Welcome Home Meili....

We are finally home and it feel so amazing to be here and back together as a family. We had an incredible journey in China and feel so blessed to be able to start another chapter in our lives. The flight home was long (over 20 hours) and Meili slept maybe 3 hours of the flight....if even that....and I got zilch sleep. Russel probably got about 3 hours. We then had about 8 hours before going to bed that night. We couldn't believe Meili and how well she handled everything on such little sleep. We arrived at the airport in SLC and were just so grateful to be done with the airplanes. We told Meili as we got on the last flight in Seattle that we just had 1 more airplane. She did amazingly well. She had her moments where she cried....one time she cried for about 25 minutes until we figured out she just needed a drink. But for the most part, we thought she did great! As we came down the escalator into the baggage claim area, we caught a glimpse of the kids holding up signs and wearing their shirts with Meili's picture. It was an emotional moment. Abi came running up the stairs to us and we all started crying. I'm not sure Meili really knew what was going on. I kept telling her to look on the kids shirts and see who was on them. I think by the time we got down the escalator she had a pretty good idea that we were finally home and that her brothers and sister were here to meet her. Grandma and Grandpa Hansen were there and Aunt Gina with little Brookey. It was awesome!! Gina even brought a stroller for Meili to be in while we got the luggage and walked to the car. Her husband thought she was silly to bring me a stroller for such a short walk but man I was grateful. Meili even let Josh push her. She was pretty shy at the airport and we told the kids to not overwhelm her and just let her have some space......that didn't work all that well but she didn't seem to mind. We put her in the carseat which she acted like a pro in. No fits or fussing. As we reached grandma's, we saw balloons hanging from the mailbox and a beautiful Welcome Home Meili sign on the front porch. It felt so good to be home. By the time we got in the door, Meili hit the ground running with the kids. She was jumping up and down, playing, chasing, laughing, etc. It was wonderful.....in fact I even got to catch an hour nap while she played....I don't think she even came to check up on me or see where I was. It was awesome to see all the kids just loving every second of being together.

We played at Grandma's for awhile and then left for Logan around 8:00 p.m. and Meili crashed hard just as we were coming into Cache Valley. As we arrived home, we were greeted by more balloons on our mailbox put there by a dear friend. It was wonderful to feel the love and support and oh so awesome to be home!!! We got Meili out of her carseat and into the house and she was off for the races again. Her cute silly personality was coming out strong again....even with no sleep. She was running around the house, exploring every room and having such a good time. At around 11:00, we finally got her settled down a little and got her ready for bed. We took her into her bedroom and then showed her all the kids bedrooms and where they were sleeping (which are all very close together). I wondered about how she would react to sleeping in her own room, etc. She put up a little fuss and kept pointing to Abi's room but then she laid right down and went to sleep and didn't wake up for 13 hours.....at which point I couldn't handle the kids begging anymore and I let them go in and wake her up.

It's been amazing to have her home with us and see the love between the children. Of course they fight over her every second and at lunch yesterday there were four sets of hands trying to offer her bites of food but school is starting next week so we are just cherishing every moment we have until then. She is just loving the kids and sometimes I wonder if she thinks Abi is her second mother. Things are crazy and overwhelming right now but we are just trying to enjoy every moment we can as a family. Just the little things.....family dinner, family prayers, summer nights with the kids playing, a giggle, a kiss, a sweet embrace.....that's what it's all about. We couldn't be more grateful for our little family and the joy they bring to us. Meili seems very happy and for that we are truly grateful. We love her little spirit and can't imagine life without her. Thank you all for your love and support, it has strengthened us and lifted us. We thank our Heavenly Father everyday for giving us the opportunity to love and care for this little angel. I want to share a quote I read this week. It sums up how we feel and what we have experienced and seen over the last several months. "We do not know the future, but our Father in Heaven does, and He will lead and guide us if we let Him. When we are in tune with the Spirit, we will see many small miracles happen in our lives...." (Ronald T. Halverson). We are so grateful for our knowledge and love of our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ has brought us true happiness and we will forever be grateful that he led us to our sweet little girl. Our lives will never be the same.