Statia Bound!

So the day finally came to say gOoDbYe. We had a 1:00 pm flight from Calgary so we woke up nice and early to load up and get there at a decent time. Everyone had told me that  p u d d l e              j u m p e r s were a MUST, so had been frantically searching every store in Lethbridge with no luck. I wasn't about to give up so on the way to the airport we made a quick and SUCCESSFUL stop at a Canadian tire in Calgary. We were officially set.

My mom and sister and her 3 kids (Isla Mac and Elena) as well as Brant's parents, all came to the airport with us to say good bye. I am so L U C K Y to have such wonderful people in my life. We were so happy to be able to say good bye one last time to all of them.

WE WILL MISS YOU ALL!!




Giving loves to Elena!


Having fun!




Aww, Isla Sure loves Liam to death!




All the cousins!


They boys just being boys!


Just waiting...


Being a goof!


Grandma giving Caleb kisses


Getting more love from Auntie Megan

Once we got to the airport we soon found out that if we kept our original United Airlines flight to Houston, we would miss our next flight to Miami. So we got switched to American Airlines. One I would not recommend. All but 1 of our 6 bags were 2-4 pounds overweight so we started  s h u f f l i n g  everything from bag to bag so that we didn't have to pay the overweight fines. But we ended up having to pay 300 sMaCkErS for the boys bags cause our new airline, American, doesn't let lap infants get a bag. Then the worst part is the lady made us check our chariot. I was DEVASTATED!

So with 6 checked bags, 4 carry ons, a diaper bag, our 2 sweet babies in tow and a lot of f a i t h, we said goodbye to the life we knew. We were officially on our way. The line was long and the boys were not loving things so eventually the security guy felt bad for us and took us to the front of the line. What a RELIEF. We got fast tracked the rest of the way. Hooray for babies! And Liam was such a huge helper and pulled the 2 carry-ons most of the way and LoVeD it!


Going for a ride!





My big helper!


Waiting for our flight to Miami.




We got some TIMS for the last time and boarded the plane with a very sad Caleb and a crazy runaway Liam. I am sure everyone was super excited to know they were on the same flight as us!! Caleb wouldn't stop screaming for a long time. Eventually he fell asleep and I felt very relieved. We made it to Dallas and we got some good p u l l e d  p o r k burgers and waited for our next flight to Miami. Liam decided to go EXPLORE on his own and we couldn't find him for a few seconds which gave me a mini heart attack.

We made it to Miami feeling very e x h a u s t e d  with 2 sleeping babies but only more bad news. The sky train was down so I hauled Caleb in the snugly, 3 carry ons and the diaper bag and Brant hauled Liam and his back pack all the way through the airport. A nice lady helped with 2 bags. We eventually made it to the shuttle bus pick up area where we waited 40 minutes for the best western shuttle. After seeing the days Inn shuttle 3 times the driver felt sorry for us and said 5 bucks and he'd take us where we needed to go. HALLELUJAH! Come to find out our hotel (probably the ONLY hotel) stopped shuttling after midnight. Once we got to the hotel both boys woke and stayed up for way too long. Next morning I slept in longer than I should have and we had to rush back to the airport with only more trouble waiting for us. The shuttle was a good 10 min wait just to find out he needed to go and fill up first. We got to the airport to a huge line up that surprisingly went by fairly fast until we were next up. Then we waited for far too long to find out something was wrong with our tickets. Apparently we aren't allowed to sit in the same row so the lady switched our seats. We luckily got fast tracked trough everything else and made it to our gate just as the last few people were boarding. Phew! Caleb again wouldn't stop screaming and I was about finished. Luckily Brant saved the day and took him for me where he finally fell asleep. Apparently flying isn't his favorite thing. We got to St. Maarten where we had to re check our bags and re shuffle everything around once again cause somehow the bags were overweight AGAIN (doesn't make sense to me). We were then told that our tickets got cancelled because we didn't call to  c o n f i r m  that we still wanted to go. So they had to rebook our tickets. Which took FOREVER. And a lady got mad at me for putting Caleb on the floor and told me to pick him up. I was just too EXHAUSTED! We were pleased to find a Dominoes pizza to eat at. Then we waited and waited and waited for our last jont to our new home. Finally we boarded our last and extremely tiny little plane (seats like a dozen people) that was HOT, s t i n k y, squishy and very noisy. Both boys fell asleep on the short 18 minute flight to our little Island. We lined up outside the tiny airport to pass immigration and Liam was thrilled to be free to run around. We were welcomed by 4 friendly faces (Bongo, Saad, Todd and Josh) who helped us with all of our bags and drove us to our new home. Todd picked us some yummy guavas to try from the tree in our yard. Josh came back with his wife Hannah bearing us fabulous welcoming gifts. Bottled water, cereal, fish and animal crackers for Liam and a PINK TING for me! We are so very grateful for all the help and love that was shown to us on our arrival to our home here on STATIA.


In St. Maarten airport, getting into trouble!!




Our airplane from St. Maarten to Statia.


In line waiting to pass immigration



Liam found a palm tree leaf and had so much fun playing with it










My yummy pink ting compliments of Hannah!


The water we get to drink and cook with until we get a filter




Yummy guavas from the tree in our yard!

WE MADE IT!