Finally Home!

After two December 26ths and the longest flight ever, we are finally home! We had the whole local extended family including mom's BFF Sandra and her daughter, Rebecca meet us at the airport. Thanks to Rebecca, pctures of the homecoming are to come!
I will try and post more about the trip in the upcoming days. It was a joyous time with some very frustrating moments. That and taking two pep.tos a day doesn't keep you from getting ill, no matter what your doctor or the RQ posters say! =)

Ellie appears to be adjusting well to everyone, and slowly to Bernie and Gracie.
A couple of quick notes before I follow my little sleeping angel and go to bed (it's a belated Christmas Eve here for our family!)

Rumors for my February LIDder's of referrals to the 28th! That would be two months of children referred this year. What a long wait for both parents and little ones! Hoping that the stork will fly this way soon with news of your babies!

While I was gone, my parents lovingly babysat my dogs, raked leaves, vacuumed tons of dog hair, stocked the fridge and decorated with recent pictures of Ellie so I would arrive to clean and happy house. Thank you! Even the dogs seem to be barking less. Amazing!
Thank you to Shane for going with me and providing so much support and teaching Ellie how to laugh at bodily noises and put her pants on her head. =)
Thank you to his wife, D. and my niece and nephew for letting him go with me to China for so long.
Also while I was gone, Matt and our friend Michelle painted a mural on Ellie's wall. It is amazing and the pictures don't do it justice. I waited til Ellie went to bed to take pictures and the lighting, well, I'll try again in the morning. It's just such a cool 3D mural and an awesome surprise that I wanted to post. The mama has green eyes (like me) and the baby, brown eyes. The real bamboo is the coolest. Thank you both for such a wonderful, beautiful surprise!
Thanks also to all of you who read and posted while we were away. It was great to read your notes while so far from home.