Trip Details... finally

I feel really bad cause when I was still "waiting", I LIVED for the homecoming details of others. It has been a week since we landed in Miami... I'm such a slacker. Well, here it goes... our trip to pick up Kenley.
We were supposed to catch an 11:45pm flight from San Francisco to Miami. We boarded the plane, pulled away from the gate, received a message from the captain, "we are having a problem with 1 of the 3 hydraulic systems. We will see what maintenance wants to do and let you know". I am a very nervous flyer and this was not comforting to say the least. We ended up having to get off that plane and get on another plane... didn't take off until 2am on Monday morning. Good thing we had a 6 hour layover in Miami (now 4 hours). We were supposed to catch a 2:10pm flight from Miami to Port au Prince. Apparently there was a problem with getting power in the cabin so we were about an hour late boarding that plane. We got on the plane, pulled away from the gate, received a message from the captain, "we are having a maintenance issue. We will see what they want to do and let you know." Are you kidding me? This has got to be a joke, right?!!? Not a joke! We ended up having to get off that plane, switch gates and board another plane. Now it's like 5 o'clock, I've had to call our orphanage director and tell her that we will be late (Kenley is supposed to be at the airport when we arrive). We finally take off in the "new" plane. Everything is going well, Josh and I are getting super excited to pick up our little man and know that we never have to leave him there again. We start the decent into Port au Prince, it starts to get pretty bumpy. It's dark now and all I can see is rain sheeting down when the lights on the wings flash. I can tell that we are close to landing (it's still really bumpy) when all of the sudden the pilot increases speed and thrusts the plane back up into the sky. The plane felt like it was all over the place as we gained elevation. It was so intense, everyone on the plane was screaming. It was the scariest moment of my life, I seriously thought we were crashing. I had my head buried in Josh's arm, crying out "Please Jesus, please Jesus". Finally we were above the storm when the pilot came on, "it was raining too hard, we are going into a holding pattern to see if the storm will pass, we may have to land in Santo Domingo". We flew around for a little while when the captain came back on and said that they had to make a decision and since we wouldn't be able to get into Port au Prince tonight they were going to take us back to Miami. This is when I burst into tears. I was done being in a plane, my little boy was waiting for me at the airport, all my anticipation and excitement was dead. AA put us in a hotel and got us on a 7am flight the next morning. It took everything in me to get on that plane with no tears. I was so scared. Josh was amazing. He has a gift for bringing out the best in me. I really felt myself "buck up", got my game face on and went to go get my son. The flight over went really smooth, praise God. Kenley was not at the airport, neither was anyone else from the "O". I think we crossed paths when we got a ride from Big (he works at the airport and remembered us, once again... praise God). Big said the whole airport was flooded the night before, no wonder we couldn't land! We spent a few hours at the "O", took some pictures, met with Kenley's birthmom, and ate lunch. We headed back to the airport to catch our 5:20pm flight on Tuesday, March 3rd. Every moment up until that point had been so crazy and hectic that I think back now and I think I was in robot mode. We sat in that airport just looking at each other. Oh my goodness... this day is finally here. We are sitting here, in the airport, waiting to fly to the U.S., and we have Kenley with us. Holy Smokes!!! The flights to Miami and then back to San Francisco the next morning were very smooth. Kenley slept most of the time on the plane. I cannot describe the feeling when we touched down in S.F. I knew we were done flying, I knew that our family was there waiting for us, I knew that nothing else could stand in our way... we were HOME!! It had been a battle. 2 and 1/2 years of waiting and then 2 days of transportation hell. Nine hundred and twenty three days and finally... it was DONE!
Our family greeted us with "Welcome Home Kenley" signs... just like I had imagined. Mason came running up to us with a huge smile and the sweetest voice saying, "Hi Kenley!".
I'll post more later about how Kenley did on the trip and how he's doing so far at home. It's good to be home! :-)