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Set up for Sunday Night Worship & Movie/Christmas Party. Jam out with the kids. Back by popular demand, an encore performance of the Christmas Pageant, Dominican Style, this time. (Read: lots of freestyle, part-switching, very chaotic.) Pass out candy canes & juice. Watch Polar Express. Clean up Outreach Center. Fond farewells, hugs and tears with the kids. LOTS of assurances from us that we are just going to VISIT our friends and family, and we WILL be back.

Clean. Pack. Clean some more. Leave 10 notes for Kayla & Osvaldo. TJ sleeps a few hours, Holly keeps packing. Drive to Santiago at 4am. Wake our friend at 6am. Check in at the airport. Eat nasty stale Dominican meat pie corn pastry. Get on the plane. Sit on the runway 1 hour. Take-off. Sleep 1.5 hours. Land. Sit on the runway 30 minutes. Realize we won't make our connecting flight to Nashville, departing in 1 hour. Deplane. Fly through Immigration. Run to baggage claim. Get our 4 bags. Dash to Customs. Speed through, re-check our bags, MOVE it to security. Wait through a line of over 1000 people, shedding our shoes, sweatshirts, laptop, video camera and iMac as we go. Miraculously make it through security in under 20 minutes with no help or special treatment from the MIA/TSA staff. (It's the holidays. What can you expect? That's the thing about living in a developing country. It SERIOUSLY lowers your expectations.) Find our gate. Board. Celebratory/triumphant kiss. Against all odds, we made it. Pull away from the gate.

Sit on the runway for 1 hour. (Apparently it's our day for that.) Take-off. Sleep 1.5 hours. Get our bags. Step outside the airport. Feel the frigid blast of Nashville air, wish to run back to our balmy tropical clime. See Kristen Norman, waiting to pick us up with sweet little Elijah, bearing Dr. Pepper and a "Welcome Home" sign. Remember JUST how much we love our sweet friends and family. Drive to Arby's, TJ's heart's desire, revel in free refills and flavorful food, marvel at Elijah's antics. Drive to the Essner's, who are SO kind to store ALL of our stuff in their attic. Load up on winter clothes, enjoy catching up with more of our favorite people in the world.

Drop our stuff off at the Farmers, drive to Chili's. Sink into to chips, salsa & bottomless Dr. Pepper's with Blake, Moriah, Shawn, Rebekah and Hannah, just like we've been dreaming of for months...

Sunday 6pm to Monday 6pm. 24 hours in the life of TJ & Holly McCloud.

We are blessed beyond measure. Blessed to know and love our dear kiddos in RSJ, blessed to come home to delightfully familiar friends & family.