Last Wednesday, we left Guam around noon, flying to Tokyo
and then to San Francisco. We arrived in
San Fran around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, about two hours before we took off!
We spent the day in San Francisco with Loren’s parents, who
had flown in the day before, and my cousin & her boyfriend who drove up to
meet us for lunch. Then we headed to
Napa to stay with Loren’s aunt. We had a
great time with Aunt Gail & Russ, and with Michael, Heidi, and little
Hannah, too. Some of our Egyptian brothers
came down from Angwin to meet us at a playground in Napa, while Loren was back in
San Francisco taking oral boards.
(Ashlyn: “Daddy, how big is your test?”) :) Loren also got to reconnect with some friends from residency and med school.
After a lovely long weekend with everyone, we said goodbye
and drove to Auburn, where we enjoyed a beautiful dinner with the Jaegers &
the Fields (my dad’s uncle, aunt, cousin, and family). It was really nice to see everyone, and they
were such gracious hosts. A fun
time! Then off to Reno, through some
unexpected snow (!!) in the mountains over Donner Summit on the way (thankfully
we had a modern highway, car, and snacks – and avoided the fate of that party
long ago).
My aunt & uncle spent the whole afternoon & evening
with us, and we saw my grandparents, and my newlywed cousin & her husband,
too. It was great to spend that time
together. The kids enjoyed everyone too,
but I think the highlight of Bryan’s trip might have been their (thankfully
very calm) dog Lily!
We had breakfast with my grandparents and played outside as
long as we could take the cold! We are
not used to 57 degrees with a cold wind!
Then we said goodbye again, and piled back into the rental car, heading
back to San Francisco.
Yesterday, we flew from San Fran to Dallas/Fort Worth. We were delayed a bit pushing back, then
delayed again for Air Force One to come in undisturbed, so we departed about an hour
late. But we landed at DFW much later
than that, because there were thunderstorms over the airport, and no one could
come in. We circled for a while, then
diverted to Austin, added fuel, and tried for Dallas again. Thankfully, we were able to land around 8:30
p.m. (scheduled arrival of 4:30). Loren’s
sister’s flight rerouted to Abilene and then landed at DFW about an hour before
we did. We finally made it to Loren’s
parents house about 10:00 that night.
Praise the Lord for safety, for a fun new friend to talk to on the
plane, that I brought lots of snacks, and that the kids did remarkably well!
…and that we get to stay put for almost two weeks now!
So this morning, I realized it’s Thursday here. Has it really only been a week since we left
Guam??
