Thursday, July 3, 2008

Homecoming-A-Versary!!

July 3rd, 2007


We got up early, finished packing and headed to the airport!! We were finally beginning our journey home!! I can't tell you how many times Gary and I kept looking at each other in disbelieve - is this really happening? Our adoption had been plagued with mishaps the whole way and although the last three weeks on our extended pick-up were much shorter than we had anticipated, we had continued our trend of mishaps:
- Embassy doctor's appointment visit lasted over 5 hours because our attorney after having told us the correct doctor to go to, went to some other office.

- At that doctor's appointment, the twins picked up some nasty virus (what do you do for 5 hours, but crawl around and play with office toys?) and Logan got so sick, he lost 2 whole pounds!

- We were abandoned at the Embassy appointment and had no clue how to navigate through our paperwork, luckily we met some generous facilitators who helped us out!

But on the morning of July 3rd, 2007 we woke up like it was Christmas morning, full of anticipation for what the day would bring!

During the long wait at the airport we weighed the boys on the luggage scale:
Austin 19.5 lbs and Logan 17.8 lbs (at 14 months old! so tiny, but other than being sick, very healthy!)While Logan slept:
Austin entertained a local Soccer team, they were all enthralled with him!


We were so fortunate - we flew on Buddy passes again, were upgraded to First Class and had the whole section to ourselves!! The flight attendant even made a make-shift playpen for us with her food cart! Traveling with these two gorgeous little fellas elevated us to RockStar status( and that hasn't stopped even today!)


As luck would have it, we were hit with one more HUGE snag before bringing our journey full circle. We landed in Charlotte, NC around 8PM, went through immigration and missed our connecting flight by mere seconds. We then missed another flight out that would have taken us only about 45 minutes from home. At 11PM that night, we knew we were NOT making it home and wearily made our way to yet another hotel for (I'm not kidding) 2.5 hours of sleep. We were starving, exhausted, close to running out of diapers and baby food and SO ready to be home!

July 4th, 7:30AM flight home. Woo-Hoo! WE MADE IT! Our welcome party had kept up with our many flight changes and despite the early 8:40am arrival, we were swept off our feet with hugs and tears and answered prayers when we stepped off the plane.





And I'm tearing up now, remembering what I had dreamed about for so long. The first time they crossed the threshold of their new home. Their little feet racing over our floors - the little pitter patter I had only imagined up until today, little hands exploring their new toys, sleeping in their bed (not their cribs, yet!), playing with their brothers....oh, it just all seemed so surreal to me!



July 4th - Our Homecoming-A-Versary!
Our new life together had begun!
And what a year it's been. Far exceeding any expectations or dreams I had ever had. That God would bless us so abundantly is amazing to me.

15 comments:

Dawn said...

Oh my goodness..I remember so well all the stress leading up to those last days in Guatemala...then the stress as things went poorly IN Guatemala...and the tears I cried when you finally were home.

And this post got me crying all over again.

Congratulations on your first year home together!!

d:)

Tonya Staab said...

Happy Homecoming-a-versary. Wow, I can't believe all you had to go through but it was absolutely worth it to have those 2 beautiful little boys with you now.

Tam said...

Happy anniversary! I got chills reading your story. I love the pic of Austin pushing the stroller while Logan was sleeping. They are so cute that I could just eat them up!

Tracey said...

Happy Home-a-versary!! So very very happy and blessed to have you with us in the US on this wonderful day and every day!!

Katie said...

Awesome amazing memories !!

Samantha said...

Happy Anniversary!!

Bobbi said...

Well, life certainly was never easy was it! What a great story. I had tears streaming down my face by the middle. A mess by the end!!!

How they have grown and changed this past year. COngratulations on your year together. So many memories have been made.

WHEN ARE YOU COMING TO MAINE!???!?! I can't wait to get my hands on those boys!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh Donna! I'm in tears reading your post. The joy and pain that are so much a part of an adoption can sometimes only be understood by others who have experienced it too.

Congratulations on your first year together!

Cheryl Lage said...

Oh Donna...what a WONDERFUL recounting of your family's story..
My kids just came over and asked if I was crying! ;)
(Answer: Yes, but happy tears!)

God bless America, indeed! :)

Guatmama said...

Oh, tell me the story again. What a wonderful memory you have - and so vivid! Blessings all around!

Heidi said...

Wow, your post made me almost cry! I love the soccer team pic. Awesome your homecoming was on the 4th of July!

Steph said...

YAY!!!! I am in tears, of course!! What a crazy adventure and amazing blessings!

Forget Maine, come to Ohio!! ;)

Tara said...

Happy Homecoming-A-Versary to you guys too! Can you believe that it's been a year??? I'm so happy for you!

Bobbi said...

Get that computer fixed!! I am on some serious Austin and Logan withdrawls here. Those two are a surefire bet to make me smile!

Unknown said...

Happy Homecoming to you too! Isn't it amazing how quickly the year goes when they're home? Your boys are just so cute! I am so glad to say that we are in our second year home now, feels more normal somehow.

Take care,
Donna and Ava