A Surprise Visit Home

For the past five months, my sister and I secretly planned a surprise visit home for my mom's retirement ceremony. I was amazed that we were actually able to pull it off without her suspecting a thing. One of the main reasons for this was that very few people knew that I was coming. We didn't tell my dad until a few weeks before and only because we had to after finding out they were planning to be out of town last weekend. Although he is terrible at keeping secrets from my mom, and nearly gave the secret away on several occasions, I was very proud of him for his ability to recover from the slips and maintain the secrecy.

I arrived last Wednesday evening and stayed a full week. I was praying that everything would go smoothly for me to leave Guatemala since I still do not have my visa, and after the awful experience of being turned away at the border on our attempt to go on the youth trip to Coast Rica. Thankfully, three employees at the airport looked at my passport, but only the first page and not the stamp. They actually forgot to give me an exit stamp, which worked to my advantage both in leaving and returning.

My sister picked me up at the airport (my luggage didn't make it until the next day -- it did not make it on the connecting flight in Houston, was sent to Salt Lake by accident, and then rerouted through Newark, NJ before finally reaching St. Louis!). It was so much fun to surprise my nieces and nephew. I had a slumber party with Kaitlyn & Kyle in the basement that night -- the three of us on a pull out couch. I felt like I was in a straight-jacket. I slept in the middle with both of them holding onto my arms. I woke up to Kyle kissing my arm in the middle of the night. I certainly didn't get the best night's sleep but waking up to those sweet little faces and giggles was certainly worth it!

We spent Thursday during the day retrieving my luggage and playing games at Chuck E Cheese. Then that night, we arrived at the banquet and surprised my mother. I wasn't prepared for a room full of teachers to burst into tears. We all passed around a box of tissues and then enjoyed a great night as they honored my mom and a few other retiring teachers. I am so glad that I was able to be there! My mom is an amazing teacher and has impacted so many lives.

The rest of my time flew by way too quickly. I had some wonderful meals (Oh, how I miss American food!), spent lots of time with family, attended Kaitlyn's first t-ball game, saw a great Cardinal's game (despite their loss), and enjoyed drinking lots of milk and tap water!

I am looking forward to October when both Daniel and I can come home together for a visit. He was pretty jealous when he was eating his nightly meal of black beans while I was feasting on steak!

While I love Guatemala and the people here, there is no place like home. When my plane was flying into Houston, I will never forget seeing the first American flag flying in the breeze. My heart was filled with such overwhelming pride and love for my country. It was great to be home!