For months we had been anticipating a trip home. As summer approached, school ended and Ben's workload waned, we started to finalize plans to fly to Utah. In May, we submitted our paperwork to have our 1-year visas renewed (we would need a new one-year visa and accompanying Luxembourg residency cards to get back into Luxembourg on our return from Utah).
After weeks of nothing, Ben paid several visits and spent several afternoons on the phone navigating government employees in an attempt to get information our visa status.
Finally, we received word:
Your visas won't be ready until September, they said.
That doesn't make sense, Ben said.
I'm trapped here, I said.
Then, on Thursday, July 16 I checked the mail for the first time ever since moving to Luxembourg (seriously). And our visas were in the mail.
I texted Ben. He drove straight home. Then we all went to the Ministry of Immigration to show them our visas and get new residency cards so we could book our tickets to Utah.
We booked tickets that night. And one week later, we went back to the Ministry of Immigration to pick up our residency cards.
Please note: being an immigrant is really inconvenient. Lots of lines. Lots of lazy government employees. Lots of rules. Lots of broken toys in waiting rooms. Lots of finger printing. Lots of attempts at taking passport photos of infants. And lots of seemingly unnecessary delays and return trips to strange Harry Potter buildings called the "Ministry".
But we weren't trapped in Luxembourg anymore!
We were going to Utah for three weeks!
Three weeks of carpet and air conditioning and Chick-fil-a!
Thirteen hours on an airplane? Who cares!
On Wednesday, August 5th, we packed and Ben and Nate drove our luggage to the airport to check our baggage in the night before our flight. Mostly because trying to get luggage, kids, car seats, carry ons and our patience into an airport is hard and mostly because all of the above doesn't fit into our car. Thankfully, Luxembourg has previous night check-in for baggage. Unless it's Christmas day. Then don't waste your time. We did once.
On, Thursday, August 6, we woke at 5:45 in the morning, showered and then woke our kids and started getting them dressed. Aksel was a bear.
Carlos Rodriguez showed up promptly at 6:20 and we loaded ourselves and our carry-ons in his car. I unwrapped waffles for Otto, Aksel, and Ingrid to eat on the way and Ingrid ate all three. So Ben bought a few pain au chocolats for breakfast and Otto was happy at the airport bakery.
Then we spent the next hour getting through security, getting drinks from a water fountain and preventing Aksel from pressing alarm buttons conveniently located every 15 feet in the Luxembourg airport.
We boarded our bus to the tarmac and airplane (the boys love the bus part) and we climbed up and into a Luxair airplane bound for Paris. I bribed Aksel with an iPad to get buckled and felt grateful Ingrid thought buckling her seatbelt was a novelty.
After chocolate muffins and a cups of water were spilled everywhere, I realized I FORGOT TO PACK BABY WIPES. How was this possible? I do not know. I have been packing wipes for years.
We landed in Paris and took another bus for a long time to a different terminal of the airport. We survived customs and realized our flight to Salt Lake City was already boarding. As we quickly walked to our gate, we kept scanning kiosks and stores for wipes. No luck. I thought I was going to throw up. How could I get on a 12-hour flight with three children and no wipes? I just did.
Ingrid and I sat in front of Otto and Aksel and Ben sat behind the boys. I'm not sure why the flight attendants pass out warm wet wipes at the beginning of the flight but I'm really glad they do. I snatched each wet wipe from my family's hands and sealed them in a plastic bag (yes, I packed extra plastic bags but no wipes).
It was a long flight.
Ingrid pooped three times. Three! She buckled and unbuckled seat belts. She kicked seats. She ran up and down the aisle. She napped for two hours. She watched Tangled. And she was mildly entertained by the bag of play dough, stickers, finger puppets, and toys.
Otto is a traveling champion. He sat. He peed. He ate. He didn't melt down. And he didn't fall asleep until 45 minutes before we landed in Salt Lake. He woke up as we landed and had the biggest smile on his face.
Aksel only wanted to sit by me and certainly didn't want Ingrid to be invited to the party. He didn't want to buckle his seat belt. He swallowed a lot of gum. But he did take a two-hour nap stretched out across two seats.
Ben was awesome as usual. Kept it all together. Got us where we needed to be and carried all of our stuff. Gave me a pep talk about turbulence and took Ingrid on a walk whenever I reached my limit.
Then it was over. We landed. We cheered. We danced. We clapped. People around us congratulated us.
Then we went through customs. The 45 minutes we spent in customs waiting in line after being on 13 hours of airplanes made me question humanity. All three children cried, melted down, refused to walk or then ran away in sheer glee.
Ken Francom picked us up and helped us carry everything to the car. Ingrid fell asleep immediately but Otto and Aksel stared out the windows identifying landmarks like the Aquarium, Thanksgiving Point, and McDonalds.
We made it home! We survived the flight! We did it! And the thought of doing it all over again in three short weeks started to creep into my mind. But I didn't think about it for long. It was 3 am in Luxembourg and 7 pm in Utah and we all went to bed.
It was a great three weeks. It was nice to take a break from our pace of traveling and sightseeing in Europe. We jumped on a lot of trampolines, ate a log of popsicles and shaved ice, put in some serious time at the swings, and paid homage to Chick-fil-a five times.
We also squeezed in the following:
Went to Joseph and Ellen's to see Stein and baby Ezra.
Had a BBQ with my sister and her family.
Spent an evening at the Underwoods.
Sat on the front porch with the Petrucci's.
Ate an obscene amount of American cereal with whole milk.
Held baby Claire.
Played Exploding Kittens.
Picked up Stein and brought him home to stay with us.
Had Michael work his healing magic on Ben's back.
Went to bed at 8 pm regularly.
Attended Stake Conference.
Went boating with the DeWitt's and the majority of Ben's side of the family at Deer Creek Reservoir.
Went to Zach Johnson's homecoming.
Had dinner and FHE at the Francoms.
Spent countless mornings and afternoons at the Evans and in their backyard.
Had Lilly, Emma and McKenna babysit.
Went on walks with grandma and grandpa and checked out their collection of animals skins/skeletons.
Played with the Wilcoxes, Medleys and Fugals at Kate's house.
Watched Lava on repeat.
Unwrapped delayed birthday gifts from grandma and grandpa.
Ran with Stein along the Murdock canal trail
Played with cousins and trains at the Williams.
Drove to Ogden with Erin and Kate to meet Lynn for dinner and discovered a mouse living in Erin's car.
Laughed really hard with Erin, Kate and Lynn.
Took lots of naps.
Played with cousins and had a BBQ at the DeWitt's.
Went to the Cabelas shooting range and animals on display.
Went to the Museum of Ancient Life with the Williams and DeWitts.
Borrowed bikes and toys from the Williams.
Ate lunch at Mi Ranchito with EJ.
Went up American Fork Canyon to let kids climb rocks and eat lunch.
Took business calls at Dave Southam's office.
Power washed the house.
Babysat Evans' turtle.
Played at the Alpine splash pad.
Swinged with Rocky.
Rode bikes.
Hung out in Angie's backyard.
Lunch at Cafe Rio with Brooke.
Spent an afternoon on BYU's campus eating Chick-fil-a, shopping at the Bookstore, getting ice cream and going to the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum.
Welcomed Ben's parents home from their 18-month mission in Sweden at the Salt Lake Airport.
Jumped on Angie's trampoline.
Took a razor ride with Angie to get shaved ice.
Met Kate and Ryan for dinner at Copper Onion and walking around Temple Square and Restoration Hardware afterward.
Went to Farm Country.
Hung out at Bryant's.
Visited my parent's house in Highland under construction.
Spent the evening up American Fork Canyon cooking hot dogs and s'mores and trying to keep kids alive.
Hung out with Becky Dunn until the wee hours of the morning.
Spent a Sunday afternoon with the Whites.
Played at the elementary school.
Ate Taco Amigo.
Trimmed Ingrid's hair.
Went to the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. Decided I need a leash for Aksel.
Cleaned out gutters.
Went back to the Whites for more time together.
Hiked up Battle Creek Canyon.
Pedicure with Brooke.
Had Francoms over for dinner.
Said goodbye to Uncle Jake.
Went boating on Deer Creek with the Atkinsons and cried when we said goodbye.
Played with Alphabots.
Picked up new Jelly Cats at Blickenstaff's.
Had a teenager smack into our car parked in front of our house at 11:45 pm one night.
Stocked up on Christmas gifts.
Enjoyed church in English.
Went to Beth's fourth birthday party.
Dinner with the Johnsons at PF Changs.
Visited the horse, Blue.
Talked about the white G on the mountain.
Family get-together and Ben's birthday celebration at the Williams'.
Ate Cafe Rio with the Richards.
Read books, played games and watched movies with grandma and grandpa.
Went on bike rides.
Played with Carly and kids.
Met Kate at Rita's Italian Ice and for a last minute Target run.
Swam at the PG pool with grandma and grandpa.
Spent a morning with Curry and her kids.
Fixed the Bryant's car door.
Returned Stein to Joseph and Ellen.
Said lots of goodbyes.
I'm so grateful for the time we could spend with family and friends in Utah. We wanted to see more people, shoot more guns, and spend more time in the mountains but we are so happy with what we were able to do.
A great thing happened during this trip. I was homesick for Luxembourg. For our home, for our friends, for our space, for yogurt, for our internet service and for the adventures we still have yet to take. It was easier to say goodbye this time. It was easier to get back on the airplane and face life and immigrant status in Europe.
We have a lot of sadness about not returning to Utah (permanently) any time soon. But we also have a lot of happiness in Luxembourg and wherever we go next.
See you soon, beautiful Utah.
Favorite Part: Please note: being an immigrant is really inconvenient. Lots of lines. Lots of lazy government employees. Lots of rules. Lots of broken toys in waiting rooms. Lots of finger printing. Lots of attempts at taking passport photos of infants. And lots of seemingly unnecessary delays and return trips to strange Harry Potter buildings called the "Ministry".
ReplyDeleteHarry Potter for immigrants. Yes.