While Chase naps...

While Chase naps on our bed I can hear Braelyn tease Aus when he calls her French Fry…just like our friend in China! The night went fairly well but Chase and Aus decided it was morning at 4am only for the school closing calls to come in. Braelyn came to our room and did sleep in her nest next to me on the floor. When she kicked off her covers she fussed until I covered her up again. Today we are DETERMINED to put the beds up so both little ones have a space to sleep and let US SLEEP! Chase was snuggly but not as clingy all night. He fell asleep in my arms before putting him to bed and he even let Aus lay him down. We held our breath and it worked!


All morning he kept calling upstairs for Brianna not realizing she was in school so I took him to the bus stop to see where Braelyn went. He loved seeing the bus drive up and the driver just beamed at him! She was so happy to tell us how she heard about the little guy. As a trial we took him to dance class but had to wake him early from his nap. He had trouble moving in his winter coat, hat and mittens. My dear friend Susan gave me a winter coat, I’m blessed to have things from Rachel, Tonya, Sheri and Kathy! I gave most all of my kid clothes to friends over the years only to find I needed to start over and what a blessing to share things like this! Its like having sisters to pass things around with! I loved passing down stacks of little girl dresses to friends years ago then Lisa gave back a stack as did Terri…so we’ve made things go a long way!

We are making progress layer by layer here at home but I so wanted to mention all the kindness from friends who brought meals for the freezer! The C family left a bag with of treats, crayons and coloring book for each little one, the F and B family brought food as well and there is a huge box of juicy oranges and apples that make it so easy for me to just grab and share with the kids. At 4am yesterday I sat in bed snacking on an apple with two little mouths waiting for their bite at the apple…

And, all of you who have followed our journey, making comments and offering support have been what have kept us going! If we knew what we were going to face even just coming home, we really would have freaked! We haven’t had the time to explain the 32 hour ordeal. Believe me, it was not something anyone would look forward to if you knew just what you would have to do, in the amount of time, in the weary condition of your not so young body, with the amount of luggage you were hauling…and the mood of your travel companions. Poor Aus almost had a hissy fit when our first suitcase was 2.5 over the weight limit. Our friends got to average their 5 cases for 100 kg, but OUR airline had to be the one that wanted EACH case to weigh 20 kg. Here I am trying to calm my DH while unlocking and repacking our private belongings, dirty laundry and foreign treasures all in front of the line of other travelers waiting their turn. Thankfully our guide’s husband came along to assist our process and bridge the communication gap with the airline employee.

At least this time Aus didn’t say he wanted to get home…in the worst possible way! It was not nearly as challenging as last time!

Commercial break…time to dress the girls to go out in the snow…turn up the radio, grab a warm drink, check on the washer…

Well, Chase woke up but he’s letting Ba’ba hold him! And here comes the girls already…