Tuesday, July 10, 2007

We made it!!



Eliot taking his shoes off to go through security...


Eliot was so sweet at the airport!


They're actually letting us get on the plane! No one was running after us to stop us!



There happen to be an empty seat in between Lisa and I!! So great!

We spent 4 hours in immigration. Yikes.

Where to begin???? Well, after leaving the hotel at 6:15 a.m., we finally arrived home at 10:30p.m. Eliot was a trooper and I have no doubt that his favorite part of the day was the hour that Lisa and I RAN through the airport from concourse to concourse as our flight (that we were already hours late for thanks to immigration) had been delayed and we kept being told to go to another gate and we had 15 minutes to get there. (It's a long story!) He was in the jogging stroller and kept raising his hands and squeeling like he was on a roller coaster as I darted in between hundreds of other travelers. We still don't have our luggage yet but we have very little to complain about. We had quite the welcome home party at the airport. There were balloons, signs, gifts and most importantly the faces of family and friends I hadn't seen in months. I was so blessed to get to hug them and speak to them face to face. How amazing and good for the heart! AND...they all got to meet a very sleepy but happy new American citizen!

So, I'm home now. Eliot's sleeping in his ever-so-spacious crib, the dogs are running under my legs, and Russ is reinstalling the car seat for our trip to Target. It should feel weird but instead it just feels right. I've had moments of temporary amnesia where I couldn't remember where my pajamas were and had to look in two cabinets before I remembered where our bowls were, but I'm surprised at how normal and fitting it feels to see Eliot here. He's interacting with all our visitors like he's known them all along and is happily crawling in and out of his nursery like it's normal for all his stuff to be in there. Russ and his parents welcomed me home by taping some random groceries together like at the Bodegona. Oh, memories!

There was a moment last night when Russ looked at me in the car and said, "It's over, it's really over" and we looked at Eliot. He was smiling and pointing as he looked out the window of the car at St. Louis. Moments like that define the state of my heart.

Thank you to everyone who called or emailed to say welcome home. Each message makes the experience even richer. Thanks to all who came to the airport and waited it out to see us come home. Thanks to my Antigua family who sincerely wished me well, I miss you guys so much already. Thanks to Allie for coming this morning and helping me organize my dishelvedness and for bringing me Bread Co to the airport. (I feel like I should thank the academy...this is getting out of hand...)Okay, I'll quit and just add a bunch of pics to this.

Sorry it took so long to get this up on the blog! Thanks for being patient!!


The crowd!! (including a news crew from Fox2 news! What?!)



Eliot's shirt reads, "Sorry to have kept you all waiting".

The fam!


Quite a long day for Little Man! He did great though!


Eliot at home this morning, enjoying his new world!



Oh, the joy.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

So as usual...OH THE TEARS!!! I guess in away seeing all these pictures made it even harder to think that I wasn't there!!! I am more than ready to actually be there with you guys.

Love you guys and I am SSSOOOO READY for Saturday morning around 8am.

Megan said...

so are you going to be ON fox news anytime soon?

Anonymous said...

Goose bumps all over!!!

Erin said...

Like Amanda said, the tears are rolling down my cheeks yet again. I'm so glad it's over for you. YOU HAVE A SON!!!! forever. he's really, really, REALLY yours.

how amazing is that?

poshiggity said...

wish I could have been there to celebrate with you all (and I wish I could have hoped on over to see you all when I was in El Salvador). You both look faithful. That may sound weird, but there's belief in your eyes, and that's encouraging. Congrats.

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy for you! How good it must feel to have him home. I would love to come meet your little guy sometime. Congratulations! Michelle Witt

Anonymous said...

oh I LOVED reading this!!! I'm so happy for you guys =)Can't wait to meet you all...Mary Margaret

Blessed Mommy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blessed Mommy said...

oh my WORD!!! i have been hitting refresh about a thousand times since you left -- COULD NOT wait for those pics.. and they are better than i could have imagined. Matt and I read the post together and we were both tearing up, thinking about how awesome our GOD is! btw, you are the cutest mom (getting off the plane) ever.. El will be proud to show his girlfriend someday ;) He looks perfect in his bedroom and his new house! Loved seeing you in the Target aisles -- the best!! Miss you already!!

Anonymous said...

Glad you made it home safely. I actually caught it on the news. Congratulations again.

heather said...

Wow. Just wow.
And to think I actually thought I'd be safe from tears on your blog now. Amazing Katie, it's just all so amazing. We are so happy you guys had a (relatively) smooth trip HOME and that you are so enjoying being back with your loved ones and in your own home. And that you are able to share all of that with Eliot. And Target of course!

I just wanted you to know we're still thinking of you and praying for you and praising for you! Hope to see you sometime, now that we're "neighbors"! We have as many new sights to see as little Eliot, so maybe we can plan an outing together some time.

Anonymous said...

Thank God..... another entry (and of course the best one yet!) to satisfy my Mohr blog addiction. I am so happy for you. It's great to have Eliot on my TIVO as a star on his first FULL day as an American. How great is that??!! Love ya--
Z :-)

K.M.L said...

So exciting that you are finally here!!!! Mike and I (and Jack too) are SO happy that you are all home!

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord! It does my heart good to see these photos! A news crew??? What?!?! How amazing is that?! We miss you like crazy here in Antigua. Love you guys! ~Sharon and Bella

Anonymous said...

We are so happy for the three of you!! We're glad we had the opportunity to share your special homecoming with you at the airport. Wouldn't have missed it for the world! You guys are amazing people and we love you!!!

Alton, Amanda, Dakota, and Ali

P.S. How did El like the frog?

Anonymous said...

I am SO happy for you guys! It's been a long time coming and I wish I could have been there to see you guys! Guess you'll just have to plan that trip to Michigan. You're still in my prayers as you adjust to life at home and the joys and trials of raising a little boy! Congrats!!!

Kellie

Deb said...

Josh and I are SO excited you are home...we had hoped to see you at the airport as we flew in from Minneapolis, but our flights were delayed as well and we assumed you had come and gone already! Our hearts are overflowing with joy and praise for our God who is so good...

Anonymous said...

I am so happy for you and Russ and Eliot! I can't stop smiling (and a little misting of the eyes too!) I am also very excited and very impressed that you posted after only being home 1 day :) I love hearing how you all are doing! And the news? WOW!! Enjoy "forever" !! :)

Maria Cross

Anonymous said...

He looks right at home in that Target shopping cart! Congrats on a long journey that you have just completed and the long journey you are about to begin! As you know, each step in the journey is better than the last!

I am so happy for you guys and I hope to see you soon!

cuzin' Tad

Laurie said...

Welcome home Mohrs! I'm so glad PGN and KO's and pink slips are all behind you! How blessed we both are to be GuateMamas!

Laurie
Met your MIL in the Dr. Office in LR! :)

Rebecca and Shannon said...

Katie, Eliot, Russ...I am a mess of sappy tears here in Antigua...what a joyous welcome that you all so richly deserved! God bless you. I don't even know what else to say, it's so amazing that you are finally home...just that Owen, Shannon and I love you and can't wait to hang out in STL--our 2 American-Guate families!

Anonymous said...

so fun to see you guys home! even though i don't know you, i've been cheering for you guys the whole way! -k powell (in dallas)

Anonymous said...

All I can say is HOORAY!!!

Mailee

Nicole said...

Hi Katie, I found your blog through Heather Morrison (I'm her friend from Michigan), and I just wanted to say WELCOME HOME. I have tears in my eyes seeing your arrival pictures. (it probably won't surprise you that I cry when I watch Adoption Stories on TLC). What a long and frustrating journey you've all been through (I've been following for a few months now), but just look at that SWEET little guy, so worth it.

Welcome home and ENJOY TARGET!! I'd be missing it so much too!!

Lance and Heather said...

There was a moment last night when Russ looked at me in the car and said, "It's over, it's really over" and we looked at Eliot. He was smiling and pointing as he looked out the window of the car at St. Louis. Moments like that define the state of my heart.

This is the paragraph that got me. It put a big ole lump in my throat and tears are still running down my cheeks in excitement and amazement for you guys! I'm so sad we couldn't be there to greet y'all at the airport but so happy to hear that you are finally home! Your family of 3 is precious! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

I'm Owen's Aunt Shawnna...and Rebecca guided us to your blog through her last post. As I've written to her before, the tears are streaming down my face and dropping on the keyboard as I look at the pictures of this beautiful child and family. God's blessings to you!

Anonymous said...

Man, I'm seriously excited to see the little tike.

Anonymous said...

YEAH!!! I am so happy that you guys are finally all together forever... at home! We miss you guys like crazy. Cesar says "Ot" every morning... :)

Tnikl said...

Ya'll look like stinkin' movie stars and it sounds like ya'll were too!

We love ya'll are are sooo pumped to see ya'll VERY SOON!

Love, Love, Love...

The Mitchell Gang

Aaron said...

We are so happy for you three. We wish we could have been at the airport to meet you. Hopefully we can meet Eliot soon and introduce him to our little guy. We will continue to pray for you and your family.

Aaron, Alisha, and Micah Cobb