Perfect Day

Everyone in my home is in bed asleep and I am still reveling in what was one of the best days of my life. I think it's safe to say that it was one of the best days of all of my children's lives too. Steve, I'm not sure, I'd ask, but he's knocked out after all that traveling. How can a girl sleep at a moment like this?

I am an avid journal keeper. I've kept a journal since I was a little girl. I currently maintain not just this blog, but I have a journal for all of my kids too. I am so into journaling, that I journal the most when I am going through even seriously busy and exciting times because of course, it's got to be written down. This might sound crazy, but just to give you an idea of what I mean, when my husband and I got married, and arrived at our hotel room that night, the first thing I remember doing was sitting down and writing in my journal all about the incredible day it was.
Well, before we got Hana and Andy home, I decided that one thing I wanted to journal about was an ongoing list of "Hana and Andy's first:_____". So rather than give you a rundown of how today went, I thought I would just give you the list I typed up for just this first entry.

All of these occurred yesterday and today.
Hana and Andy's first:
*Time in an airport
*Riding an escalator
*Being in a plane and flying
*Leaving Ethiopia
*Being in Germany, Chicago and finally Utah
*Seeing our beautiful Utah mountains
*Our family being all together
*Meeting aunts and uncles, cousins and friends
*Getting a balloon bouquet
*Family photo
*Riding in our huge van. Altogether as a family
*Seeing their bedrooms. THEIR bedrooms. (They have one for once!)
*Getting a tour of their new home
*Playing in their backyard
*Sitting down together eating their first dinner with their new family
*Their new mom making Ethiopian food for them
*Playing with their new siblings...like they've been best friends for years already
*Going to the park together as a family and playing
*Rolling down the hills together
*Skipping on a beautifully manicured lawn
*Seeing other Ethiopians come visit them and talk with them in their native language, in their home. In America.
*Having family scripture study and prayer
*Doing "thumbs" (traditional family song)
*Being tucked into bed by their new mother with a big kiss and a hug
*Sleeping soundly in their own beds.

Yep. It was a perfect day.
I'll post photos on another day. For now, I will try and wind down and get to bed too.