Safely Home!!

We're HOME!

Olivia was such a trooper. She made it through 14 hours on airplanes, endless security checks (in China they even frisked her!) and lots of waiting in lines. By the time we arrived in Mpls, we were SO happy to see the smiling faces of friends and family, thank you guys so much for welcoming us home. Olivia can't wait to play with Ella (who welcomed her to town so graciously! what a sweetie she is!!) and the other new friends she has yet to meet. And I just have to say a very special thank you to Luanne who took care of us so well at the airport! We even got a congratulations from the pilot on the plane! We also loved our welcome sign and flowers, thanks you tuesday night guys! And thank you auntie Maria for the perfect fitting hat, it was much needed on our drive home and Olivia even left it on her head!

When we got home, Olivia ran around the house like a mad woman, laughing and smiling and so excited! She also spent a little time getting to know grandma and grandpa. It was so precious to see her warm up to them pretty quickly. By the time grandpa had to leave to take John back to the airport (as he had one more flight today, back to San Diego) she was giving hugs to grandma and grandpa (and she does not give out hugs lightly!). Pretty special.

This evening, as we were getting ready for bed, I put on some music and we rocked a little bit. As we rocked, the tears just came and came! After 3 1/2 years of waiting and preparing her room, she is finally here. There were so many times during the wait that I was close to giving up, thinking it would never really happen. But then it did, and she is amazing and she is exactly who God created for me. And me for her. Now I am a mother. And Olivia is a daughter, and a granddaughter, and a neice. It kind of blows me away.