We're Home
December 2, 2007  |  December 18, 2007  |  June 5, 2008

December 2, 2007 Hello everyone. We apologize for the long delay between posts. Below you will find a post that was written in the VERY early hours of Friday morning. We intended to send it off to be posted but two little girls have prevented us from touching the computer until tonight (Saturday @ 9:50 pm). A lot has happened since we started our trek home from China Wednesday morning at 5:00 am (4:00 pm Tuesday here). This may be somewhat repetitive, but illness is still in the Foster household. Rett is in bed and is not feeling well at all now. The girls are still coughing and have runny noses. They are not adjusting to the time change and have been wide awake around 1:00 am each evening. That means we are up at that time too. Needless to say we are exhausted. Other than sleep deprivation and illness, everyone is adjusting well. It is much different here to keep up with them. We do not wake up to a prepared breakfast buffet and maids do not come clean our rooms twice a day (but if anyone is bored, we would definitely allow you to make us breakfast and clean our house). We still have one bag that we still have not unpacked. When the girls are sleeping, we TRY to do the same. Our lives have definitely changed :) Thank goodness I have an understanding boss that is allowing me to be off work next week after already being gone so long to pick up the girls. We all need the time together to get adjusted here at home. Thankfully Rett does not go back for many more weeks which will continue to help the girls adjust. We intended to take the girls to church tonight but the sniffles and four very tired Foster’s prevented it from happening. We hope to get there to show them off. I know so many of you are excited to see them and we cannot wait to show them off, but we want to show off happy and healthy little girls, not the tired and “sniffly” little girls. Per the post below, they have already visited the doctor, but we also have an appointment with the Riley International Adoption Clinic this coming Friday to have a full check-up so that we can continue to make sure they are getting all their needs met for continued healthy growth. So, enough for now…please enjoy the post prepared on Friday, below. Friday, November 30, 2007 WE'RE HOME! FINALLY! We love the U.S.A. ! Many of you heard that our trip home was not a fun one. It was filled with illness on the flight from Tokyo to Detroit (11+ hour flight). Abby was throwing up, Laney congested, Rett not feeling well and I (Tony) became ill as well (I thought I was going to die). Well, maybe not that bad, and I will not go into details, but we were bad enough that we stayed in Detroit in a hotel attached to the airport. Our wonderful Dads drove all the way up to get us. We arrived home at 4:30 am Thursday, almost 12 hours later than we expected to arrive. Regardless, we are glad to be home. About 11 hours after being home, the girls had their first doctor appointment due to their throwing up, congestion and not feeling well. Laney slept through her check up, Abby was a bit cranky when the doctor tried to look at her throat. The flights took their toll on all of us. We are all still struggling with health issues but are SO glad to be home with health issues vs. on the other side of the world with health issues. One member of our travel group actually stayed behind (in China ) with issues like I had. We hope to follow up with her soon to see how she is doing. I am typing this from the floor of the girl’s room at approximately 5:00 am Friday. Rett was up most of the night with them. Abby is jabbering to me right now. She is so cute. Our sleep patterns are so messed up. We are exhausted and can sleep anytime. The girls, on the other hand, are having troubles adapting to the time difference. Other than not feeling well, the girls like their new surroundings. They love noisy toys, especially those with music (grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends, do not get any ideas…we have plenty of noisy toys). We are going to try to keep them home for a few days so they can adjust and get well. Since we received them, we have been constantly on the go. They will not know what to do staying inside for an entire day, and neither will we.

Checking out the new back yard and looking at the fat lazy cat, Grissom... Cruisin' on the new rides... First photo seconds after arriving at home. Saturday evening with Uncle Robby and Aunt Allyson, first trip to basement to discover many more treasures We love shoes! What a great welcome from our friends

(Next segment written by Rett and Tony) We do not know where to begin with the thanks. Beth – The keeper of our house and pets. You did such a great job keeping up with our furry children-Kyler and Grissom! They look happy and healthy! And the groceries, wow, where do we begin? Can we just say that we were brought to tears when we got home and were starved. Toast and milk never tasted to good, ever. Thank you. Our gratitude is immense for you! Lakes Family – Our yard looks GREAT! Thanks for sacrificing some of your weekend to rake our leaves. We were dreading giving up time with the girls to do that yucky task. Thanks so much for taking away that worry! Homegroup – The “Welcome Home” banner in our yard was such a wonderful sight when we came home. We feel so loved by you. The groceries and additional goodies were just simply great. You took care to even get strawberry mix for the girls’ milk. What a special touch! We can finally get them to get some calcium! Thank you! Rett’s classes – To my classes, it was such FUN to walk into their nursery and see the signs you made! It’s amazing how grown-up and caring you have been during this journey! Your messages along the way have been a good distraction when things weren’t always going well. You’re the best! We cannot wait to bring the girls in to meet you! We brought you back a little something too!! Dads – You win the Fathers of the Year award for sure this way. You were so sweet to listen to our tears and anguish in the middle of the night and trek to get us. You didn’t hesitate to help your kids and their kids, and we are forever grateful. The bonus? You got to meet your newest grandchildren first! THANK YOU! Robin – Thanks for letting our dads use your Tahoe to come get us! It was a welcome sight and fit us and all of our junk well! Does this mean we need a mini-van now? NOPE, a huge SUV will work just fine! Thank you!!! Ronnie/Renee —Since our luggage arrived in Dayton , and we did not, you were so sweet to go and pick it up for us. This took time out of your day, used gas, and took effort. We are so thankful! The first car ride home with the girls strapped in did not go as well as we’d hope, so you saved us from some screaming girls! Thank you! Moms – Where do we begin? You always were excited to talk about the girls even before we knew there were TWO! It was fun sharing the latest with you. You also were always willing to listen to our joys and love on us during our lows. We love you for that. Most recently though, you were willing to speak comforting words to us from across the globe when we were feeling the most stressed about being away from home and being new parents. You are simply the best to listen to our tears and laugh with our joys. We hope we make you and our dads proud of our parenting. You have been amazing models. We love you so very much. Hoffman/Landis Families – Thank you for your supportive guestbook entries AND for the sweet gifts awaiting us in the mail! It was fun to get these surprises and the ornament and gift card will both definitely be used! Everyone that was planning to meet us at the airport (and those of you that went to the airport not knowing our situation, we are very sorry)—Everyone was so willing to welcome the newest citizens home with a bang, and we appreciate it. We are SO sorry that we didn’t get the opportunity to do this. It was the one thing getting us through the flights home. We couldn’t wait to show them off to you! We’ll be out and about soon, but if you can’t wait, just call before you come! We’d love for you to meet our precious girls! FTIA – This adoption agency has been great to work with. The informational seminars were always helpful, and the updates were welcome. Our coordinator, Maury did a great job of matching us with our children (with God’s help of course). She did a great job handling our stupid questions on a daily basis. Thank you! The whole staff was very good to work with every step of the way. And the guides in China were great too. We always felt very safe with them. Joe and Jen - The keepers of this site. We have received many compliments on the beautiful website and quickness of the posts. You helped us stay connected to home so efficiently, and we’re forever grateful. Thank you for providing this much needed service. We wish you the best of luck on your second journey as well. EVERYONE — Your posts on this site were amazing. They were often the one thing that helped us get through our days. You were often encouraging, funny, or reflective just when we needed it. The girls will one day know how loved they were before they were even met…and from hundreds of people on the other side of the world. Beyond the posts, your prayers were perfect, and truly felt. We know that the travel, the bonding, and our whole trip would not have been as uneventful without your prayers. We felt so blanketed in prayer and know it is thanks to you. Many of you were praying in the middle of the night here, just so we would have a good day there. It was a amazing and a true testimony of faith in God, and trust in Him. We LOVE you for your faithfulness! Most of all, we want to thank our Heavenly Father. We know none of this would have been possible without Him. Even in the wee hours of the morning, we were thanking Him for our blessings. In the middle of our whole adoption journey, God knew how this would all turn out. When we were desperate for answers, He knew the end of the story. He carried us along the way and we are proud to be His children. Our girls will one day know Him and hopefully, the kingdom will be changed because of their relationship with Him. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good! We probably forgot someone with this list and apologize in advance. It’s hard to put it all into words the support we have received. Also, so many of you did behind-the-scenes things that we’ll never know about. Just know that they were noticed and felt and we’re forever grateful. We will continue to post on this site a few more times so stay tuned. After that, we keep you up to date of the Foster Four’s (we like that name, thanks Norman family) happenings from the original blog. Thank you to everyone again! We’re HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!

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