We Made it Home

"I can see widows and orphans through my tears: I know my call despite my faults; And despite my growing fears."Mumford & Sons "The Cave"

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Well, we made it home right on time at 8:49 Wednesday night. We had very easy and uneventful flights on the journey home. We were able to get bulkhead seats and a bassinet on the long flight from Hong Kong to Chicago, which was awesome, except for the fact that Collins preferred standing in the bassinet to laying down. She was so happy for most of the trip and laughed and played and then conked out for the last four hours or so. I couldn't ask for a better traveler.

Of all the flights we took on this trip, every single one of them was right on time. I think that's almost unheard of these days. When we landed in Chicago, we were all exhausted, and the girls napped a bit in our 7-hour layover. That was the hardest part of the trip ... waiting for 7 l-o-n-g hours in the Chicago airport.

We got off the plane at our final destination and some awesome friends of ours were waiting to welcome us home. It was an overwhelming site after such a long, unexpected and emotional two weeks.

Exhausted, happy and relieved

Friends from our Red Thread Coffee group. These girls are all adoptive mamas or adoptive mamas-to-be. They have helped make the journey to Collins so much more fun and bearable. Love these ladies!

My friend, Kelley, with Lia Kate and me with Collins. Kelley and I brought home daughters 

from China together three years ago.

We came home to find a lit Christmas tree in our front window, a cooler of food on our front porch, and a bag of breakfast goodies for the next morning. My aunt Ali and my friend Kelley helped us unpack our clothes, wash them and repack so we could head to Texas the next day. We showed Collins around the house and introduced her to her new crib in our room. She loved it and just had the biggest smile on her face.

I got the girls into bed and finally crashed myself with the help of an Ambien at 1 a.m. At some point in the night, Collins woke up crying. I was so helpless due to a combo of exhaustion and Ambien that I told Kate to go find my mom. She came back in with my aunt Ali, who was still awake at 3 a.m. washing clothes for us! Apparently I said to Ali, "I need .... I need ... I need help." She and my mom helped get Collins a bottle and got her back to sleep. I remember very little of that. Ali woke me up the next morning at 9:30, and then we had to wake the girls up at noon! We had a flight to catch to Dallas at 2 p.m.

 Cousins meeting for the first time at GiGi and Daddy Doug's house in Dallas .... 

Ezekiel, Eli and Collins are first cousins and are all the same age! 

They will all turn 1 between December 23 and January 31.

Saying goodbye to Daddy Doug. Danny and our sister-in-law Yvi read scripture, 

and a bagpipist played Amazing Grace. It was beautiful.

Once again, I chose the above quotes at the beginning of this journey before we lost my father-in-law. I could never have imagined then how closely intertwined and how personal my feelings of widows and orphans would be by the end of this trip. For whatever reason, this is the journey we are on now, and we will trust the Lord for strength and endurance in the weeks, months and years to come. 

Thank you for following our journey and for praying for us. I can't tell you how much your comments, 

texts, emails and phone calls have meant. We are so grateful.