Lucy is Coming to Brighton (Hopefully)!

Lucy

In a few hours Lucy is leaving the US to fly to the UK.  I still feel like it will take a miracle to get our dog to Brighton, but God has given us miracles before.  I feel certain it was easier getting our children into this country than it has been to get our dog over here...and she still is not here. 

Lucy, has been living with my parents since we moved to England in August.  The UK has a PETS program that replaces the 6-month quarantine in the UK if you qualify.  Basically, you have to fill out a LOT of paperwork in a very specific order, and then pray that you did everything correctly.  It has been a rough ride since the beginning of this process, but it will be all worthwhile when our pup gets here.

My mom had to take Lucy to the vet in College Station yesterday to get 2 more vaccinations (that must be given between 24-48 hours of her flight) and to get her vet health certificate.  Everything went smoothly, and the vet thinks the paperwork looks good.  The problem is now that the ball is rolling, she has to fly.  That wouldn't actually be a problem except for the fact that the entire English Isle has been blanketed with snow.  Yes, we even have snow here on the coast.  Apparently, this is the worst snow storm this early in over 20 years.  Of course, that is just our luck.

Snow On Our Street Before It Snowed All Day

Gatwick airport has been shut down all day today, but luckily, Lucy is flying into Heathrow (and everything looks clear there).  According to Continental, the flight is still scheduled and on time, so the plan is to get Lucy in the air and in the country - then we will figure out how to get her tomorrow.

Jimmy Winters (LOVE him!!!!) is picking up my mom, Keith's mom, Lucy and her giant crate at the Cameron's, and then they are heading to the airport in Houston.  Sweet Jimmy had to help the moms because Lucy's crate is so giant it couldn't fit in any of their cars (and there is no way our moms could have maneuvered the crate and the dog).  We will owe Jimmy big time for this favor - he is a REALLY good friend.

Giant Crate!

We are all praying (feel free to pray too) that Lucy and her crate end up weighing less than 100 pounds.  The cost of her trip is determined by weight, and of course she is right at the limit.  Lucy usually weighs around 50 pounds, but at the vet yesterday she weighed in at 54 pounds (too many treats at the grandparent's house?).  We are not sure how much the crate weighs, but we think it is about 44 pounds.  Yikes!  That is close.  It is going to take a major miracle for the weight to be under 100 pounds, but we really need it to be.  There is a $500 difference between 100 pounds and 101 pounds!

At this point, that doesn't even really matter, we just need her to get to London safely.  Her flight is scheduled to land in London at 9:30 tomorrow morning, and we are supposed to pick her up around 1:00 after she has cleared customs.  A friend of ours from church, Marek, is going to take us to Heathrow to pick Lucy up because he has a car big enough for the crate.  We are going to owe him big time too - especially because driving to London can be a nightmare and it will be even worse tomorrow in this weather.  In fact, we are praying (feel free to pray some more with us) that it will not snow too heavily tonight and the roads will be clear.

We will keep you posted on the dog drama, but seriously, feel free to pray.  We could really use it!