All things new

Revelation 21:5 NKJV

Then he who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

 

 

This verse and shortly there after the Steven Curtis Chapman song, “All things new” have been jumping through my mind all day. And I would have to say that this theme pretty much summed up our day today as we spent our first full day together as a family. Jack, Ian, and Chloe spent the entire day showing her EVERYTHING in the house. Every toy, everything in their closets and all the new stuff we have for her.  From this little girl's perspective it truly is all things new. A new world, new family, new beginning to life. I just pray that someday she has another new beginning in Christ.

 Last night when we got home and got her ready for bed, we weren’t sure what Camellia would want to do for sleep. We set up a cot in our room but obviously, Nicki had Camellia's room all decorated perfectly for a little girl. When I picked her up and asked her if she was ready for bed, she pointed to her bedroom. I showed her the cot in our room; she shook her head no and pointed to her big beautiful bed. So Nicki and I put her to bed in her big bed!

 

 

So how bad was the flight? Really not that bad considering all we went through leading up to the event. Indeed it was Exhausting, Emotional, Stressful and full of Extreme Anxiety. Since my flight was so long I asked my doctor if I could have a prescription for air sickness just in case.. So I was prescribed 2 patches. One patch for the flight there and one for the flight home. On the way over to China, I noticed that part way through the flight I couldn’t see well enough to read my iPhone. I also couldn’t see well enough to watch a movie. I then felt very strange and was constantly thirsty. When I got to the hotel, I continued to feel this way well into the next morning. So on the flight home, I noticed that about 2 hours into the flight, my vision had blurred, I was extremely thirsty, and this time, was suffering with extreme anxiety. I then started sweating and itching all over from being so anxious. As I scratched my neck, I remembered the patch!! I quickly removed it and remembered that anxiety and blurred vision were some of the side effects my doctor warned about. About an hour after this, I noticed the symptoms were going away but I now had a bad headache. So I took something for the headache and by the time I reached Seoul I was pretty much back to normal. Otherwise, the trip was relatively quiet. We had a few meltdowns on the plane but that was to be expected considering the lack of sleep and 22 hour flight plan.

Here she is waiting on her first airplane ride!

 

 

And here she is 1/2 way through this first 4 hour flight. Little did she know she had 20 hours left.

Looking down and saying bye bye to China one last time.

 

And finally on the 12 1/2 hour flight, she fell asleep.

And she slept like this across 2 seats for a little over 5 hours. We were so lucky to only have the 2 of us in the 3 row seating we were in. As a result, we had an extra seat to stretch out in. During her nap, I also slept. I woke up at one point by hearing a large thump. I looked around and she was gone! Camellia had rolled out of the seats and onto the floor. I picked her up expecting to hear screaming and she was still asleep! So I laid her back down and she slept another 2 hours. Now that's what I call a deep sleep!

 

Homecoming:

It was an awesome feeling to finally be home and unite everyone. I'll simply upload photos to share and I won't say much here other than we serve an awesome God!

 

 

 So how does she do with Nicki? Pictures tell the story;

 

 

Today Camellia seems to really be doing well with Ma Ma and the kids. She's a little tired of me today and pushes me away and even tries to hit me. Except, right after dinner she wrestled with me on the floor for a good 1/2 hour or so. All of the kids joined in and it was a blast! She had a good time.

 

Evening:

While the kids are getting their baths and getting ready for bedtime, I spent part of the day reading over the blog today and catching up on pictures. A whole flood of emotions came over me as I reread some of my blog posts. Now I know why Tammy and Deanna were crying so much when they read them .J We will keep updating the blog throughout the week and into the future so keep checking back. A lot of appointments this week to get everything in before I head back to work. So we will keep everyone posted.

 

So our journey doesn't end here as we now have a lifetime ahead of us as we:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. -Psalm 100:4

 

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