what a week

i can't believe it is wednesday again.  the last week is one that is amazing, full of miracles & also, such a blur!  a blur of God's mighty hand & favor, that i just don't even have the words for!
last wednesday i waited in lena's region with her at the orphanage & in the hotel.  waiting on matt & olga to race around & get necessary documents that we really needed to get in that day.  well, we got them.  and when we did, we walked lena out of that orphanage then loaded into a van & drove through the night to kiev.  we were supposed to be in kiev for about a week & have embassy appointments that lasted 2 days.  well, our time in embassy lasted about 2 hours.  the consular helping us said things like "well, when you're lucky, you're lucky" & it was friday the 13th & he said "this is like opposite of friday the 13th for you".  we were amazed.  olga was amazed & by the first few hours of saturday morning we were leaving ukraine with our daughter!
lena traveled amazingly well!!!  a HUGE answer to prayer!!! sleeping was hard for her because there were so many new things to take in.  so, she didn't sleep much until the last few minutes of the last short flight.  i mean, she crashed! so, by time we walked to the lobby of the airport, where the MOST AMAZING FAMILY & FRIENDS IN THE WORLD were waiting for us...she was sacked out asleep:)
(check out my facebook wall for airport pictures)

being home is wonderful.
hazel & anders are absolute champs & i suffocate them with hugs & kisses all day long!  they are great to their new sister.  taking her in, learning about her, each in their own ways.
matt & i are jet lagged.  so much newness & all these adjustments are going really great, we're just so exhausted that it's hard to process that we are actually HOME.
our new daughter is also a champ!  so many new things & she seems to be taking it in stride.  obviously, jet lag & changes have made her sleep schedule tough, but she is getting more & more rest each night.

finally being together as a family is so wonderful.  we are tired.  we are rejoicing.  we are amazed.  we are all getting adjusted to new rhythms & could not be more excited to be home doing just that!!

in our kiev apartment, working on a sippy cup.  she has only drank from a spoon before now & she quickly started loving her new cup.  she doesn't hold it like this all the time, but as you can see in this pic, she's real proud of herself when she does:)

waiting for that first flight out of ukraine.

the second night home, hazel was so happy to show lena her bed but lena was just tired & ready to go to her own crib:)

she loves banging noises, which works out well with anders as your brother