Home Sweet Home

So I know it has been forever since I posted. There is no reason except that I am buzy and blissfully happy!

So here is my version of the pick-up till homecoming. This will be a long post!

I couldn't sleep the night before we were given custody of Abeni. I was so nervous and excited and scared. I was also heartbroken for what our baby girl and her foster family were going to be experiencing. So finally at 6:15 I decided laying in bed was not helpful and convinced Michael to get up and "get ready." Only problem was I had insisted on getting everything ready the night before so we had 4 hours to just sit and wait. SOOOOO we checked our emial, twice. Then at 8 we decided to go upstairs and rock the babies in the nursery. That was both wondeful and hard. Holding the sweet baby girls and boys in my arms and comforting them was wonderful but it was hard to hear babies crying and know that we couldn't comfort them all. There were "over 80" babies in the nursery. They were between 0-3 months old. The babies we held and rocked were darling! I prayed and prayed that they would have a family soon. The ladies asked how long we could stay and we told them that we had to get our baby at 10 so they said "you can stay till 10?" Sure! So they kept bringing up babies to rock feed and love on. Finally with about 10 minutes to spare we handed the babies back over. They asked us the name of our baby and remembered her! They wished us luck and we headed upstairs to get our things. When we got downstairs we met Mrs. Shin she had the driver load our stuff into the van and then Abeni and her foster mother came in. Abeni looked adorable and smiled when she saw us. Things were happening so quickly! Then Dr. Kim came into the room and she prayed over Abeni. I ran back upstairs to get the letter and flowers we had prepared for the Foster Mother. While I was gone Michael spoke with the Foster Father on the phone. We told him that we are two families that are one because of one amazing little girl. Then all at once Mrs. Shin was walking us to the door. The van was waiting out front. Abeni's
Foster Mother, Michael and I all began to cry and then SooYeon's foster mother kissed her and held her one more time and then she placed her in my arms. We hugged and I was ushered into the van. Then we were gone. I couldn't even process what was happening. Abeni did very well with the hand off. She fussed a little about 5 minutes into the drive but I was able to comfort her. I held her in my arms and whispered over and over that I loved her. Soon we were at the Army Post and we went to go get on the van that would take us to the Air Force Base to catch a flight home. Abeni fell asleep on the bus ride to the Air Force Base. I was so happy to see our friend Amber when we arrived. She somehow fit all of our bags in the back of her car and we headed to her house. Abeni still did well. She only wanted me to hold her and wasn't eating well but she did share a few sweet smiles and even a giggle. We went to the Air Force Base the next morning at 5 am to try to get on a flight to Seattle. Because it is standby we didn't make it that first flight so we spent two more days in Korea just loving on our girl and learning all the cute little things she does. We made it on the Thursday flight. We arrived home on Tursday evening Utah time it was so good to see our boys. There was a quick hello at the airport and then we were headed home. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to hold my three kids, kiss my three kids, and have all of them asleep in our home. Ok this post is long enough I will attach a picture because that is what you are all here for :) and say good night. I'll add more pics and details later.



Abeni at the US Military AirPort



Sweet girl after her bath

We've got our girl.

Today has been one emotional amuzement park ride. Ari and I were up numerous times unable to contain our excitement. Ari finally urged me to wake up at 6:15am so we could ensure we were ready, even though we packed everything the night before. So we passed the time checking our email over and over again. Also to note that Ari and I handle our stress so differently. I like to eat while Ari paces the walkway. At about 9:40am after doing all we could to pass the time, I had Ari go into one of the kitchens at Eastern and watch me eat my stress away. I felt like it was fair since I passed the time earlier checking and double checking to make sure everything was packed and nothing was missing.
Well at about 9:50 we took all the bags we brought and aquired down to the lobby. We hadn't been given any instructions other than meet at 10am. We got down there and Mrs. Shin (our Abeni's Social worker) was just walking to the elevator. We met outside and I had a decent conversation pertaining to the conflict the US Embassy started when they realized they had not followed through with the paper work. Afterwords I went out side with the driver to take the luggage to the van our US adoption agency purchased.
When I returned Abeni and her foster mother had already arrived and were talking to Ari. Dr. Kim came in to say a prayer that is prayed when a child is taken from Eastern. It was a very sweet prayer requesting that God watch over this sweet child and protect her. She also prayed that one day she can return to Korea to learn about who she is and where she came from. Sadly for Ari, I understood it, but on the brighter side you could still feel a great spirit of strength and love that Eastern has placed in these children. I gave Dr. Kim a donation and while they were wrting a receipt, Abeni's foster mother called her husband so he could say good bye to us. In that conversation I could hear how choked up he was becoming about saying goodbye. I expressed to him that we were two families that had now become one through Abeni. He also let me know he would like to remain in contact and that he had written me a two page letter expressing his desire that I again teach Abeni about her culture and language. After our conversation, we moved to the front of Eastern where the van was waiting. Ari gave the foster mother a hug while she was handed Abeni. We jumped in the van and took off towards YongSan Army base to get on a bus to take us to Osan Air Force Base. Abeni actually didn't cry until about 2 minutes into the drive. It was extrememly painful to witness the love that Abeni's foster mother had for her as she willfully handed her to Ari. Abeni had remained quite calm on the way to Yongsan. She had a few moments where she screamed and called for her Oma.. We made it onto YongSan and onto the bus. Abeni only screamed when I looked at her or touched her. She went to sleep and I finally was able to get my chance to hold her. And the moment she focused on my face when she woke, she immediately screamed until Ari took her back. When we got to Osan, my friend Amber was there waiting for us to take us back to her apartment where we will squat until it is time to head to the plane. Since waiting, I have finally been able to hold Abeni a bit more, and she takes turns screaming and burying her head into my chest. But Ari is getting amazing hold time. She is such a sweet baby, she had such a good time bathing in the sink. She is finally asleep on a bed, and she is such a little angel.

Seoul Tower

After lunch with Abeni and Mrs Cho. we went on the Seoul Bus Tour and to Seoul Tower. At first we saw the Changing of the Guard at a palace. It was so interesting and it reminded me of Michaels Military Ceremonies.

 Then we went to Seoul Tower and looked out over Seoul. It was wonderful to look out over the city and see how HUGE it really is. Seoul is a city of contrasts; old and new, ancient and modern, fast paced and slow, quiet and loud. I loved looking and thinking that somewhere out there in that city my baby was being loved on by her foster mother. I also thought of Abeni's birth mother and wondered if she was still out there in that City. I pray for peace and comfort for her. Of course Michael was charming the pants off the locals with his Korean. :) When they asked why we were visiting Korea and he told them they always said how sorry they were that I can't get pregnant. It was funny to see the look on thier faces when Michael told them that we would adopt even if having children wasn't a problem. We picked up a lock at the store and locked it to the tower. We wrote Abeni's Korean and American names her date of birth and the date we held her for the first time. I hope she can go back and find it someday.

After that we decided we needed some dinner. In Sook took us to a resturant that had a delicious sea food stew. Yummy! We also got big mandu. It was good.

We LOVE our Nuna!!

We are in Korea!

We made it safely to Korea! Our trip so far has gone something like this....

Wait for late plane
Airplane ride
Wait for plane
Airplane ride
Wait for plane
Airplane ride
Wait for bus
Bus ride
LONG walk.

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be back in Korea. This place is amazing. I really can't describe it. Seeing the mountains, rice fields, big cities, and small towns out my wondow as we flew over Korea was strangely like coming home. Breathing in the smell of Seoul brought back waves of memories. When we arrived at Eastern we were thrilled to meet our social worker she confirmed that we will be meeting Abeni in about 15 more hours! EEEK I'm so excited and those butterflies are dancing up a storm in my belly. I had a little Kimchi Chigae for dinner, it was delish!

Seattle Airport Take 2

So I didn't like the way I sounded on the video maybe writing out what I am feeling will make it more clear. Mostly I am just excited. I'm practically giddy. I haven't slept in days! I am so happy to finally be going to get my girl. But at the same time it feels almost unreal. We are going to Korea to pick up the little girl who I have loved from a distance for almost eight months. I wonder what she will be like. I have such a brief description of her personality. I really want to make this process as easy as possible for her. I am praying for her comfort and wisdom to quickly learn what she needs. I can't wait to get to Korea and just soak up the moments with my hubby and daughter.

Seattle Airport

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Note we are not sure what is going on with the video preview pic it is awful! Please just pretend you never saw it. :)