Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Patty, Caleb, Danae (daughter-in-law), Logan, Drew and Annika!
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
So I have also dedicated her to the Lord; as long as she liveth she is dedicated to the Lord. I Samuel 1:27 - 28
We are finally home. I do not want to see the inside of an airplane for a very long time. Annika did as well as can be expected for being on 3 planes, going through immigrations, security and being shuffled through an airport all day long. We had 14 adoptive families on our plane from Beijing to Chicago and when we touched ground they announced on the loud speaker that we now have 14 new U.S. Citizens that were traveling on our plane today. As I was looking around the plane with tears running down my face. I saw that every adoptive parent was crying as well. What a wave of emotion to have traveled across the world to bring a precious China Jewel home to stay.
This is so weird. We left Beijing at 5:30 p.m on Friday Dec. 28th....we traveled over 16 hours on 3 planes and landed in Chicago at 4:40 p.m on Friday Dec. 28th.
We did not get to bed til around 3 a.m the first night and then I got only an hour of sleep. We are working on getting her nights and days straightened out. She is definitely on China time. Last night I was up with her from 2:30 a.m. and she finally went back to bed at 10:00 a.m. This will never do... ;o)
She is so sweet and I am still pinching myself. As I watched her on the airplane I couldn't help but think to myself that this little girl will now have a future. She will hear about Christ and she will be able to live a free life. What an awesome responsibility lies ahead of us to rear her and what a tremendous joy it will be to us each and every day.
We were so happy to see the boys at the Pittsburgh Airport. Caleb and Danae had come in from Texas that morning and truth be told....I started crying when we boarded the plane at Chicago O'Hare and never stopped til I saw them waiting for us. So good to be back with family again, so absolutely wonderful.
And yes, I know I've talked about the squatty potties alot during this trip, but I could not believe it......the Beijing Airport (and this is a huge, modern airport), I walked in and yes, a whole row of squatty potties. No Way was I using them any more!!! Where were those Western Toilets???!!!
We were able to celebrate Christmas with my family this afternoon and it was so nice looking forward to my mom and grandma's ham, mashed potatoes, suet pudding etc., lunch. Annika got to sit on my brother's lap and it was so sweet how she kept staring at him and then when we put her in his lap she just looked up at him but did not cry. She was not afraid of the wheelchair and that was really nice to see.
Annika got her first tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa Ferry. Yes, she's a bit too small for the pedals, but she loved being pushed around in it as long as she could keep her fingers in her mouth and hang on with the other hand.
The other presents, she took them out of the plastic boxes, threw the toys on the floor and played with the boxes. She is a typical baby.
The older brothers are doing wonderful with her. It was so precious to see Drew taking ahold of her hands and walking her around the house. They have been told to just come over and take her, she will get used to them and she will decide for herself who is the funniest to play with. When she cries Steve or I take her back just for security.
My boys are having fun playing with all the baby toys again probably as much as Annika is.
It was so cute last night. When I was sitting in her bedroom with her playing at 3 in the morning. She took her little pointer finger and just pointed at everything in the room. I said, "that's Annika's bed, that's your nightlight, there's a changing table..." I am trying to keep remembering that this little girl came from an orphanage, she has not seen a deer, let alone a deer head hanging on the wall, she has never seen the mounds of toys that we have for her, she has never tasted any of the new baby foods that I am giving her. It is so neat to see everything through her little eyes again.
I will continue our website on the side where it says BLOG. I will not be updating it everyday, there is just alot going on right now. But I will definitely try a couple of times a week and more if I can. I am thinking about putting our BLOG on password protected for privacy sake for our family and especially for little Annika.
If you would like to receive the password please e-mail me privately and I would be glad to give it to you.
Thank you again for sharing our truly wonderful journey to China and home again. Our journey has just begun and I am excited to keep you up to date on our progress and how Annika changes throughout the years to come.
I truly hope that you and your family have a wonderful New Year. I know that we will.
