The Details...

So here are the promised details of our travel changes...

We obviously canceled the first Friday flight for me and Jackson because of Hurricane Ike. There was no sense in us flying there to participate in the hurricane and it's a good thing we didn't because our flight was canceled. Jackson and I would have boarded our flight in Luxembourg but then never boarded the flight from Amsterdam to Houston. We would have been stuck there either until Jason drove up to get us or until we got a later flight to Houston.

I switched our tickets to Tuesday, but when no one in our families had power Monday morning, Jason thought we should continue to stay here and wait to go later in the week. We figured things would be looking a lot better by Thursday or Friday. I didn't want to wait until Friday because I didn't want Jackson getting there on the day of the rehearsal dinner, so I asked the airline if they would switch our tickets to Thursday and also bump Jason's up one day so that we could all fly together. They were willing to do it without any additional fees, which was awesome, so we thought we'd for sure be in Houston on Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday afternoon, our bags were completely packed and ready to be loaded into the car. Then, I got a phone call from my sister-in-law saying that the wedding had to be postponed because too many of the people involved in making the wedding happen (cake lady, reception hall) did not have power. My poor sister-in-law! I can't even imagine. So I immediately called the airline, explained the situation, and they were willing to give us a credit for the full amount of our ticket price. Our tickets were use or lose, so I felt this was a gift from the Lord.

So why did we choose to stay and not come to Houston anyway?? Well, for starters, if Jessica decides to have her wedding in late October or November, there is no way for us to be there because we can't spend the money or the extra vacation time to fly to Houston again, especially when we'll be back for good in early December. Also, by not coming to Houston, we'll be able to move back three weeks sooner, which will put us in the States around 15 November. We also found out that we can book our airline tickets for the move back to the States and the Air Force will reimburse us up to the amount they would have had to pay to move us back. It is hard for me to justify coming to the States for a vacation when we'll be back for good in less than two months and we can save ourselves $1500.

So that's the scoop and I am totally okay with it. I never dreamed that this would happen again. If you read my blog back in March/April, then you know I was supposed to go to the States then and never got there. It's a little unbelievable, but I trust in God's sovereignty and can't complain. If anything, I'm really learning, "If the Lord wills, then I will...!" I am sad about not seeing my family and friends, but we'll be there soon! I am so ready to see everyone. You won't believe how much Jackson has changed! We'll be ready to celebrate his 2nd birthday on 29 November, which is a Saturday this year and two days after Thanksgiving. Yay!!!