Almost Home

By the time all of this was over it was late.....very late, and we were hungry.  We drove all over Fort Lauderdale looking for a place to eat and finally we found a pizza joint that was open until 4 a.m.  It made the most sense to order the pizza and have it delivered to the hotel, after all-we still had things to do....such as book plane tickets HOME.  So we ordered our pizza and headed back to the hotel.  The pizza was supposed to be there in 45 minutes...an hour and a half later we got it-half price I might add.  We tried to find a good deal on a return flight and after much disappointment we booked the best thing we could find.  We were ready to get home, we hadn't even been gone for 48 hours but it seemed like a week.  We flew home on Wednesday and we were welcomed by  Grandma Dee, Darrian, Shaylen, and Jadeyn and then our church family at the Corinth Gym.  The kids were so glad to finally see Paxton and we were soooooo glad to be home.  Our family was now complete.

He was quite content just looking around at all of the action of the busy airport.  Veronica handed us a bag that the people in Haiti had sent with Pax.  Some bottled water, some random clothing items, one shoe, a sippy cup, wipes.  This made me sad in way.  I'm sure that they had little to give-but they did their best to see to it that Pax was taken care of as they sent him on to his new life.  It showed me how much they cared for him.   Veronica told us about how he turned into a maniac on the flight and we thanked her for bringing him to us.  She was an angel.  After we said our goodbyes we got the heck out of there.  We had our fill of that place and had what we had gone there for.  Thanks Veronica Diaz!  We strapped Pax into his first ever car seat and gave him a great big bottle of Pedialyte and off we went.  I guess I don't have to tell you what happened when we went back to the hotel do I?? That's right BATH TIME.  I cleaned him up and put a fresh clean sleeper on him and he was ready for bed.  He was a tired little boy. He had been through a lot in  the last week.

A Very Long Day...

Steven and I were up early the next morning - we showered and went downstairs to grab some breakfast.  I had made my mind up that I would patiently wait for a phone call from Lucy to let me know what kind of options we had to get Pax home, but downstairs as we were eating our breakfast, the news on T.V. was continuous coverage of Haiti and all of the damage, rescue efforts, etc. from the earthquake.  As I watched I began to lose the will to be patient.  I decided to step outside and see if I could get Lucy on the phone.  I did.  She had plans to get Pax out of Haiti that day but she wasn't sure when or how.   We secured a flight to Haiti for late that afternoon as a backup plan just incase something went wrong on the other end.  We spent the day with Steve, Amanda, and Joshua.  It was a Very Long day. We found out later that Pax would be flying into Miami escorted by a orthopedic surgeon who was returning from relief work in Haiti.  When the time finally came, we headed over to Miami airport to wait for the arrival of our son.  We got there WAY early and we had to wait several hours.  We passed the time as well as we could and we waited.  When the plane landed we moved over where we could see people as they came through customs and we waited some more.  Steven had spoken to the doctor (Veronica) on the phone so we were certain by this time that they were there, but getting through customs took a long time.  Groups of people in scrubs were coming through and I couldn't help but wonder what they had done, what they had seen, and how it was going to affect them as they returned here to the U.S.  Then a young, dark haired doctor came through those doors with our boy in her arms.  Her mother had been waiting for her and she came through and met us she was smiling and she handed me my son.

Monday

Steve and Amanda took care of the travel details, thank goodness.  Amanda even had family there that was willing to pick us up and take us where we needed to go.   We flew into Fort Lauderdale and Amanda's Uncle Phil and Aunt Joyce were there waiting.  We were starving and they drove us close to where the boys were supposed to be coming and we found a place to eat.  We ordered our food and Steve B. was making contact with the person who was escorting the boys home.  Sometime between ordering our food and receiving our food we found out that Joshua was being escorted from the Emabassy to the airport.  But Pax had to stay behind.  Somehow I was not hungry anymore.  There was a problem getting Paxton's visa finished in time for him to get on the plane.  He did end up getting it later that night but he had to be taken back to the guest house and brought back to the airport the next day.  I also got word that Lucy now had him and I knew that she would get him to me....somehow.  Joshua would be on his way soon and for now I had to tighten my boot strings and be happy that Joshua was going to be with his parents very soon.  We went to Amandas Aunt and Uncles house for a while and I think we  had to wait for details about Joshuas flight,  Joshua would be flying into a private hanger in Fort Lauderdale sometime that night.  We headed over there to find it and sat in the floor right outside of the customs door waiting.  Several people came through, some pilots, flying children over here from Haiti for medical care.   After the Burkes were united with their son we headed to our hotel, at like 2 in the morning.  Diana said Pax should be with us within the next 24 hrs. and I was hanging on to that.  24 more hours.  If I could just go to sleep and wake to a phone call letting me know that he was on a plane that would be great.  But no sleep....and no phone call.

Sunday was pretty quiet for the most part and that was okay.  I was keeping myself busy.  I did periodically check my e-mail and kept my phone close, of course.  So later in the afternoon I checked my computer and there was an email from the Embassy, it said that our file was ready to be processed but they needed some information, pictures, etc. from us....What.....ready to be processed.....I didn't really understand but I sent them what they requested, and in a hurry.  I called Amanda, who had been napping......for like the first time in days.  Really.  She had the same e-mail.  Things were about to get CrAzY.  After messaging back and forth with the Embassy,  we found out that they were willing to process Paxton's visa and we could bring him home.  We did, however, have to get him from the guest house-to the Embassy-from the Emabassy-to the airport and escorted on a plane to us-and we had to get ourselves to wherever that plane was landing.  Now this was the hard part.  We were trying to develop a plan of how to get this done, Lucy was heading to Haiti and of course we needed her help.   Sunday night was insane.  I think we already knew that we would need to fly somewhere but we didn't really know where or how soon. As we waited to hear from Diana Boni, who was coordinating this as best she could, all I could do was clean and wait.  It felt like forever but it was early Monday morning when  Diana told us, along with the Burkes, to fly to the East Coast of Florida as soon as we could.   To make a long story short we were on an early afternoon plane to Florida before we even knew it.  There was a possibility that the boys would be flown in to Homestead Airforce Base, that night!

Sunday

On Sunday morning I went to church with my grandparents. I knew that people were going to be full of questions so I went prepared.  There was a certain sadness everywhere you went, people's hearts were really hurting for Haiti and it's people.  Brother Shane said a prayer for Haiti, and for people that had loved ones there, people like us.  I think it was the night before there was a news interview with Dr. Bernard on NBC and of course Amanda caught it but anyway in the video clip you could Joshua in the background and then later, right around minute 1:32 there was a little boy in a striped shirt sitting on the ground with a lady feeding about 5 or 6 babies with 1 bowl and 1 spoon.  Guess who's face was right there, zoomed right in where you see it really good, it was Pax.  No doubt about it, it was him.  What an answered prayer that was.  We had word that he was okay but to see his face out of all the children in Haiti.  What a blessing, I found out later that my husband had prayed specifically for that.  But Sunday didn't end quietly....

Now it's Saturday

Now it is Saturday and Steven is at work,  I am for sure in my heart that I'm going to get my boy soon.  I had no official word on this at the time but I felt God's hand all over this situation and I just knew that it was going to be soon.  I decided to work on my house that day because I was not nearly as prepared as I had planned to be for his arrival.  I had storage boxes full of stuff that needed to be sorted through, and clothes that needed to be washed-because what if I did have to go get him soon?  How much time would I have to pack?  My thoughts would get the best of me at times on that day and I would think What Are You Doing? It could be months before you can bring him home?  Years?  But no, I knew he was coming home soon so I continued my work.  And later, very soon later, I was glad that I did.