Travel Home Day and 1st Day Home

The flying home experience was brutal. Not the flying, we flew mostly with Korean Air and they are outstanding. The airport experience in Vladivostok was not good. We do not have fond memories of that airport. Milo wanted us to be there very early. We left almost 4 hours before takeoff time. I typically would tease him about being so anal about this (being at the airport extremely early). In fact, I teased him about it more than once. As it turns out, it was a good thing. We got there early but had to wait for customs to open. We sat there for an hour until it opened. Then it was a mad rush to get into this small door into the security section. It was like Black Friday in there! We had to get 6 people in (we were first in line by a half hour)and people were trying to cut in front of us. We were one of the first, but then one of the last to get through. We don't know what the holdup was but she worked on our tickets for almost an hour. Everybody else went through one line and got through in the amount of time it took to get us through. Unbelievable! All three kids are going nuts. Finally we get through customs and get to go to passport control. Something was an issue there too! It only took 20 to 30 minutes to get through, but it should only take 2 minutes max. They had to see all our paperwork for the boys to make sure it was all legit. Again, nobody speaks English in the airport so we are all guessing as to what is happening. All three kids are now on melt down and the trip hadn't started yet! Then after waiting about a half hour, we boarded. (Not after getting shuttled 30 feet to the airplane again)

Once on the plane, the kids all did incredible. Silas loved the airplanes and wanted to look out the window most of the time. Even on the 3rd flight, he was happy to be flying. Sawyer did pretty well except when Julie went to the bathroom. Kelsey entertained herself much of the time. It couldn't have gone much smoother for the actual flying. Sawyer slept off an on but not continuously. Silas slept about 4 hours on the 2nd flight and about an hour on the 3rd. However he didn't eat anything. We found out later he was running a temperature. So his attitude was great, especially if you consider that he had a fever. We were all exhausted when we got back. We gave all the kids baths and sent them to bed. The slept past noon. (Weren't in bed until almost 1am.)

When we got to the MN airport, we were greeted by Julie's brother Dave and his family (Necia, Darien and Keona). They had balloons and gifts for us. It was really cool to see them and for them to meet the boys...even if it was a short visit. Then we got home and found an extremely clean house, clean dogs, and welcome home gifts. Thanks everybody! You know who you are. That was really awesome. Our fridge and freezer was filled with food. You all blessed us so much. Thanks a ton.

The first day home was good. Two boys pretty overwhelmed and still tired. They were in a daze like the rest of us. Our bodies don't know what time it is (thus my posting at midnight). They haven't quite been themselves yet. They are doing well but they are very insecure about everything. Happy but insecure is how we would describe them. Silas is terrified of the dogs and loves the cat. Sawyer loves them all and constantly chases them. He is very gentle though. Karen (Julie's mom) is going to be a big help this week. We are trying to spend lots of time with them and there still needs to be meals made and messes cleaned up. The two boys seem pretty well adjusted but are very sad when one of us leaves to go do something. Sawyer mostly just for his mom, but neither seem to like when I'm gone either. It will be interesting to see how transitioning back to work a little at a time will go. Silas copied a ton of English today. He seems to be soaking it in. He is saying words we didn't even know he knew. Course, he doesn't say the words we know he knows. You know? Sawyer is speaking much more now too. They both ate well today and slept the best yet last night. (Course they were way low on sleep!) Sawyer also dove out of his crib somehow. That crazy houdini! He got a little bump on his head, but nothing even mildly serious. The day went very well.

It was a good day, but now it's time to try to get my body back on Minnesota time. We will try to get them to bed before 10:30 tomorrow night!

Thanks to everybody who was praying us through this process. We did it! Gods blessing of two little boys is now complete. We can hardly believe it's over, but we made it!

Please continue to pray for the boys transition as well as Kelsey's transition and our own! There are a lot of challenging times ahead. We are confident that God will see us through those times. He always does. Don't believe me? Go back and read the blog again...starting from the first visit! Our specific prayers for a sibling group ages 3 and 1 were answered. That is how powerful prayer is. Many people have been praying us through this whole process. We appreciate that so much. God's people praying is a powerful thing! This story is a testimony of what God did in our lives. Hopefully you believe in the power of prayer in your life. Do you have a big request of God? Do you believe that God answers prayer? Then ask and believe. We did. And we were shocked at what God did in our lives. But we shouldn't be. God is in the business of doing the unlikely and the impossible.

Thanks everyone for following along. I'll update the blog not nearly as often, but I will let you know how things are going for a while for those that are interested.

Again, we have been humbled, encouraged, blessed and touched by your interest and support.

Nate