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We are home...

Photo collage by my dear friend and talented photographer Rita Merrick.

And he is feeling the love of a family for the first time...

He has a new haircut...

And has already picked out his favorite toys...

His smile says it all: "life is good, mama."

He's still testing his boundaries-dumping food, the cat water, putting things in the toilet.  But I can see his little mind figuring out that mom has rules that keep things orderly and peaceful, and he likes that.  He is making progress in so many areas, and being a champion at easing into this new life.  I can only imagine the shock to his senses the past few days have been, but he has taken them all in stride.

Our other kids have done amazingly well also, accepting Gabe into our family like it's just another day.  Maybe all of the craziness of the past month has helped them realize that no matter what is going on around them, being home, together makes it all okay.

This was the first time the kids spontaneously invited Gabe to play with them.  He loved it!  They raced their "cars" back and forth across the floor, and with each lap I felt more and more that everything was going to be just fine.

He found that shirt in Jake's closet and insisted on wearing it.

This morning before school, Jake told me, "mom, I'm so glad you're back, and Gabe.  Gabe is the cutest brother ever."  Sweet Jake.  Jake has had fun with Gabe following the cat around shouting, "koshka! (cat)", but Gabe prounounces it "Geeza!"  It cracks me up how my kids are mimicking Gabe's Russian and vice versa. 

We ended our first full day at home with a movie night, watching Disney's Cars.  What little boy doesn't love Cars?  Finally, my "triplets" are all under the same roof.  Boy is this house going to be busy!

And of course, it just wouldn't be a full welcome home without Jake & Leah showing Gabe how they just love to put on their swimsuits every day, "just in case" it gets warm enough to swim.  They make me laugh so hard; I send them out onto the back porch so they can see if it's warm enough to swim, and they always come running back in, "brrrr!!!  Not yet, mom!" 

 



So far Gabe doesn't know how to open the doors, but we're getting them all latched up for when he does finally figure them out. When we got home from the airport we set him down on the side walk and he immediately took off running! Imagine the freedom he felt: no fences, no restriction, just a dad following along with him to make sure he was safe. It was a beautiful sight. I see many walks in our future.

My favorite, from our local newspaper the morning after our arrival.  Thanks to my sister-in-law Amy for the American flag!

**For those who read the Idaho Press Tribune article today and were as surprised as I was about the "hundreds of thousands of dollars" comment, please be assured that was a typo.  An AP reporter in Russia mentioned to me, "it must be costing you more to have to stay here longer than planned," to which I replied, "yes, hundreds TO thousands of dollars more (for hotels, food, and transportation)."  This was a comment made as an aside and I had no idea he would include it in his story. I honestly haven't read many of the stories that were published while we were in Russia-too busy working to get my son home, so I don't even know if the error was with our loca paper or the original AP story.  I would hate for anyone to be discouraged to adopt because of the cost, or for anyone to think you have to have an abundance of disposabe income.   Be assured the cost to adopt was nowhere near that number!  We felt that this was something we needed to do in our lives and for Gabe's life, and we were blessed to have many family and friends feel the same way and support us.  We champion those who help kids anywhere in the world.  I believe strongly that we each have ways that we can make this world a better place, and we should do what we feel led to do, whether it be in our own neighborhood, community, and country, or half way around the world.