We're Home

We made it home. Sunday morning at 1:15 we pulled in our drive. The bags all got piled in our kitchen and we all piled into bed. Unfortunately our internal clocks are a little bit off (it seemed like it was 4:00 in the afternoon) and Will is the only one who made it to sleep before 2:30. It's a little bittersweet to be home again. It's nice to be here where all is familiar (food, smells, beds, etc.) but that means that little Jack Nikolay is still halfway around the world. A little odd to think that just a few days ago we were there with him!!

The trip home was fairly uneventful. We checked in at the airport in Russia without any problems. Then the fun began!! Jason took Will through a line for customs and I took Addie. The lady checking and stamping our passports was sending us through without any hesitation until some other lady came swooping in. She rattled something to me, rattled something to the customs lady....back and forth, back and forth. I believe she was getting more than a little irked at me as all I could do was stand there and smile at her. Finally some kind gentleman behind me stepped up to translate as best he could. I was able to make out "birth paper" and figured out that they were requesting to see our children's birth certificates. I presented them with our whole folder full of adoption documents that I had brought with us and they shuffled through the top couple. The birth and adoption certificates satisfied them and they sent us on with smiles on their faces. Jason and Will hadn't had a lick of a problem and were waiting on us on the other side of security.

Then the fun began. We sat and waited for a little bit before clambering onto an overloaded bus to be hauled out to our airplane. Two and a half hours later we touched down in Seoul. The layover there was only two hours long, so that went quickly. The best part of that layover was calling folks back home and waking them up. It was 6:00PM in Seoul and 4:00AM in Ohio. Yeah, we felt slightly cruel, but not cruel enough to not call! The flight from Seoul to Chicago was pretty short coming home...only 12 hours!! It was about bedtime when we boarded (bedtime in Russia, anyway) so we slept much of the flight. Addie was so tired that she fell asleep during the first meal about an hour after we boarded. Both children slept until the second meal about two hours before landing in Chicago. Chicago's layover was a mere four hours, which gave us plenty of time to feast on good old greasy American food!! Did it ever taste good. The flight from Chicago to Dayton was only 43 minutes, and actually got us home about 30-45 minutes earlier than we were expecting. The poor folks who had come to see us in, missed us. We were already in our pick-up heading home til they got there and had to pull over to the side of the road in order to chat with them! I think Will was the most excited to get home again. The whole way from the airport to find our vehicle he was chanting, "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah" over and over and over. He informed us that he was practicing. Practicing for what, we didn't know, but we soon found out. At first sight of our pick-up he hollered, "Hallelujah, it's here!!!" Where that came from, we will never know, but then, we wonder that about much of what he says and does!! He's a mess. I think he was beginning to think that we would never see our pick-up again. Every airport we touched down in, he would ask if we were going to find our pick-up. A major concern to him, I guess.

Today the real fun begins. The laundry is started...finally. I should have just gotten up when I woke at 3:30, but instead I fell back asleep (around 4:45) and slept til nearly 8:30. I woke up at 3:30 with my stomach feeling as if I hadn't eaten for days. So....what to do but get up and eat. Can't say I had ever eaten crackers with cream cheese and chives at 3:30 in bed before!! I tried to console myself by thining that it was really 6:30PM in Russia and, therefore, suppertime. Jason just laughed at me.....though he joined in on the feast himself. He had to head to work about 6:00 and just let me know that they are heading to the field to start harvesting this morning. Welcome home.

This afternoon I have a doctor appointment to get my bloodwork done. We both have to be tested for HIV, syphilis, Hep B, Hep C, and TB. Tomorrow morning is our psychologist appointment....and tomorrow afternoon is Jason's doctor appointment. Fun couple of days we have planned.

Documents are ready to be dropped off at the courthouse (to get copies of the deed to our house), the accountant, and the doctor's offices. Documents are ready to pick up at the probate court. Documents are ready to be notarized. Our agency is requesting that everything is to them no later than next Friday. And Jason is in the field. This could be fun.

Thank you all so much for the prayers while we were gone. We are totally convinced that the prayers are what made it such an easy trip for Addie. She didn't remember one thing about Russia. In fact, she kept asking, "When are we going to Russia?" We finally decided that "Russia" to her was simply her baby home. We hope that next time we go we can return there and hopefully provide some closure for her on that portion of her life. Both children were such troopers. They loved the airplanes (except it made Addie's ears hurt), though how they can after sitting in them for 18 hours one way and 15 1/2 hours the other way is beyond me. If it weren't for going back to pick up Jack, I wouldn't mind if I didn't see another airplane for quite some time! They loved the airports as it gave them some time to run around and stretch their legs.

Blessings to you all on this beautiful fall day~