The trip back to the States...plus a surprise!

Monday June 9, 2008 – We waited until this morning to take a pregnancy test. So, it would either make the day a bit shoddier (since we were leaving Korea) or make a day that was still hard but magnificent. Well, drum roll please…..we ended up with the hard but magnificent day! Praise GOD! If all goes well there will be a new baby Fletcher the beginning of February! We are all very excited -- ok, maybe not Mark since he doesn’t really understand and if he could he may not be so pleased by the thought of losing the baby of the family status. Joseph and Andrew both think our baby will be a girl…I think we will just wait and see! The drive to Seoul Incheon International Airport went much faster then we had anticipated which was nice. Once we arrived we checked in at Japan Airlines for the first leg of our journey back to the States. We said our very depressing goodbyes then through security and off to get some lunch before boarding our one hour and fifty five minute flight to Tokyo Narita. Mark was a bit fussy on the first flight because he needed a nap but just could not get comfortable. Japan Airlines answer to helping fussy babies seem to be giving them “stuff.” So, we now have a Japan Airlines toy plane, toy rattle and an animal board book in Japanese. The book board worked the longest but none of the gifts solved the problem of a two year old that needed a nap. Once we arrived safely in Tokyo we had to go to the American Airlines ticket counter to get new boarding passes for our next flight to Chicago O’ Hare. Then back though security to board a train to walk to our gate to then wait about an hour to board our ten and a half hour flight to Chicago O’ Hare. Mark slept about six hours of this flight. So, I got some sleep. Mark also screamed for an hour of this flight which made life not so enjoyable for him and all around us. Andrew of course is just a super great traveler and did great the whole journey back and did manage to even sleep a little on the last flight. We arrived at Chicago O’ Hare a half an hour ahead of schedule -- YEAH! Getting our luggage and going through customs was painless. Grandpa Titus and my cousin Carter were there to pick us up -- thank you! The three hour drive home went well until Mark decided he was hungry. So, we stopped at a Wendy’s with only thirty minutes left of our drive -- oh well. Mark was much happier with food in his belly for the last part of our long trip back to the States. Thank you LORD for a safe trip home!