Sunday, September 23, 2012

8-30 Our New Family


Here are some moments from August.  Smiles and laughter-- I'd say we're all adjusting well.


































8-1, Our Long Trip Home

Well, everyone, that's it for my journal.  The next day, we flew from Hong Kong to Tokyo, Tokyo to Seattle and Seattle to Denver.  Once we got home, you guessed it-- no time to keep a journal!  Here are the remaining photos to wrap up our amazing trip.


Now that the sun is up, you can see the bay off in the distance beyond the runways.  Now I have sailed in and out of Hong Kong, driven into and flown out of it, too.




Isn't Nikolas like a little parent watching his sleeping baby?


Shoes, shoes, shoes..... sleep-deprived or not, she still goes for the shoes.


Emalie will sit on anything that's the right butt-height.


Her first time in an airport.


Looking at it all in wonder.


"Um, folks....I'm really not sure what's going on here."


"...but if Nikolas is smiling then it must not be too bad."



The motion was more than she could handle awake....thank goodness!  Every mile and minute she sleeps is one less we have to keep her entertained.


This is the flight we came very close to missing.  Although we haven't lived in Seattle for  4 years now, it seemed awkward to be getting on a plane at Sea-Tac to go home.  If felt like we were already there.



Some prefer the mountains of Colorado, but I'd take the ones in the Pacific Northwest any day.  What  a sight!

We made it!  We all survived the flights home!
Welcome to Denver, Emalie!


Her first time EVER in a car seat.....how's this going to turn out?


"Keep feeding her cheerios, Nikolas, then maybe she won't realize she's strapped in."  (Afterall, wouldn't you rather be snuggled in Daddy's arms in a car (like in China) or buckled in tight to a carseat?!)


Hallelujah!!  She fell asleep during the 45-minute ride home.  (By the way, thanks Kim for not only house-sitting, but also chauffeuring us to and from the airport!  We owe you BIG TIME!!)

 Emalie's first moments in her new home:





This is my favorite photo.  For months, we've had Emalie's picture on our dining room table.  We've stared at her, talked to her and welcomed her into our hearts.  Now, 12 days, a gazillion miles and experiences later, this precious little girl is piddle-paddling around our house (her house) holding the very photo we fell in love with her by.  How symbolic.

"Wake up, daddy!  How could you possibly be tired?!  It's wake-up time in China!!"


I told you she'd sit on anything.  Here she is sitting on a volleyball!


We're discovering that she loves balls.  Here she is holding one of Nikolas' Pokeballs.


So in this photo, Emalie is the exact age Nikolas was when he wore the very same pajamas.
Only on Emalie, they're knee-highs!!
My what a big girl she is-- Nikolas was no little thing and she's even bigger than he was!
Welcome to our hearts, our home, our world, little girl. 
Oh, how we love you so!