Rebecca's Random Ramblings

• It is good to be home. We made it into Quito Saturday night. The trip down didn't seem as long as the trip up and the girls were great travelers. I'm not saying I'd like to do that again without Sean any time soon (if ever again) but God really gave me the strength, grace and patience to deal with all that came our way. There were two out of my three flights that I was a bit worried about missing - all due to terrible airline check-in service and bad connection times but we made it! The luggage on the other hand...
• My bags finally made it to Quito Sunday night and are now waiting at our MAF hangar in Quito for a flight or drive down to Shell. I'm not expecting to see them until next Monday when a coworker will be coming back down from Quito - unless the rare Quito flight comes up. I know I shouldn't be too hopeful.
  
• The drive down from Quito with Sean was great. My husband is just too wonderful for words. We missed him something terrible and to have 5 solid hours to catch-up was a treat. The views on that drive are some of my favorite and I enjoyed the ride down immensely.
  
• We girls slept in until nearly 9:00 Monday morning. Can't imagine why...
  
• My first day "back to work" was a rude awakening. The fridge was empty and I had lots of cooking to do, not to mention organizing and cleaning. Actually, Sean kept the house nice and clean but then we came home.... Brooklyn was busy pulling out every one of her toys that she hadn't seen for 10 days or outside rolling in the dirt and mud...or in the shower emptying Dad's brand new bottle of shampoo. I was spoiled when we were in the U.S. I didn't do many dishes, never once cooked, and had more than enough hands willing to help with the girls. So you can imagine the shock I felt when I had to get back to reality. Well, at least I didn't have a lot of unpacking to do yet.
• Once again, I just praise God for the awesome opportunity to make this trip. He provided the money for the tickets, the grace to make the trip alone with two babies, and incredible times with family. I had a grand time experiencing all those things from my own culture that I used to take for granted and I was able to pick up lots of treats to bring back home with us (they'll get here eventually). I went on this trip to bless and honor my parents for their 40 years of marriage - which I believe is no small thing - but I was definetely the one who was blessed the most! Anyway, it was a fun surprise to pull off and the memories we'll have will always bring a smile to our faces!