On Monday, August 15, at 7 pm local time, we packed 11 suitcases and 10 carry-on items into a van, said farewell to the Bentleys, the Ohmans, and our new friends the Chapmans, waved to any of the staff who were still on duty (several of whom were waiting for dark to break their Ramadan fast), and watched the familiar landscape roll past our windows one last time.
The matching shirts helped us stay together in the customs lines when other busy travelers wanted to barge in between us. The lettering on the front reads, "Jerusalem, if I forget you..." which some of you will recognize from the Bible and others will recognize from Matsiyahu's hit Jewish reggae song.
Here is how we felt about leaving our Jerusalem home and friends:
In the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, we heard announcements in Hebrew and English. While waiting for one Hebrew announcement to end, Amanda said impatiently, "Next they'll probably have to say it in Arabic."
A Jewish woman sitting next to us at the terminal asked us why we didn't have a baby in Israel. "Then it could be an Israeli citizen," she said. Hmm. Would that make the child eligible for mandatory service in the IDF someday?
We knew we were in American now because the announcements were in English and Spanish. Frank kept himself awake with good ol' American food from Panda Express.
We were very glad that the second airplane also had touchscreen monitors for videos and games. This flight was only 4 hours, but some aspiring photographer took two dozen cloud photos in that brief time. If you need more cloud photos, let me know.
We were expecting two drivers to bring us home from the airport, but we were astonished to see Frank's parents, his brother Mike's family, my parents, my 8 siblings and several of their spouses, and innumerable neices and nephews all there to greet us. We felt like celebrities!
Then we drove home to Orem and received a second wonderful surprise--Frank's parents had unpacked our kitchen, stocked our pantry and fridge, and set out new shirts for the girls. My parents had assembled the bunk bed and made all the beds. We have truly been touched by the kindness of these wonderful people who still lovingly take care of us.
Below you can see 26 of the 29 Fillmore grandchildren.
I think the Judds now have 27 Judd grandkids, with 4 greats. You can see that Amanda and Emily have unpacked the dress-up clothes.
My cousin's paleontologist son married his fossil-loving sweetheart, and at his reception it was either eat or be eaten.
Frank loves it when Jerusalem Center students stop by his office. One day he said to three students, "Fall semester, meet Winter. Fall, Winter, meet Spring." He has only one night class this semester, and while the teaching load is lighter, his to-do-list remains long and he is putting in the same hours at work.
Here are some highlights from my to-do list since returning to the U.S.
Back-To-School To Do list:
1.) Take 5 kids in to get TB tests. Bonus points if you don't tell any fibs.
2.) Attend 2 back-to-school nights on the same night. Bonus points if you don't hold up the line by taking photos. (Hey, friends are important, especially if you need to borrow their internet until ours is installed.)
3.) Help big kids find lockers.
4.) Help little kids find scooters.
5.) Drive ninth grader to the best orthodontist in all of Utah county (who also happens to be my cousin).
6.) Buckle up and enjoy the ride, because life keeps on moving fast!
The Judd's first overseas adventure may be over, but we're only experiencing a change of scenery. Wherever you go, there you are. We have different mountains to climb this year, different bridges to build, and different holy places in which to worship, and so the adventure continues....
P.S. We had our first Jerusalem reunion tonight, with Winter 2011 students, and it was wonderful!
