First Day Home

Aidan was a pretty good traveler on the way home today. Or was it yesterday? Last night? I'm toast after a marathon trip. It hurts to think about it. 3 hours from Guangzhou to Beijing. 11 hours from Beijing to Seattle. He had his moments, but overall he did fine. He slept somewhat on both flights. In fact, on both flights he was out not long after the plane took off. Must have been something about the motion that lulled him to sleep.

Then came the moment when Aidan got to meet the rest of his new family live and in person. Here's Lily greeting her new brother. We all have a lot of adjusting to do, but I think things went quite well, all things considered. As soon as we got home, it didn't take long before Aidan and Lily were playing together. And Aidan seems very comfortable already with Julie. He let her hold him right away, comfort him when he fell, and he even let her put him to bed tonight. That was not always the case with Jan when we were in China. For example, no one else but me was allowed to push him in the stroller (unless we tricked him into thinking I was pushing, but as soon as he looked back the jig was up and I had to get behind the wheel again).

Here are the weary travelers at SeaTac International with Aidan's new sister. Jan was the right person for the job. Her parenting expertise, wisdom, and "mom instincts" were invaluable, not to the mention the fact that she is a great friend.

And here's the rest of the welcoming crew...Julie's mom and dad Marilyn and Marv, yours truly and his kids, my mom Wanda, Julie's brother John, and my aunt Sue. My mom and aunt arrived not long after our flight landed, so we were able to meet them at the airport.


And here's a shot of Julie and Aidan.

Julie and Lily had a scary moment on the way to the airport. Below you can see the aftermath. They were involved in a multiple car accident on the freeway. They escaped without a scratch, but Julie is still shaken up, as you can imagine. Of all days for something like this to happen!

And here's our own home version of the red couch photo. Okay, so it's brown. Whatever color it is, it feels great to be home with my family. And the story's not over (is it ever?). We'll keep you posted along the way on Aidan's progress with our family and give you updates on all his upcoming surgeries and treatments. Keep checking back. Thanks to all of you for following us, for your prayers, and for all your encouraging comments, whether they were here on our blog, on our Facebook pages, or on the phone. And now ... I'm going to bed.