The travel adventure begins!

We arrived at the airport bright and early! During the big security check we all discovered I had packed the Pedialyte in the carry on..rats, it was confiscated. I already feel like a terrible mom! We got to the plane in plenty of time for our 7:00 a.m. departure, boarded, and taxi'd out to the runway, when the pilot stated we had a passenger in medical distress and had to turn back. Fire rescue came, the man got off the plane, but then the baggage folks had to unload all the luggage to find his. Reload the luggage, REFUEL the plane and take off at 8:30!! We had a layover in Memphis and still hoped to make the flight...We didn't.

So, we board another plane in Memphis headed to Detroit. All right!!! With the layover in Detroit, certainly, we'll make the flight from Detroit to Tokyo. Notice I said, "we board"..no moving of the plane. They can't get the door closed..gotta get a mechanic..he doesn't have a flashlight - wait Super Flight Attendant Suellen comes to the rescue! And we're off, still hoping to make the flight in Detroit. Barry tells Suellen about the Jacksonville flight...we're adopting...gotta get to Beijing...Super Flight Attendant Suellen gets our last row of the plane seats moved to the front of the plane before we land! She also gives us 4 free meal/drink tickets. We rush off the plane in Detroit only to discover our plane left.

Not to worry, there is another plane leaving for Tokyo at 1:45...ahh, we can slow down a bit. We board, there's plenty of room to spread out, the flight should even be a bit shorter than the one we missed. Yipee!!! We can make the connection in Tokyo to Beijing!!! We're off...here comes the hot towels, dinner selections - NO black bean sauce, thank you!!, and we relax...Here comes two flight attendants RUNNING down the aisle. The look on their faces certainly provided no comfort. We hear "Is there a doctor on the plane, please, we need a doctor or nurse". I did begin to cry a little at this point, but it's not about me...and quickly said a prayer for the man lying on the ground. Then, "does anyone have a flashlight??" I run over (he's 5 rows behind us) with the one Tracey put in my carry on. Someone came with a bigger one. Does anyone have double A batteries, someone runs over. Apparently, they also found a diabetes alert ID on him. They end up with 2 doctors and some other medical folks working on him, while a flight attendant connects with Mayo. They also find the passenger's daughter's phone number and get in touch with her. About 20 minutes later, the man is moving a bit. The pilot announces that the plane will divert to Minneapolis to get the passenger to a hospital. We were well into Canada at that point.

That is the point I begin writing all this down! I think of Tracey and Eric, all they went through to bring Jack and Ava into our lives, and all the joy they've brought to our lives. I simmer down, we WILL get to Sophie!

We land, after circling forests FOREVER to dump fuel...apparently it's too dangerous to land aircraft with full tanks. The passenger appears much better...crisis over! We get back in the air and decide to put the drink tickets to use! Of course, we realize we will miss the connection flight to Beijing and wonder what we'll do. The entire staff of Northwest couldn't have handled all these situations better and put our ENTIRE plane up at nice hotels in the immediate area. Right now we're at the ANA Narita Hotel in Tokyo. The toilet seat is one of those soft cushy ones that is HEATED...very nice. We'll head to Beijing tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. and get there by 2:00 p.m....God willing! We'll miss a bit of touring, but catch up with everyone I'm sure!

Please keep us in your prayers!!

Love to all,