Visits from family and friends

Jumping with Jason

Chloe Grace loves jumping on the trampoline!



Sitting with my uncle

front (l-r) - Daniel (our kids' cousin), Chloe Grace, Madison & Jason
back - Jarod

Chloe Grace & Conrad - a family friend

We've had a busy few days. Each night Chloe Grace sleeps a little more. In China she slept almost 12 hours straight through each night from the first night she was with us. Wednesday, our first night home, I finally got her to bed a little before 11 pm. She was up at 2 am, ready to face the world! I was not! I stayed up with her until 5, then Steve took over for a bit. She finally did sleep a couple more hours. Thursday night she went to bed a little after 8 pm and was up at 4:30. She didn't eat much dinner on Thursday & woke up hungry. She ate an apple and then laid back down with me, but after about half an hour it was clear neither of us would be going back to sleep. Last night Steve's mom, step dad and nephew came in, so we were up late. It was 11 pm again before she went to bed. She got up at 6:30 & climbed into bed with me and we slept until 8:30. So, each day is getting a little better.

We had some dear friends visit from Dallas for a while today. Their boys and our 2 oldest kids were all at the same summer camp last week & this morning was pick up. After we rounded up our kids, we visited at our house for a bit and then went to lunch before they went home. One of the boys, Conrad, really hit it off with Chloe Grace. It was really sweet. He was so thoughtful and helpful toward her and she obviously adored him.

Now that all 4 kids are home, we'll start settling into our daily routine...I hope! I've spent the last 2 days catching up laundry. We had our laundry done in Guangzhou before we left China. It's so humid there that quite a bit of it stayed damp & I had no choice but to pack it that way. So I spent yesterday re-washing it all. I should've just saved the money and planned to wash it at home in the first place!

Our trip home was long. Chloe Grace is an excellent traveller. She didn't like having to keep on her seat belt, but otherwise did great. Our flight was late leaving Guangzhou because it was raining. By the time we landed in Tokyo we had less than an hour until our connection to Minneapolis was due to leave. Chloe Grace and I visited the ladies room before we went through security, which put us toward the end of the line. By the time we got through security it was 3:05 and our flight was at 3:25. We found the monitor with the gates listed and our flight was on final call! Steve grabbed the carry on bag & I picked up Chloe Grace and we made a run for it!! We were on the plane less than 5 minutes before we left the gate. That was a little too close for comfort! In Minneapolis we had plenty of time between flights. The first thing I did was get a big drink with lots of ice! We loaded the plane on time. Then the pilot says there's a minor mechanical difficulty and we'll be leaving in a few minutes. About half an hour later he says it's a bigger problem than they first realized, we needed to get off the plane, switch gates & wait for a new plane that was due to land from Dallas in 10 minutes. So, we were about an hour late leaving Minneapolis than scheduled. At least we didn't have another connection to make.

My mom, my uncle and Jason (our youngest son) were all at the airport to greet us. Our bags came off quickly and we headed home. We stopped for dinner at Texas Land & Cattle. We had nachos, steak & salad. It was so nice to have a large glass and all the refills we wanted!

The kids have done great together. Chloe Grace adores them all. She follows them around and does everything they do. The first night we were home she spent about half an hour chasing the dog around the house. Thankfully, our dog is very patient and great with kids! Our cat has also been hauled around more than she would like in the past 3 days. I'm sure they're hopeful the newness will wear off soon!

I'm not sure at this point how often I'll continue to update the blog. We are doing so much better than I ever dared to hope in such a short time. It's definitely an answered prayer. I'm sure we'll still have hurdles to cross, but for now, things are good. Thank you all for being so supportive. Your comments on the blog were so encouraging while we were so far from home.