Home Sweet Home - Together At Last

Words really can't describe what it felt like to land on American soil. Such a sense of relief filled me. We were finally safe. No one could take Isaiah and Laila from us.

Since we were arriving in the U.S. from another country, we had to go through Customs. That was actually a really good thing because we had to get our luggage and recheck it. I was able to get Isaiah some pants and shoes so he didn't look so pitiful when meeting everyone. Then we had the long line at Customs to wait in. We had all of our luggage along with holding the kids. My body has never hurt so much in my life. They had one person working and about 3oo of us in line. It was CRAZY!! Thankfully, the morning shift arrived after about 3o minutes of waiting.

As we approached the counter, my heart stopped beating. We handed the man our packet of info on Isaiah and Laila. We had been through so much at this point that I was ready for him to say,"You are missing this piece of paperwork and have to go back to Africa to get it." Honestly, that would not have surprised me. We had encountered so many obstacles in our process up to this point. That was not the case. He looked through everything and sent us to the Immigration Office. We didn't have to wait, Rick went right up to the counter. They looked through the papers and said, "Welcome Home." I get emotional right now even as I type this. WE MADE IT!! NO MORE WAITING!! NO MORE OBSTACLES!!

The minute we landed on U.S. soil, Isaiah and Laila became U.S. citizens. It was a profound moment, but so normal all at the same time. I think the Immigration office should throw a quick party for people bringing their babies home. After all that we had been through, we needed to celebrate. They could pull out the horns, have a little confetti falling from the ceiling, give us each a cupcake. Don't you think that would be a nice added touch?

Instead, we headed to our gate and celebrated our reentry into the U.S. with a little Starbucks. Nothing like a White Chocolate Mocha with Caramel Sauce after the adventure we just endured.

The first picture of Isaiah and Laila as U.S. Citizens!!

The flight from D.C. to Denver was fabulous. We were all so exhausted that we ALL slept the whole way. Laila slept on me, Isaiah slept in his seat, and Cody was excited to have a seat behind all of us. (I wasn't about to let Rick leave me alone with those kids!!)

I can't tell you what it is like to be away from my other 3 kids for over a month. Wow! I don't ever want to do that again. I was so ready to see them. I was so concerned that this experience might scar them for life. They were such troopers while we were gone. It was hard on all of us.

The kids watching for us to get off the plane

It was so amazing to be greeted at the airport by so many. We needed that community around us at that point. My mom was there and so many friends from our church. It was really a special moment. I just wanted to soak it all in. It was one of those "I will never forget this feeling for the rest of my life" moments.

Our Family Together At Last

One of my favorite pictures from that day!

Our Welcome Home Crew

We loaded up to head home. We had an hour drive from Denver. On the way home we stopped at Chick-fil-a to get some food for the road. That was yummy, too. That ride home seems like a blur. All the kids were talking 90 miles an hour. Isaiah was entertaining everyone saying, "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord" in his beautiful African accent. It was so good to be home.

Isaiah in his new bed, in his new room, in his new home!