We're Home!!!!!!
OK. Let me back up. The visit to the U.S. Embassy in Russia went without a hitch. There were about 6 families there with kids ready to head home (Micah was the cutest....ok, of course I would say that). The visit took about 1 1/2 hours, and then we were off to sightseeing again. We ventured to a place that was supposed to have been the summer home for czars and Peter the Great, but after walking around for a while and getting nothing but a "nyet" from people when we tried to ask how to get where we were going, we couldn't find it and headed back to downtown Moscow and walked a different route. I couldn't believe the expensive stores. Rodeo Drive in Moscow.
We got up early Saturday morning to pack and were down in the lobby for our pick-up at 9:30am for our flight leaving at 1pm. At 9:45 we started to worry. A quick call to our coordinator, and he informed us that our driver was going to be late. About 10:15. He eventually made it, apologized profusely (his alarm clock battery went dead and he overslept), and we were off. We made it through security with an hour to spare, and after a quick lunch we were on our way home.
Micah did very well on the plane. He slept about an hour out of the first two for his nap. Then he ate and played for a little while. At about 6 hours into the flight, we gave him a little sleepy help and made a makeshift bed out of the airplane blankets and pillows for him on the floor by our feet. It took him about an hour, and then he fell asleep. He didn't wake up until about 5 hours later when we were descending for landing at LAX. It was windy coming in, which made the ride a little more exciting, but we made it down safely. Then 1 3/4 hours in passport control and baggage getting his visa stamped and getting him entered into the country as an official U.S. Citizen. But coming out of the ramp and seeing the boys waiting for us was priceless. They ran from behind the barrier to greet us in the middle of the entryway, and there were many hugs all around. There's nothing that compares to that feeling. We had reunion time with family at Round Table Pizza ten minutes from the airport, and then drove home in the "new" van, a full family again plus one.
Transition has gone extremely well. We took him to Shelter Island in San Diego the day after we arrived (tradition since we did the same with Elijah when we got home 3 years ago) and played on the play equipment and looked at the boats (he decided that he doesn't like F18's when they take off though). Next day we went to the beach. He wouldn't go near the water and loved sucking on his sandy thumbs. Overall, it has been a pretty smooth transition. The boys love him, and he has taken to them very quickly. He even likes the dog (just doesn't know the difference between petting and clobbering on the head).
I was reminded today of the song Steven Curtis Chapman wrote after his child's adoption, "When Love Takes You In". The line "When love takes you home and says you belong here". "The loneliness ends and a new life begins". There is so much truth to that. While this feels like the end of Micah's adoption story, this is only the beginning of the story of his life. There are so many new things for him to experience. So many places to go where he never would have gone. So many things to do that he never would have had an opportunity to do. And, most importantly, starting his relationship with the Lord who brought him home...
Thanks for all your prayers. Now the real journey begins...
JP
