Trip 1 Completed and The Dog Barn

Friday was the longest day in recorded history.  It started for us at 2:15 AM Rig@ time (which is 7 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone) when Kristie and I set our alarm to wake up and finish packing.  We woke the kids up at 3:00 and we were loaded up in our apartment manager's van by 3:30, and we were off to the airport in the rain.

We had three flights - 2 hr flight to Frankfurt with a short layover there, a 9 hour flight to Newark, NJ and our final 2 hour flight to Atlanta.  Considering such a long travel schedule, the kids did well.  Warrior slept for most of the long flight, but he was very restless for the portions of the flights that he was awake.  He got very upset each time our plane landed, that he couldn't just walk right off the plane.

All that aside, when we landed in Atlanta, we'd been awake for over 24 hours.  We were greeted by several families from our small group and several family members in Atlanta at the top of the escalators with posters and banners.  And despite the exhaustion, we were ecstatic to finally see everyone!  United lost one of our bags, so I had to have them put a trace on it (it was finally found and delivered to our home at 5 AM Sunday morning).

Saturday and Sunday were very rough as we tried to get our sleep schedules back to normal and as Warrior started to get adjusted to his new home.  We're trying to get him settled into our rules and routines.   He has no concept of a mom or a dad or a sister or a brother.  Warrior is a two-year old trapped inside of a six  year-old's body.  He is lacking developmentally due the environment he's grown up in.  He has health problems.  He has a very small frame.  He has scars on his face where kids in the orphanage have scratched him badly.  Everything he does, he does to test us and get on our nerves.  He wants to know what his boundaries are, and he yearns for reassurance that this is not a temporary arrangement.  But, Kristie and I are committed to showing him the love of Christ and our family and working through all of the bad junk.

We'd like to give a special thanks to Diane and The Dog Barn in Sharpsburg, Georgia, who kept our dog, Pepper, during the three weeks we were gone.  Pepper loves the attention that he gets and the fun that he has every time he has stayed at The Dog Barn.  Thanks to Diane also for taking Pepper to the vet for us when an insect stung him causing him to limp for a few days.  We couldn't ask for better arrangements for our furriest family member!

This boy loved his airplane food.

It's not Hawaii, but it'll do.

My super-Warrior-helper during the flights.

Back to soccer.  First night of practice was tonight (Monday).