Arizona Trip--Day 1

At last, our vacation to Arizona has arrived! For almost six years we have dreamed and talked about making this trip. Most of the time, we felt there would be no way we could afford to fly 2,000 miles with a family of five and spend ten days exploring a different part of our country.

Six years ago, we met the N's and T's when they came to Virginia to host the Life Partners "Discovery Seminar." A few months later, we began Christ Quest Institute under their leadership. We have been taught, trained, discipled and loved by this incredible ministry. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, we thought it would be awesome to visit our mentors and see them in their homes, in the LP office and the surrounding area. When asked, "Why do you want to go to Arizona?" we replied, "To see the T's, the N's...and the Grand Canyon!" By far, the people are what drew us on this journey, more than the landscape!

We had to choose between a flight that would get us up super early or one that would have us arrive in Phoenix super late. We chose the latter. Our day was pretty relaxed as we woke up, finished packing, dropped off our hedgehog at Dad's and drove to the airport. We had some time to spare, so we stopped by the science museum in Baltimore and let the boys walk off some energy. We entered into airport "custody" around 3 p.m. our time and emerged around 1 a.m. Arizona time (3 a.m. our time), so we were "inside" airports/airplanes for a solid twelve hours. The boys did fantastic! B has flown with me two other times, but for C and J this was a first. They were so excited and we made sure they had window seats. I sat with J and he trembled with excitement. When we took off, he turned to me and said, "I'm crying, Mama." He was so happy, it brought tears to his eyes. Precious, precious, precious! We know that we are BLESSED and count it a JOY to make such a trip, as a family, all together!