Gabe turns 3 & Lulu turns 1 - with lots of jumping, sliding & fun

Just wanted everyone to know that Gabe and Lulu had their birthday on January 7th. We couldn't be more thrilled. We had the party at "Pump it up!" Which is quite the facility, with large blow up slides, bouncies, and obstacle courses. Everyone had fun, and everyone ate cake!

Gabe is doing great, and is a fabulous big brother. Lulu is now walking! Its quite hysterical to see something that small bipedal. She is speaking lots of words, although I must say her first was, "Mama." Our family is happy and healthy, and we thank all of you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Joni, Aaron, Gabe & Lulu

Photos are finally on the Web!

Hi everyone! Finally, I've gotten our Vietnam photos posted on the web. We did it through picasa web albums - so all you need to do is go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Lulusadventurepics

I'll be adding more in the next couple of days, and we'll also get some posted from when we returned home stateside - like the baptism. Thanks for your patience, and we hope that you enjoy a more in depth look at our adventure to Lulu!

-Joni

Some words of advice from Big Brother Gabe

The first order of business when getting a sister is to establish what toys are yours and are not to be touched without permission.

Next, help feed her some food so she won't cry all night and keep you up (for the record she was served applesauce, not ketchup--that's for me).

You have to remember to kiss them from time-to-time to keep up appearances, particularly when the parents are around. It helps when they are sitting still and being cute.

And don't forget that feeding part. Babies really like to eat. It also helps to have some trains around at all times as stress-relievers. You never know when you'll need a train.

Gabe

International Traveller

Business Class travel is definitely the way to go when travelling internationally, or at least that's Lulu's opinion. After enjoying a snack in the lounge at the airport in Hanoi, it was up, up, and away for Lulu's first of many flights.

We confirmed the bulkhead seats for both international flights, though Lulu seemed to have plenty of foot room in any seat we were in. Note how much energy Joni has in this picture, taken moments after lift-off in our odyssey home.

After the 12 or 13 hour flight from Hong Kong to LA, we were "fortunate" enough to spend the night in an empty terminal at LAX. I say fortunate because by time we got our boarding passes from the United counter (not a big fan of United customer service, by the way), the last flights had left for the night and security didn't want to let us back through. We used the "our baby needs somewhere to sleep/eat" card to get someone to let us go through security, though that was no small feat either. Apparently coming into the country on a one-way ticket sets off some major red flags, because we got a thorough "screening." We discovered that our diaper bag had apparently come into contact with gun powder during our trip abroad, which is comforting. We passed Lulu back and forth as we both struggled to stay awake until our 6:00 am departure. As a side note, apparently no one has thought it would be a good idea to serve food or drink to arriving passengers at LAX between the hours of 12:00 am and 5:00 am. As for that McDonalds mentioned in a previous post, the 4:30 am opening hours are apparently discretionary. They eventually opened after 5:00, and Joni braved the long line (others started lining up before 4:30) to secure our breakfast moments before boarding.

I didn't take any pictures in Denver because we didn't expect it to be a long layover. However, after United refused to let us catch an earlier flight (which had many available seats and would've gotten us home 6 hours earlier than we did), I got the added experience of going out to baggage claim to pick-up my carry-on bag (which I had checked plane-side in LA) due to inadequate overhead room. The "longest security lines ever seen," according to the locals in line with me, took me an hour to traverse before returning to Joni and Lulu. I will acknowledge that an United supervisor did take a bit of pity on us and let Joni and Lulu wait for me in a semi-private lounge (apparently built to house the many travellers they know will be wronged in the normal course of business). After all of that, we bypassed many better lunch options to arrive at our departure gate at the appropriate time. However, the good folks flying from Colorado Springs to Denver (14 minute flight) were delayed 2 hours, so our plane was late in arriving. Throw in a rain delay, another flight getting to board at our gate ahead of us, and an hour delay on the tarmac, and you had a weary group. I was at wits end and obviously looked it, as Joni did her best to calm Lulu and I both.

It was a fitting end to a long trip abroad. Fortunately, the payoff, seeing Gabe and family at the bottom of the ramp in Wichita, felt every bit as good as we knew it would. There were many tears of happiness and relief. As you see below, Gabe filled the part of a big brother: first by apparently eating everything in sight while we were gone and second by welcoming his sister home with a big kiss.

It is so good to be home.

Aaron, Joni, and Lulu

Saying Goodbye

Before we left, we said our farewells. Throughout our stay with the other three families, it was touching to see our daughters react with one another. The girls would often hold hands when near one another, and we know from our trip to the orphanage that they held hands with the children lying next to them as their most consistent human contact for the many months they awaited our arrival. The caretakers did their best, but there are just so many babies and only a few arms to hold them. Above is a picture of Claire, one of Lulu's first best friends.

As all four families enjoyed a meal together our last night in Hanoi, we all agreed it would be nice to keep in touch and hopefully reunite the girls at some point in the future, in some way. Our families share a special connection, having weathered this trying and amazingly rewarding journey together, and we all want our daughters to have as much context to their adoption story as possible. We wish all the families on our trip and those still waiting to go the very best.

Lulu's Baptism

We probably need to do a wrap-up posting with an account of our trip home (36 hours) and some pics. Between the reversed sleep schedule and the hussle of life with two kids, we haven't found as much time to blog as we did in Hanoi.

However, we did want to get the word out that Lulu's baptism will take place this Saturday morning, following the 8:00 morning Mass, at St. Thomas Aquinas. We'll spend the rest of the morning with family, but we'll be opening our home to our friends, colleauges, and neighbors that afternoon. From 1:00 to 5:00 pm this Saturday (8/11), you are invited to an Open House to welcome Lulu to her extended family (all of you). No RSVP is necessary. Snacks and beverages will be provided. Gabe is insisting on cake as well, so we'll see what we can do.

Gabe is adjusting very well to the life of a big brother. If we could just get Lulu's sleeping scheduled switched from Hanoi to Wichita time, all would be well. Even with that, we are very happy to be home and reunited as a complete family of four.

Thank you again for all of your support. The fact that we made it home when we did, together, was nothing short of a miracle, and we have everyone's prayers and God's grace to thank for that.

Take care and hope to see you Saturday,

Aaron, Joni, Gabe, and Lulu

Home at last!

Well, we just wanted to let everyone know, that after a four hour delay in the home stretch from Denver - we finally made it home Friday night.

We've taken the weekend to break our new expanded family in, and Gabe is doing wonderfully as a big brother. We'll post some pictures very soon of the two of them together.

We can't begin to thank everyone enough for all of the prayers and positive thoughts. It is amazing to see all of the people who cared enough to follow Lulu's adventure. We will make sure to keep you posted of her progress as our family together and grows up!

Love,
Joni, Aaron, Gabe & Lulu too!