We survived the long journey back! We arrived last night, past midnight, tired and exhausted. Although we were really sad to leave the family, friends, and comforts of the US, we are really happy to be home.
Thanks for remembering us during our travels. Although the plane was completely full (so we weren't able to get an extra seat for Noah), the Father was so kind and gracious to us. Not only did we get the bulkhead seats so that Noah could walk around in front of us, but we were also seated in Economy Plus! Minus a brief stretch where Noah cried uncontrollably from being over-tired (which felt like forever), the trip went relatively smoothly considering the entire trip took around 24 hours (including 16 hours of flight time).
As a side note, I'm especially happy we arrived with all of our luggage. When we checked in at LAX, they told us that we could check our luggage all the way through to our final destination. When we arrived at the connecting airport, Richard asked me if I thought we needed to check to make sure that our luggage went through. I said, "Nah, it should be fine." But since we had time, he suggested that we go to baggage claim just to make sure that our luggage didn't come out. Sure enough....all of our luggage came out onto the baggage carousel! So we re-checked it in. Lesson learned: listen to my husband. :)
Thank you to so many of our family and friends who made our time back in the US sweet and memorable. We love you and miss you already!