We had a delightful time in Moscow with Philip. We were able to go for the afternoon with him to walk around a Soviet Era park. It was very interesting to see the buildings, and so very nice to be able to talk with Philip. When we were here before we toured with his wife, Anna, and had a blast as well. Our whole team we work with, from start to finish, is wonderful, filled with caring people.
We left the next morning for home, so thankful to be able to look forward to hugging on Eli!! The Airport was, again, so beautiful! It is new and lots of marble and sparkles with cleanliness. Our flight to the US was only a few hours long (minus the 8 hour time change) but seemed like forever!! A few highlights...One of the flight attendants looked just like Eric Estrada... Remember Ponch from CHIPS? He was very friendly and engaging... and he slipped me extra desserts:) Yeah!!
The flight touched down in New York and boy were we happy to be home.
Until we got off the plane. Seems unfair to compare an older airport to a very new one, but OH BOY!! was JFK ever confusing!! We made it out of plane and into the building where the customs line was. Only 20-30 people ahead of us, and 5 or 6 officers...Yeah! our 1 1/2 hour layover will be enough!! Then 3 or 4 guards got up, told the folks in their lines to find a different line- they were closing.
Within 15 min there were about 200 or more people in line and 2 harried border guards trying to process as quickly as they could (and this was just the US Citizen line... After about 20 min, and moving maybe 10 feet in line, we were pulled to the other side where the visitors area was and assimilated into their lines. It was very nice to have the guard smile and welcome us home.
Finding luggage in baggage area, and then going through another line, we found ourselves in a part of the airport, not quite sure what to do. We were told to go down a corridor and first stop to the left to recheck bags. Seriously, that's all we did. Put them on the conveyor belt and showed our boarding passes for next flight. She gave us a slip of paper with directions. :(
We walked around the corner, up the escalator, down the hall, onto a train, off at the first station and found ourselves walking outside the building!! We walked across the roadway and into the other part of the terminal and stood in another line for about 30 min... one guard was looking at passport/tickets and then the notorious scanning-- we were processed all over again with new arrivals coming into the airport for flights.
We finally made it to our gate... as they were announcing final boarding for the flight!! Thank you God!! We had waited less than 5 min before we were on the plane ready to fly to Ohio.
Tim's coworker met us and we had a quick bite to eat at Chipotle and then we drove home, anticipation of seeing our son giving energy to our spent bodies. We pulled into the driveway and jumped out, rushing into the house. Eli saw us and the room dimmed compared to his smile.
"Mommy!! Daddy!! You're home!!!" He came running over to us, leapt into Tim's arms, hooked an arm around my neck and began alternately hugging and kissing each of us. We were in a big sandwich for several minutes sharing this store of hugs and kisses we had missed out on. It was a great reunion!!
Thanking God for safe travels, favor with the officials and a speedy return to our daughter!!!
We left the next morning for home, so thankful to be able to look forward to hugging on Eli!! The Airport was, again, so beautiful! It is new and lots of marble and sparkles with cleanliness. Our flight to the US was only a few hours long (minus the 8 hour time change) but seemed like forever!! A few highlights...One of the flight attendants looked just like Eric Estrada... Remember Ponch from CHIPS? He was very friendly and engaging... and he slipped me extra desserts:) Yeah!!
The flight touched down in New York and boy were we happy to be home.
Until we got off the plane. Seems unfair to compare an older airport to a very new one, but OH BOY!! was JFK ever confusing!! We made it out of plane and into the building where the customs line was. Only 20-30 people ahead of us, and 5 or 6 officers...Yeah! our 1 1/2 hour layover will be enough!! Then 3 or 4 guards got up, told the folks in their lines to find a different line- they were closing.
Within 15 min there were about 200 or more people in line and 2 harried border guards trying to process as quickly as they could (and this was just the US Citizen line... After about 20 min, and moving maybe 10 feet in line, we were pulled to the other side where the visitors area was and assimilated into their lines. It was very nice to have the guard smile and welcome us home.
Finding luggage in baggage area, and then going through another line, we found ourselves in a part of the airport, not quite sure what to do. We were told to go down a corridor and first stop to the left to recheck bags. Seriously, that's all we did. Put them on the conveyor belt and showed our boarding passes for next flight. She gave us a slip of paper with directions. :(
We walked around the corner, up the escalator, down the hall, onto a train, off at the first station and found ourselves walking outside the building!! We walked across the roadway and into the other part of the terminal and stood in another line for about 30 min... one guard was looking at passport/tickets and then the notorious scanning-- we were processed all over again with new arrivals coming into the airport for flights.
We finally made it to our gate... as they were announcing final boarding for the flight!! Thank you God!! We had waited less than 5 min before we were on the plane ready to fly to Ohio.
Tim's coworker met us and we had a quick bite to eat at Chipotle and then we drove home, anticipation of seeing our son giving energy to our spent bodies. We pulled into the driveway and jumped out, rushing into the house. Eli saw us and the room dimmed compared to his smile.
"Mommy!! Daddy!! You're home!!!" He came running over to us, leapt into Tim's arms, hooked an arm around my neck and began alternately hugging and kissing each of us. We were in a big sandwich for several minutes sharing this store of hugs and kisses we had missed out on. It was a great reunion!!
Thanking God for safe travels, favor with the officials and a speedy return to our daughter!!!
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