Well were baaaaackkk!!! We had a fantastic time with Mom and Dad!! It was also so nice to sleep in the air conditioning and on a king size bed with fluffy covers! Also - Ellie did great while we were gone! She was taken care of by two of our friends – Heather and Warren. They have two children and Warrens parents were here while we were in Antigua so they got to use our house!

 Of course no trip is complete without something going wrong right?? Well let me start off by telling you mom and dads story. They were scheduled to leave Fort Smith on Friday, spend the night in San Juan Friday night, and fly out Saturday morning to Antigua. WELL – there plane in Fort Smith was delayed over an hour (because of high winds in Dallas) – so they missed there flight from Dallas to San Juan. So then they had to fly to Miami (which they arrived there at like 2 in the morning). From Miami they flew to San Juan (at 6 in the morning) and then from San Juan caught there original flight to Antigua. OH!! And they lost their luggage somewhere along the way but it was recovered in San Juan! So they were exhausted when they arrived at our hotel in Antigua.

 So here’s Justin and I’s story…. We get to the Dominican airport at 10:00 am for our 4:00 pm flight. We flew LIAT because that’s pretty much the only thing that you can fly island to island. When we arrive the lady first proceeds to tell us that we cant check in until 12:00. (Which is a lie because we had friends that had been there since 5:00 am to leave at 11:00 am). Anyway – so she says she will go ahead and check us in. We hand her our CONFIRMATION tickets and then she tells us that we do not have tickets for our flight and that there is no way that we were getting off this island because ALL flights were full. (Keep in mind this is at the end of the break – so there were a lot of people in the airport). Well I just start bawling and telling her and Justin – I have to see my parents…. there has to be a way. So Justin tells her that we can split up and just to please get us there. (There were three flights going out that day – 11:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 4:00 pm). She said theres no way. (May I also note that Justin handled the situation very well. I almost bit the ladys head off and he made me sit down while he went and talked to her alone). So then at 10:50 am she tells me to run and get on the 11:00 am plane. I was sooooo excited. So I kissed Justin – grabbed one of our bags and left. I get there in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the lady at LIAT tells him that he is behind 5 people on the waiting list on each of the two flights left. She tells him to go home because there is no way hes getting on either flight. Well – my precious husband stayed at the airport all day and then a little after 3:00 pm the lady from LIAT tells him very quietly that he has made it on the 4:00 pm flight and for him to wait until hes called by her to get on. The story behind that is that Nicole (my dads assistant) called some people and those people called LIAT and told LIAT to boot someone off that plane to get Justin on!! THANK YOU NICOLE!!! OH!! And LIAT never put my luggage on the plane I was on. But we eventually got it later that day (it came on the 3:00 pm flight).

OK – so when I get to the airport I go to the Sandals (where we stayed) desk and give them my name (they were supposed to transport me to the hotel). They proceed to tell me that I do not have reservations and that they would not take me to the hotel. Justin was not with me – so there was noone there to calm me down – so this man really got it. I proceeded to tell him my whole day – and even my parents day – and how horrible it was. He did not care. So I got my own taxi to take me to the hotel and when I get there everything was worked out. Because Nicole fixed everything – not our travel agent who we booked everything through (don’t even get me started on that one). So today – this blog is dedicated to Nicole Swanson – because without her – Im not sure where the four of us would have ended up!!!
Since this is so long – I will write the happy stories and post pictures tomorrow!!

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