushed us over to security.  We got on the plane at 725.  I just started crying as we went down the jet way.  So thankful that despite all the obsticals that God continued to go before us & work all the details out.  London & my girls here we come!!!