Just before taking off the captain came on and said that the entertainment system for the plane had been dismantled and so there would be no inflight movies or music or anything for the duration of the flight. (Groans and moans) The captain said I hope you brought books and things to entertain yourselves because its going to be a long flight. We began our journey home and little Sarah was simply amazing. I knew I would be learning many lessons from this child and the first was about to begin, she knew about entertaining herself, she simply took the little bag out of the seat compartment and opened it up and took the couple of little toys she had and would put them in the bag and dump them out then in the bag and dump them out. This simple thing kept her busy for a very long time. I thought to myself how that in our society we have become accustomed to the need for entertainment, movies, video games and the latest toys and gadgets. We live in such a fast paced society always go go go and we so often forget about the simple things. We have so many distractions that take us away from the basics and remembering that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Her life has been very simple, no frills and of course it only made sense that she would find joy in the little things. She slept for a while and ate a few snacks and enjoyed a few walks, only fussing a couple of times for probably less then 5 minutes each time. Before long we were in Canada, we were all tired but we still had a 4 hour layover before we could board another plane home. We also had to go through immigration in Canada, we had alot of paperwork for Sarah, we had thought we would be doing that in Salt Lake City but were told we needed to do it there in Canada, they actually have immigration there that has a sign saying welcome to the USA and so we were sent over to that area where we handed over our carefully guarded papers and waited. We were actually glad we could do it in Canada since that would take up some of our time we were waiting for our flight and that also meant we didn't have to worry about it later and could just go home. We should receive a certificate of citizenship for Sarah in about 45 days.
Sarah fell asleep just before we boarded our flight for home, we had to go outside to board the plane and it was really cold and snowing, I carried her oh so carefully hoping I wouldn't trip up the stairs to the plane. We were treated like VIPS and taken to the plane before anyone else was allowed to board. She remained sleeping the entire flight home. She is so very good!
We got off the plane, made a restroom stop and headed to meet Sam and Megan and our friends Brenda and Madeline. I could look down and see them standing and waiting for us, I heard them call out,"Here they come." I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes and that lump that has become very familiar back in my throat again. The elevator doors opened and the tears started to fall, what a joyous homecoming, we were back and our family was waiting with joy, anxiousness and excitement to greet us. I hugged everyone and then all eyes were on the newest Sirrine family member, Sarah was quiet and reserved, not quite sure of what was really going on, she remained cautious. Luggage was gathered and off to the cars we went. Sarah gave Sam a few smiles in the car and she rode for the first time in a carseat and was once again just so good. We arrived home to find pink and white balloons and a banner across the top of the garage that in big letters said, "Welcome Home Sarah" more ballons and streamers inside the house. Chad and Heather had been busy decorating and they brought Sarah welcome home gifts, lots of cute hairbows, a cute hat and there was even a couple boxes of my favorite girl scout cookies sitting on the table. Yes, it was so good to be back home, once again surrounded by family, my greatest treasure and joy. And finally Sarah was home, prayers were answered and I stood with so much gratitude in my heart for the blessings I had received. Sarah surprised me as she got down from my arms and walked over to Sam and held her arms out to her. Sam picked her up and held her tight, this time the tears were streaming from not only my eyes but Sam's also, she has waited so long to hold her sister and suddenly it was happening. Sarah also quickly went to Heather and before the night was over had gone to Megan as well. It might take her a little while to warm up to the men in the family but you can bet it won't be long before she has stolen their hearts and has them wrapped around her finger.
She was very frightened of Jack, our dog, but by the next morning she was bossing him around.
Jack has been so good, he was so sad while we were gone, Sam and Meg said he just sat by the garage door waiting for us to come home and kind of moped around, he was so happy to see us, I was a little worried that he would not like Sarah very much as she was invading his territory, but he has been very kind and gentle with her.
We have now been home for 5 days, still feeling a little jet lagged but Sarah is doing wonderful. We are still trying to bond and work on attachment to make sure she knows she is loved, has a family who will always be there for her and never leave her and help build a solid foundation for her. So much for her to take in, so many firsts for her. I so enjoy being with her everyday, so much fun for our family to see her laugh and smile and reach out to us. So great to see her learn new things. And now what you've all been waiting for, more pictures.
1 comment:
How exciting, again I am so happy for your family!
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