Welcome Home !

Whew....what a whirlwind the past 2 days....no make that 2weeks....no make that 2 months....nevermind...

As you know we left IL on Dec 18, just after the kids finished school on the 17th. The weeks before had been a frenzy of sad goodbyes, farewell festivities, holiday concerts, parties, field trips....not to mention  the final throes of moving to a hotel and shipping our remaining household items overseas. It should not have been a surprise that when we awoke on the 18th, we were all still completely exhausted, and my younger son complained of a terrible sore throat. We took off anyway, excited to see our family & friends waiting for us in MD & PA, only to pull over in PA and take said child to CVS minuteclinic for the dreaded diagnosis: Strep Throat which was further confirmed by his throwing up in the store....anyway, what's another night in a hotel ? It should also be noted and not surprising that the other 2 kids contracted the illness....bummer. Hope we didnt share it with anyone else who was so kind to have us over !

So, that's how our nomadic 2 homeless weeks began..... We journeyed to Maryland where we visited old friends, and had a great time in between jaunts to the minuteclinic. I had a fantastic ladies night out with the playgroup gals whom I met when my first son was born and it is just so amazing, touching, and meaningful to me to continue to enjoy their company, and be able to laugh so hard with them after all these years! Then we visited family for a very meaningful time as well. In addition to celebrating Christmas, we were so thrilled to be together to celebrate the baptism of our godson, and share in my FILs big birthday celebration, as well. We enjoyed our time with family and were spoiled with gifts by Aunt Christmas (whose gift giving rivals Santa !)
Then we hit the road again, headed to PA for a couple days to visit with my amazing brothers and their families who braved the Northeastern Blizzard to meet up with us.  The fourteen of us had a nice time at a great place in PA that offered swimming, BINGO!, a bit of snow for outdoor play, and an amazing Carnival for the New Years Week celebration. Cousinfest proved quite fun ! Then, we returned to Maryland for one last goodbye dinner with our amazing dear friends, final round of haircuts and shopping, car care/storage, and farewell to the grandparents. Its always hard to say goodbye, but we know we will return to MD this summer.

Oh my ! While in the hotel in PA, we ran into a couple we know from Zurich - it was surreal....just such a serrendipitous occurrence. It was hilarious and still makes me smile.

The kids have been so amazing. I never imagined how excited they would be for the adventure. They could not wait to go to Switzerland and on the last day in the US they were counting the hours and minutes until we were picked up for the airport. We had a great time driving to the airport, stopping for one last Dunkin Donuts on the way, and laughing and reminiscing about our life in the US. Although I must confess, I need to avoid talking of our IL friends and our pet we had to leave behind as they both still bring me to tears.... : (
They were so cooperative and helpful in the airport, helping to juggle our 10 luggage items, yes, 10 +  4 carryons! ....alright I admit I probably overpacked, but in my defense, we had holidays, the baptism clothing, gifts, snow gear, swimwear, and I wasnt sure how fast our airshipment would arrive. Anyway, our airport maneuvering was comical. Hubby and son 1 would move 4 items of luggage to the desired spot, while the younger 2 and I stayed back with the remaining pieces, then he'd return and take another kid and 4 more pieces, etc. It was a battleworthy approach.

We all enjoyed the flight and reveled in having our own tvs and movies, and yummy food. We all wished it had actually been a longer flight! I also wish we would have slept more....we all hardly slept more than 2-3 hours. I guess we were too excited.

Once we landed, we went thru customs, and immigration without a hitch. A driver picked us up and thankfully fit all of our baggage in the car. We made a few stops, picking up our  housekeys, and a few items hubby stored at his office. The kids were so excited when we finally pulled up at our house. It was a great time - there were snow flurries drifting in the air, church bells were clanging loudly and the kids were cheering. They were overjoyed, and flew into the house and sailed thru every room, and staked their claims on the bedrooms.

We had a few surprises waiting for the kids in the new house. Hubby had managed to drop off some Lego sets, and new clothes, etc earlier in Dec. The kids were so happy....it became a normal Sunday morning : The boys were building their legos, hubby was untangling and figuring out computer wires and sorting mail. I was reading the Christmas cards and pictures that had been forwarded to us from the US - it warmed my heart for me to see them ! My daughter and I were discussing some furniture placement ideas.....just such a normal weekend morning for us.  It was so peaceful....and it felt like home : )