Adventure Never Stops

It is 2:50 am out west, 4:50 am in the east which means I have missed one more full nights rest!!

Please don’t try this at home!! Lol!

The great thing is that I fully realize at this point in my life all good things take sacrifice. I have come to expect that the very greatest times of life are often the most challenging.

(Happy that often it is simply how full life is of happy things that makes it hard!! I often felt that way with the wonderfully joyful and demanding time of our family with 3 under age 2, in other words having 3 before being married 3 years! isaac was 20 months when the twins were born. Life was sooo full and happy – sometimes it hurt quite literally!!)

But I’d never trade all the good that comes to get out of a little hard stuff.

Like being at my Grandma’s funeral this weekend.

So it meant packing up early for our Florida trip (we decided time was the most valuable thing we have this year and wanted to be sure to spend quite a bit of it with our children, so we scheduled a real celebratory get- away this year! Fun in the Florida sun!) And it meant packing a whole other set of clothing for Canada weather (vs Florida of course!) It meant spending more time and money arranging and rearranging tickets and flights. And such…

Feeling the painful part of sacrifice started last night as we still weren’t totally packed with everything in the car! (my goal knowing we had to leave early this morning to make our flight).

Just as I started to get whole crew on board and perhaps we would get this thing done, we all realized Missy the dog was in labor. We had ‘arranged her marriage’ to Jack. (How cute is that? Jack and Missy.) Her first love. It seemed a hit, but vet ultra sounded at 3 weeks and didn’t look like it took. We were all very disappointed- no golden doodles would be arriving.

But of course, on the night we were under such duress (ok, been under duress for a couple weeks now with SO MUCH going on, we call it annual March madness here, only like I said it lasts til May) Missy would make her nest and set into contractions. Now ThaT was a distraction! Kids rotated 2 each in charge of being with and watching the dog.

Packing, here I thought I was almost done, went on forever! All through the night. But morning dawned successful and I fed my babies and, after checking poor Missy and turning her over to the watchful care of friends, we pulled out. Only a little late, we would arrive to the airport in plenty of time.

Not. A forgotten paper that’s due dropped off at school first here, A wrong turn here, a line at the gas station/bathroom break there, and soon, we arrived only one hour and a half to our flight.

Still, no problem, the airport wasn’t even that full! The lines for baggage and security not even very long! No problem!

Have you ever tried going check baggage with 12 bags and 3 different confirmation numbers? (they only let you book 6 at a time online). That took a minute for sure.

Worse yet, can you imagine security with one Mom and nine girls age 16-5 months? (Or maybe you’ve done that or worse! lol!) The one son was out parking the car in long term parking. (along with my brother parking the other car- 12 seater hasn’t worked with cargo since twins were born. The husband was on a business trip- would be meeting us there. (Truly felt his absence big time today!)

At security the babies were really starting to fuss for hunger, loudly. I gave in finally and with my udder cover on begun nursing right there (me who is usually soo shy & discreet!) standing there directing my girls how to put shoes, bags, coats, phones, car seats, the baby Bjorne you just were required to take happy baby out of, unwrap the moby wrap your daughter just got the other baby happy in, completely dismantle the stroller and everything it was carrying! Then I was hand swiped!! While I was nursing and after the beeper didn’t even go off when I walked through it!!!! Me and my beautiful, most innocent of all looking daughter were swiped!! (and this is when I really start getting really aggravated).

Finally, we are all out back together again and jogging, well the best we can jog with such a load, to our gate because we realize its getting way to close for comfort.

We run up to the wrong gate one gate away, finally realize it and run to the other 7 minutes to departure. The plane is sitting in the window and they won’t let us on, they said they ‘couldn’t help us’. Ugh. That’s when I started to get downright distressed. If we didn’t make it to Salt Lake tonight we didn’t make it to Canada next day and we wouldn’t be there for the whole reason we were standing here in this airport anyway.

Glad to say despite the man at the counter’s first words being, ‘we can’t get you to salt lake tonight’, we did. One miracle after another. Going standby we were throwing children on a flight here – (thank goodness my brother was on that one) and hoping for a flight there.

The booking attendants thought they would have to send my 16 yr olds each on their very own flight. My girls were terribly worried about the connecting flight. Instead and in the end, they flew with me, even miraculously on the flight that joined my husbands last leg. I cried in joy and relief when I stepped out of the plane and saw him.

We would have missed our connecting flight without him! The gate for it was as far away as could be and we had extra bags from throwing kids on my brothers plane last minute. Plus we were starving by now.

Mike led us right where to go. He had already warned the flight attendants we were coming on this new flight. He pushed a stroller full of bags and carried several on his shoulders to get us across the airport faster. And he bought us a ready to go pizza on the way. We devoured it upon finally reaching our seats on the plane!

I knew I’d just seen a miracle. I had done my very best, which wasn’t enough, but heaven had made up the difference and better by tonight. Our prayers had been answered. Our whole family reached Utah same time, same place as planned, just a different route (or plane) than planned! (A very usual occurrence in this Fam! And yours?!)

Home. We made it back to our home, the area where we both grew up tonight. Joyous occasion.

Home. To Grandma’s in the morning. We head out in a couple hours, still on little sleep. The challenge of a 12 hour with a family of 12 starts soon.

Climbing into the comfy, new, 15 passenger rental car/van (we had barely managed to find one that could cross the border!) in relief at the end of a very hard and long day’s journey. I considered it again and realized then, yes, once again, that home is worth any sacrifice… Being there, building it, celebrating it! It’s all worth it!!

Consider the sacrifices you make for home and family today. Feel the satisfaction of it! Most of all, celebrate all the blessing that come your way because of it!!

Don’t forget to write them down!

Love, Mike, CaMarie and Crew

P.S. Puppies haven’t arrived yet. Will let you know when they do! Love, C