Homecoming

Our flight home went very well. The children traveled so well that Derek and I were surprised! The children slept about four hours on the international flight--leaving over ten hours to occupy them. They willingly stayed in their seats and played with the TVs that were available on the seat backs. In addition, we let them play games on our tablet until the battery died.

Hope's favorite movie on the flight was "The Muppet Movie", even though she couldn't understand the language. She watched the movie twice.

Also, she was my walking partner on the flight--as she hated it when I left her side. (And, I had to walk in order to prevent blood clots, so she ended up walking, too.)

She became a U.S. citizen in Chicago--the same place Cherish and Andrew became U.S. citizens. The transition through customs and immigration was quite smooth.

We had just enough time to get all our bags rechecked for our connecting flight home and to board the next plane. That's when we all crashed. (Derek and I had only had about 30 minutes of sleep on the international flight, so we were exhausted!)

We all fell asleep and felt drugged! When Derek and I awoke, we were landing. The children kept right on sleeping. We woke Cherish up at the last possible moment, as she needed to walk off the plane.

Cherish looked like she was sleep-walking. Since she didn't have the energy to get past the exit of the plane, we put her into the stroller. (Andrew was a lot easier to carry!)

Our darling friend Carrie and her children were there to meet us at the airport. She recorded our homecoming and prepared the pictures that I will share. She and her children were such a welcome sight!!

Hope woke up and received a homemade doll made by Carrie and her daughter! Hope took to the doll right away, and sleeps with it--hugging it tightly.

Cherish--exhausted. (She slept the least of all the children.)

Then the Alexander's showed up. What a precious sight! This family will be receiving their precious son in less than a week (through international adoption). Knowing how much they had to do to get ready to fly out of the States, their presence was even more special!

Balloons for the children =)

Hope, a little scared from the loving attention:

Reading the awesome posters made by Carrie's sweet children:

Hope liked the colorful posters =)

Then, Derek's father joined the welcoming committee

as did his mom. (A terrible car accident delayed their arrival at the airport):

The sweet welcoming committee:

An understanding daddy:

Carrie's children were so darling and patient!

Here they were helping us carry the balloons out of the airport:

Family. Permanently.

Daddy. Hercules.

On the drive home Derek asked me if I wanted anything to eat. I told him I was too nauseous to eat. When we arrived home, we found homemade chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, and fruit waiting for us. We were squealing--especially at the sight of apples!

There were surprises all around the house--from notes and chocolates on each bed, to food in the refrigerator and freezer! We. were. shocked. We had no idea "angels" had entered our house and prepared it for our arrival!

In addition, there were 25 pink roses waiting to welcome us home! What. a. surprise! (I was too tired to think of the camera, so I took this picture a couple of days later. The roses still look wonderful!)

The ladies thought of everything--even to the point of turning our clocks back!

We felt like we had run a marathon and were checking ourselves into a hospital to be cared for. The ladies--"nurses" in this case--knew of our upcoming needs and thoroughly prepared for each of them. Even our lawn was mowed by friends!

We ate, and it tasted so good to have homemade food! Afterwards, we prepared the children for bed. Derek fell asleep in the children's room in the middle of dressing Andrew in his pajamas. We. were. exhausted!

When we woke up, we had the marvelous breakfast that our friend Kristi had previously made and put in our refrigerator--a hot, homemade breakfast! Wow! What a treat! Everyone devoured it!

We had the leftover chicken noodle soup and fresh bread for lunch and went back to sleep.

Between all the fruit and the healthy(!!!!) meals, our immune systems have been able to fight all the nasty germs we were exposed to on our flights. We are so thankful!

Our church family and friends continue to bring meals daily, and I feel like we are just so exhausted, we mostly just eat and sleep, eat and sleep, eat and sleep. (Well, some of us sleep....) We've been too tired to even play! The children mostly just lounge around the house.

Our church family and friends have become our "nurses", caring for us as we enter the final stage of birthing pains. The love and compassion of so many people have melted us to tears.

If not for these sweet friends, we'd be eating cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, beef and bean burritos (frozen) along with chips and salsa. Around the clock. Seriously. I stocked up before we left! The meals would have been fast and healthy--ya know: salsa is a veggie, and the chips are corn chips--another veggie....

Our hearts know that there have been so many hours and much financial investment put into helping us through this time of adjustments. We want to thank each and every husband and wife who have invested in us--and who continue to do so. "Thank you" beyond what words can express!

And, even more importantly, thank you for each prayer that has been prayed to get us to this point. Adoption can be hard, but the beauty that comes out of it cannot compare to the "birthing pains"!

God bless you all!!!