1/9 - Saying Goodbye

This morning just flew by. As soon as we got up, we ate breakfast and headed straight to the airport. When I woke Kristine up this morning, she moaned in her sleepy voice that she wished she could stay instead of going back. If only it could be that easy. She understands that these are government rules and not what we want. The goodbyes this time were much easier since we all knew we'd be seeing each other in a couple of weeks in Riga.

At the airport, the Northwest Airlines employees were so awesome to us and allowed all of the host families to accompany their kids to the gate. In the past, we had to say our "goodbyes" at the security check-point. This gave us a little more time to love on them before sending them off. The mood was lightened when Olegs got nabbed by security for having his body spray (a/k/a "man perfume") in his carry-on luggage. Since there is a new liquid ban in effect for carry-on bags, we thought for sure they were going to confiscate it. Thankfully, they ended up putting it in a plastic ziploc bag and giving it back to him. Rob got to tell him "I told you so" because he had originally helped Olegs pack the spray in his checked bag. I guess he had to get one last spray in for the road. LOL!

As we got to the gate, Kristine's mood changed and she began to shut down emotionally. She must have had many thoughts going through her mind. Her life is going to be so different when she comes to America. I'm sure it's exciting and scary at the same time. All we could do was hug her and reassure her that we are coming to get her. We are so thankful for the really good talks we had that helped us to connect on a new level.

The tears started flowing as the kids headed to the gate. We had to get our last couple of hugs and kisses in before we let them go down that long corridor. We felt for the other host families who were going through this for the first time. We remember how we felt. After the summer hosting, we didn't know if we'd ever see our kids again.

We watched by the window with the other host families as we waited for the plane to taxi off. The flight attendant made an announcement on the plane to let the kids know we were waving at the window. We could see little faces and hands waving back at us. A couple of them even pulled their window shades up and down to signal us. Next thing we knew they were taxing down the runway and headed back to Latvia. The mood was a little somber as we walked out with some of the other host families. Rob and I were almost relieved at this point because we need to switch focus and plan our trip to Latvia.

YIKES!! We'll be heading to Latvia in 2 1/2 weeks!!! WOOHOO!!!