We made it to the Philippines!!

  Well we made it to the Philippines! It was the longest trip of my life!! I am glad that it is finally over. The total travel time was 31 hours, and 21 of those hours were on a plane! This will be a bit of a long post telling you about our trip over here!

  Well to start at the bePayson would be so naughty but he handled it like a champ and did so so good.. He hardly slept on this first flight he was to busy playing and looking out the window! He finally fell asleep with probably a half and hour left of the flight! He layed with his head on Landons legs and he legs on my legs.. The flight was 2 hours and 5 minutes which went by really fast! ginning.. For our trip over we could check in 4 big bags total and 2 carry ons each. So the intitial plan was that Landon and Payson would each get a big suitcase and I would get 2...Then we realized that we had to check in Paysons car seat and we were told that it counted as one of the 4 checked bags!! So we each got 1 big bag each so we ended up leaving quite a bit of stuff home that we were planning on bringing but its ok it all worked out and we didn't even really need that stuff anyways! We got to the airport at 8:00 p.m. and the first thing we did was go and check in so we could get rid of our bags. The lady that checked us in was nice all three of our bags were a little over 50 pounds and she let it slide! And come to find out the carseat was free to check and so we could have brought a whole other bag! We just sat and laughed and said it was just our luck!! After then we just sat around and talked with family and took pictures and said our goodbyes and we were off to security to get to the plane. Landon had packed batteries and so of course they had to stop us and check his bag to make sure everything was ok. Once we got through security we went and found our gate and got there just in time for boarding. Which was kind of nice because we didn't have to just sit around and wait! It was super nice because since we have an infant  we always got priority boarding so we never had to wait in line to get on the plane.. We were always one of the first to board!

  We got on the plane which was our first plane which was heading to the Los Angeles Airport and Payson was in heaven.. He thought it was so fun to look out the window at all of the other planes and to watch the guys that were loading all of the bags onto the plane. He starred at all of the flashing lights outside and just sat and yelled out the window and kept on kissing it! Then he would look back at Landon and I and just giggle thinking he was so big! We dreaded this whole trip because of the plane rides thinking that he would be terrible and throw tantrums and just want to get down but seriously he was so so good! He stayed awake most of the first flight (It was only 2 hours long) he fell asleep with about a half hour to go. He had his head on Landons lap and his legs on my lap... He looked super comfy!

                                                His first airplane ride!

                                               Doesn't he look comfy!

  We landed in L.A. and Payson of course woke up to see what all the noise on the plane was about... Usually when he gets woken up he is a little stinker but he loved just watching all of the people! We got off of the plane and had no idea where to go! So we asked a worker and she said that we needed to go to an international terminal which was a 10-15 minute walk from where we were at. So we went outside and started walking. At first it was bad because Payson didn't want to be in his stroller but he warmed up to it fast.. He is a people watcher just like I am so thats what he did the whole walk!

                                           
                                                              
                                         People watching in L.A.
                                                           
  We finally got to the international terminal and to get to our gate was probably another 10 minute walk. We had an hour and a half lay over but by the time we got off the plane got to the international terminal and walked to our gate they were already starting priority boarding! Right as we got there they were calling our name over the intercom so we went up to see what they needed and they were switching our seats so that we could have a seat inbetween us for Payson! But right after that the lady that was helping us realized that we didn't have a flight home and that we didn't have visas and said that the Philippines are really strict on letting people into their country without one of those! So Landon goes looking through his emails trying to find any information he has about us applying for visas and that he works for Focus in the Philippines.. He found the visa applications all filled out and everything but the lady said those wouldn't work because we still didn't have the visas.. So Landon called Paul (his boss) at 1:00 a.m. to tell him about what was going on.. Paul said he had never had this kind of thing happen before but asked to talk to the lady! The lady told him the same thing that she told us so Paul booked us tickets to come home in 60 days that were refundable so he could get his money back! But it worked and they finally let us on the plane.. The only bad thing was since we were the last ones on the plane there was no more room left in the storage bins above us so they had to check our carry ons under the plane. We felt pretty stupid walking onto the plane because we were the last ones on the plane.. We felt like everyone was waiting on us! It was cute the whole time this was going on Payson was running around fliriting with all of the lady workers.. They absolutley loved him!

  We got on the plane (looking forward to a 14 1/2 hour flight :)) and we were both pretty tired it was probably 1:30 a.m.  Right as the plane took off Payson was out like a light.. As I said before they gave us an extra seat for Payson. They said they have like bassinet beds for babies but he was to big and heavy for it!!:) (Not my little chunky boy!!:)) So we layed him down on the seat with some pillows and blankets and he slept for 8 hours!! It was super nice because Landon and I got to sleep that whole time to! I got woke up a couple of times from Payson whining because he wanted his binki and the funniest one was I heard him crying but I couldn't see him because he had fallen off of the seat onto the floor! Poor guy had no idea what was going on! But I got him back up put him on the seat and he fell back asleep..

                               He had the best seat on the plane!

  Once he woke up we got up and let him walk around the plane for a little bit.. Most of the people on the plane were Chinese and just sat and starred at him and love him... A couple of the flight attendants when they weren't busy would just sit and hold him and hug him and kiss his cheeks! They just adored him.. Then one older lady asked if she could hold him (he was probably as big as she was) and she held him for probably 15 m inutes just loving him and holding him.. He was of course shy at first but once he warmed up to them he was a little flirt! He was still a little tired from traveling and going to bed late that he fell back asleep for another 2 1/2 hours! So Landon and I took that in and fell back to sleep! 

                                                                       As you can tell he had to keep switching between mine and Landon lap!

  We finally made it to Taiwan and we got off of the plane and a lady was waiting for us with a sign with our name on it to tell us that they had switched our seats for our next flight to better seats that only had two seats so that we didn't have to sit by anyone... I swear we were spoiled on every flight.. So anyone reading this if you plan to travel take a baby with you!!:) After that we needed to find our gate for the next flight but the Taiwan airport has no sense of direction to tell you where to go! We had to go to a skytrain and ride that to a different terminal.. Which was ten times better then having to walk there! We got to where we needed to be and had to go past security again and oh my goodness it was a super long line and they had no air conditioning and it was HOT!!! Landon and I were both sweating and so was Payson.. He just wanted to get down and walk around and was kind of being a pain in the butt!! We got through security and got to our gate and got to relax for maybe 10 minutes and then it was time for us to board our plane! We were happy about this flight cause we knew it was only a 2 hour flight not another long one! The plane ride was good Payson was a little restless and was kind of sick of flying.. We kept feeding him snacks and letting him color and play with some animals that Grandma Gwen gave him for the flight.. So that kept him content! Oh and he of course was happy when Landon would let him wear his hat!

We got to Manila and got off of the plane and Landon and I both just looked at eachother wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.... It was SO HOT!!!! The second we stepped off of the plane we were dying... We got our stroller and we were on our way to get our luggage. We had to get every bag and put it on carts. Well first we had to go through customs to enter the Philippines. The line was super long and we were sweating so bad.. We waited for our luggage for a little bit and then headed out the door to go and catch a shuttle to take us to terminal 2 where our next flight would be. We were standing in line for the shuttle and realized it was going to be a super long wait and that it would be super hard for us to get us and all of our luggage onto the shuttle without making everyone wait forever for us. So we went and found a taxi to take us.. At first they didn't want to take us because it wasn't a very long drive and they knew they wouldn't make very much money for a short ride. But we met a nice taxi driver that said he would take us.. He talked to us the whole way and was just a super nice guy! We got to terminal two and had to go through security again and then go and check in our luggage. Well whoever booked our tickets to Bacolod from Manila put the wrong weight limit on the tickets and so we ended up having to pay $110 to get all of our luggage checked in.. By this point we didn't even care we just handed them our money and we were on our way!! We had a 6 hour layover in the Manila airport which was kind of nice because we just sat in the air conditioned building and watched Payson run around! He loved being able to walk around and stretch his legs from all of the flying.. All of the workers at the airport just adored him and talked to him and giggled at him.. Everyone says Ah Baby an then when he smiles at them they get all excited and scream!!:)

We got on the flight to go to Bacolod which was only going to be a 50 min flight we were so excited for that.. But that didn't quite happen.. The airport was full and was having a lot of planes leave at the same time and so we had to sit on the plane for an hour and a half before it could leave.. It was so frustrating because we just wanted to get to Bacolod and get to our hotel and shower and sleep! We finally got to Bacolod and got all of our luggage and a lady named Julie that works for Focus picked us up at the airport! She brought us to our hotel and got us settled in a little bit and then took us to get a couple of groceries we would need for the week then took us out to dinner!

Once we got back to the hotel I think all three of us layed down and were probably asleep in 2 minutes.. We were exhausted.. We were all sleeping so good and then Landon woke up at 5:00 a.m and I guess decided since he couldn't sleep that he could wake all of us up... So it was another long tiring day!! We are glad that we are finally here.. We will be staying in a hotel for the next couple of weeks while our house is getting finished being built!

Landons version of the trip to the Philippines!!!

Lets see, where do we start. The two bag checks that we had to go through? First in Salt lake for the AA and AAA batteries I (Landon) was carrying or in LAX where our gold leafed scriptures set off the machine and bless the heart of the lady who was helping us. She was probably the oldest employee at LAX. She talked with us and took her sweet time to search our bag and ask questions about Payson and where we were going. Little did she know we had been walking for about 15 min with 4 bags, a stroller and a kid and little did we know we still had another 15 min walk with those same 4 bags, stroller and kid, ahead of us. Or... Should we start at the gate of China Air where we were paged and told we would have an extra seat between us for payson to sleep on. (That is where things went down hill haha). The lady helped us out and we were about to be the first ones on the flight when she noticed that we didn't have a return flight booked. Little did we know that we had to have documentation from the Philippine government saying we had applied for a visa. So we were told to sit while they called around and asked questions. In the meantime everyone else boarded the plane and I was on the phone with Paul Liljenquiest at 1 in the morning trying to figure things out. Paul talked to the lady at the gate and with his usual charm and creativity booked us a refundable return flight for 3 months ahead of time. (Don't get your hopes up, this will be cancelled the second we are in Bacolod). Needless to say we had to check our two roller carry ons to our final destination and take the walk of shame to aisle 59 at the back of the plane as everyone stared and knew we were the reason the plane was late. We were about 20 minutes away from missing our flight and being stuck in LA. I am glad I have a wife who is smart enough to tell me to call Paul and I am glad I have a very persuasive boss.

So far the first two flights have been flawless (knock on wood) with it being Payson's first time flying. He loved looking out the window in SLC and stayed awake the entire time to LA except for the last 30 min. He was a trooper in the stroller as we walked from terminal 6 down past terminal 4 to the International terminal. He was showing off for all the Chinese girls at the check in desk while we waited for Paul to work his magic. They loved him and were just a smiling at him. So far on this second looooong flight he has slept a total of 10 hours!! When he is awake he is as happy and playful as ever. He hasnt whined this whole time. He is one content kid.

Some random things that have happened to us or that we have seen ( I will be keeping a running list of things) 1. Apparently we need to start watching duck dynasty because the girl sitting next to us to LA didnt stop laughing the entire time. I think it was a christmas episode. 2. We saw a chinese girl wearing the same boots that they did on dumb and dumber (the thick furry ones) except they were bright orange. 3. Taipei doesnt believe in having men change diapers because there was no changing table in the mens rest room. (cant complain there). 4. Kacey couldnt get over the fact that in the Taipei ariport the toilets were in the ground. Basically porcelain holes in the holes in the ground.

White Baby Ticker: (this is a number counter of how many people commented, hugged, held, kissed, clapped at, talked to, etc. to Payson) So far we are at 28 to explain this a little further. So far most of the asian foreigners just LOVE Payson because he is a chubby white blonde haired baby. They will literally walk over to you with not even knowing you, ask you if they can hold him, and then proceed to kiss hug and love all over him. You think its just the girls? Oh no. In the airport in Manila there were a few guys who would walk by and clap at him and say "hi baby". They all love him here.

well after taking about a million hours to get from frow 59 to the exit of the plane we had to take a sky train to a different terminal and go throiugh security AGAIN, but no bag checks this time!! :). The flight from Taipei to Manila was probably Payson's longest and roughest flight. He still wasnt bad but he was just restless and ready to be done traveling. They served mushrooms with rice, and it was disgusting. Payson didnt even like it. We landed in Manila and waited to get our bags, none were lost or stolen so thats nice. We then decided to take a Taxi instead of trying to haul all of our luggage on the shuttle buss to terminal 2. We got checked in (paid and extra $100 for excess baggage :) ) and we were waiting to go to Bacolod.

After waiting by gate #7 (where our boarding pass told us to wait) and watching our boarding time of 2:30 come and pass we started wondering why they werent boarding. Well it just so happens that our gate got switched over to #8 and we were no in line. We did have row 3 as seats which was a plus but it didnt help much that we waited at the gate and on the runway for literally 1 hour and 15 min. Needless to say we were delayed for 45 min!. It sucked because we were ready to be done traveling and get to our final destination

We got into Bacolod and were picked up by Jason and Julie (both Focus Direct employees). They took us to the hotel where we have a queen bed for us and a twin for Payson. They then took us shopping for some milk and juice and other items we needed right off the bat. We then ate pizza for dinner and went to bed.

I was up at 5 AM and tried to get on the internet but couldnt so woke Kacey up to tell her I was going down to the front desk to get the password. Well I ended up waking the whole family up and we have been up ever since ( it is now wednesday at 7 pm.)