Friday, July 27, 2012

Adventures in Time Travel






  • Thursday, July 19th - We FINALLY get our flight confirmations from Chris' company!  We are leaving the evening of Tuesday, July 24th.  We make a schedule for everything that needs to be accomplished in the next 5 days.
  • Friday, July 20th - We get NEW flight confirmations.  We are now scheduled to fly out the evening of Monday, July 23rd.  A new schedule is made for everything that needs to be taken care of in, what is now, 3 days.

Uncle Smelly even flew in to say goodbye after his game in Spokane!

  • Saturday, July 21st - Chris gets in.  We celebrate Addison's 4th birthday and get to spend a little time saying goodbye to friends and family (Thank you Gidley family!) AND we get new flight confirmations for our flight leaving on Sunday, July 22nd.  We throw out all to-do lists and throw everything we will need for the next few years into suitcases :-0

Our final Arizona storm!


D-Man getting ready for his first of three treks thru security (not including customs)!  By the end of it all, he was a pro!


Ready to go! 

His first ever flight!


  • Sunday, July 22nd - After a frantic packing session, we have a few minutes to enjoy lunch with friends.  We head to Papa Touchdown's house for a tearful goodbye and it's off to the airport.  Dustin boards his first ever flight heading to LAX and our adventure begins!  Once in L.A, we head to baggage claim where we need to pick up our checked bags and board a bus with 2 kids, 7 carry-ons, 6 suitcases, & a car seat and head to the International terminal.  We check the bags for the flights to Taiwan and eventually Jakarta.  We grab a quick bite before going thru security with our 7 carry-ons (again); And it's finally time to board the 14 hour flight to Taiwan.  Needless to say, if Chris had not come home to help us, you would currently find me in the fetal position in some corner of LAX.

Dustin got very good at waiting!


Welcome to Taiwan!  The land of Hello Kitty! 

The Taiwan airport was full of beautiful flowers

Our airplane for the final leg to Jakarta!



Hello Kitty time zones!

The Hello Kitty playground in the Taiwan airport!


  • Tuesday, July 24th - After losing Monday somewhere over the Pacific, we land in Taiwan for another trek thru security and a little layover before boarding our final (5 hour) flight to Jakarta, Indonesia. We land in Jakarta, breeze thru customs, meet are car and driver, and head to our new home!  When all was said and done, Chris literally flew AROUND the world in 4 days!

We're HERE!!!!

Our Final Days...

The last few days before we left were a little bit harried, so we apologize if we weren't able to get a personal goodbye in.  We will post all about the trip over and our first few days soon.  In the meantime, as we adjust to the time difference (14 hours - which makes for great breakfast/dinner Skype or FaceTime dates), here are a few pictures from our last couple of days in Arizona. 


We spent the day with Grammie, Cole, Addison, & Brooklynn at the Children's Museum of Phoenix!



Emilie performed in a ChildsPlay rendition of the Hunger Games!





Addison celebrated her 4th birthday!



We got t0 hang out with friends and family!



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Little Background


In January of this year, Chris was approached by a company looking to start a new charter base in Southeast Asia.  Believe it or not, we were intrigued.  The thought of moving our family 10,000 miles from home was both scary and exciting.  In the end, the exciting parts won out.  Chris left for Indonesia in February and Emilie, Dustin, and I have been in Arizona preparing for the big move.  We have rented out our house to a family from Japan (They are here for 2 years on business).  We have stored most of our belongings in Grammie's garage (Thanks Grammie!).  Both of the cars have been sold and a new (wonderful) home has been found for Leo.  Emilie has been enrolled in a new school (Jakarta International School) and is getting excited about being a Jakarta Dragon for the next few years!  On the Indonesia end, Chris has been working hard.  He has been flying all over the region of Southeast Asia - scoping out the best places for us to explore first.  He has also been working on finding us a place to live and dealing with my never ending questions about Indonesia.  We hope to keep you updated as we experience life in Indonesia!

It's Getting Closer!

We are approximately one week away from our little trip halfway across the world.  We have been frantically trying to pack in as much summer fun as possible while also dealing with the "fun" of preparing to move 10,000 miles away.  Besides tying up loose ends, we have spent the last few weeks -
  • Taking a trip to Colorado
  • Swimming Lessons
  • Childsplay
  • Slip n' Slide
  • Bowling
  • Sleepovers
  • Movies
  • Museums