Saturday, June 25, 2011

Home Sweet Home!!!

It's always so sweet to come home! 
But it is even sweeter to stand in your driveway,
holding the newest member of our family -
looking forward at the house 
with a bit of fear in his eyes.

and tell him -
"This is your house,
this is where our family lives!"

and have him examine the house,
then look at me with those big brown eyes.
And then
flash me that heart-melting smile,
and those gorgeous dimples,
and begins to giggle that 3 year old giggle!

God is sooo good!
~~~~~~~

We finally got home about 5pm last night!
Ohhh it was so sweet to hear the pilot over the PA say,
"We will be landing in Dallas in 20 minutes!"
Tears began to flow at that moment. 
We are so excited to have our boys home and ready to begin 
our life together as a family,
learning about each other and from each other.


After we introduced all the kids to each other -

(do you think Donovan is loved at all?)
and the boys loved on Daddy again,
and Elijah ran cirlces around the baggage claim thingy -
we said good-by to Uncle JB.
(He is flying back home this morning, so he had booked a hotel near the airport)
My brother was incredible on this trip!
For a guy who doesn't have kids -
wow - he was amazing! 
If he hadn't of come with me,
the boys and I would have been in the room in Addis
for the whole trip.  
I couldn't of done it without you Jay! 
Thank you soo much!
(thank you for the photos Courtney!!
So glad you were able to join us!)

We then had been invited to dinner at Valerie and Gary's house!
It was so wonderful to see them and our friends the Day's!

The kids played in the backyard, 
the adults chatted,
the adults played...
(no playing photos - the kids were too fast!!!
having a wonderful time after such a long 2 days airplane trip!)

and yummy special, beautiful dessert!

We even got to sing "Happy Birthday to Donovan Pilatos"
a little belated but I think he enjoyed it!

it was soooo relaxing to see some of my girlfriends!
It really gave me some more energy for what could be a rough first night.
and it was great for the kids to bond in a relaxed setting -
Jailyn didn't have to "mother" them too much. 


but she did enjoy eating cake with them!


On our way home,
the boys fell asleep!
To me this is great that they were relaxed enough to rest,
even in the car seats and buckles which they hate!

When we got home Jailyn, Jorja and Conner took 
Donovan Pilatos into the house to show him the playroom.
He was very excited to be home,
and acted like he had lived here all his life.

Elijah Wudase hung with me and Dad getting luggage and 
such out of the car.
A bit more timid 
(which normally isn't the case with these two)

They played with trucks, balloons 
(that friends had brought over for us and ones they had brought home from 
Ms. Valerie's) balls...

and mom - well,  
I took a shower!!!! 
It had been a long time and I was quite stinky!!!

We then prepared them for bed,
brushing teeth, pj's...  taking time introducing the dogs to them...
and story time.

The boys had no interest at first,
but Jorja and Jailyn were wonderful examples for them and sat nice and quiet
to show them how we are to act and they quickly caught on to the routine.

All four littles sleep in the same room, 
so again Jorja and Jailyn showed by example to get to bed and sleep.
Donovan Pilatos feel asleep immediately,
Elijah Wudase had a little harder time as he wanted to sleep with his brother,
but brother was having nothing of that -
as he was enjoying his own bed!

And all slept through the night!
At least I did - I guess I'll hear from Bryan if he
was up with them!

Thank y'all for your prayers through out the journey.
As this chapter has just begun.

I will retract for the next few days on our trip to Ethiopia -
for those who want to hear how things went and what we 
did while in Ethiopia -
and I will give try to give updates for y'all too!

I sure missed my bloggy friends!
and can't wait to get caught up with y'all and your last week!


9 comments:

Naomi said...

Beautiful! Just beautiful! I am still processing that you wrote this from Texas and the boys have already been in the family and friends circle of activity.

Jodi,you remain an example of faith,patience and trust!

Anita said...

YAY, PTL and WELCOME HOME!!! I'm so glad to hear how they are transitioning into home and their first night in their beds....praying it continues, too!! You know you are loved when even Mark is asking about ya'll! LOL!! Gotta chat when you get rested up so we can plan a day down to see ya'll. HUGS!!

Musings from Kim K. said...

I'm so glad I was able to see this post before we left for our unplugged vacation. I'm just so happy for your family and can't wait to get caught up on everything in a week. Beautiful pictures! Beautiful family!

Sharon said...

Congratulations and welcome home! I've been following along, but not sure I've ever commented. So happy for you all!

Sherri said...

Jodi, you are an example of faith. Wow, I so love your photos of your family, the boys are so precious and i'm looking forward to all the upcoming post on how their doing! I'm so very happy for you. I can't wait to experience the love for children around the world. Absolutely beautiful family!
love,
Sherri

Shonni said...

I am so GLAD FOR you to have your babies home! And everyone looks so happy and comfortable. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

Naomi said...

Hi Jodi,

I have been meaning to ask what kind of vehicle you have that will carry 9 people. A friend has 6 kids and they had a very hard time finding an 8 passenger van.

Maybe you will just have to use two vehicles to get everyone everywhere? No matter what, I am sure it will not be a problem!

Cindy Evans said...

Been following your facebook and blogs. Many prayers sent your way! What an amazing story. I know God will lift you up over this next chapter of transition. You are certainly called to do his work!

Amie said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE these pics!!! Makes my heart smile big to see those sweet litle boys home with their peeps!! just SO AWESOME!! Welcome Home! cannot wait to hear about your trip!!

hugs~
Amie

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