Crossing the Pond

Here it is: the long-overdue post with pictures from our trip over the Pacific. 

We actually ended up leaving a couple of days later than originally planned, due to some last minute medical issues needing to be resolved, but thankfully everything was cleared away and we were on our way on October 4. I think it worked out better in the long run. We said good-bye to our families at home in private, instead of having to go through a tearful time in the airport. My brother drove us there, and he and one of my dear friends were the only two there to see us off. This allowed us to focus on getting six checked bags, three backpacks, a rolling suitcase, a stroller, a car seat, and a baby through check-in and airport security. I was worried because our flight leaving has been late the last couple of times I have flown, and I didn't want to get a late start on our long trip, but our flights were on-time for the duration of our trip.

Mr. Finn saying, "I got this! You guys handle the rest!"

Not the best picture of us, but it was the least blurry of this set.

 We had layovers in DFW, and then on to LAX. The flight between Dallas and LA and our time in LAX was a bit rough. Finn was having a hard time, and we were super worried because we had the hardest half yet to come. Thankfully, the Lord provided a quiet place to rest once we made it to the international terminal and found our gate.

Mr. Big all up in his own seat.

Our almost-12-hour flight between LA and Narita was the one that was worrying us the most. We had visions of screaming babies and glaring passengers dancing in our heads. But wouldn't you know - God was so gracious to us, because Finn settled right in and slept about 8 hours total, only waking 2 times to be fed and put right back to sleep. He might as well have been in his own crib! Jason and I even managed a small amount of sleep ourselves. I will say this - having a baby to tend to made the long flight pass a lot more quickly than the flight we had to Japan last year.

We had no problems making it through customs once we landed in Tokyo, and all of our baggage made it!

My studly man hauling BOTH carts full of our luggage

 Once we made it through customs, we came around the corner to this welcome sight:

Several of our team members made the trek to Narita to welcome us to Japan. It was such a small thing but it meant so much to see friendly faces when we landed in a foreign country that we knew so little about. They helped us with baggage, entertained Finn, helped us exchange our dollars to yen, and got us and all of our baggage loaded up and brought us to our new home.

Our apartment gets Finn's approval

I can't even describe the level of physical exhaustion we were in by the time we made it to our new home. However, it felt so good when we finally were able to lay down and sleep in our own place in JAPAN. It's been a long road here.