Home!

I’ll take a break from my love fest over this fabulous new family to let you know we’re home!

In a tradition started by my dear friend, Kate’s mom, I will journal each day of our trip in a separate entry.

And since we had to wait a whole day to see sweet Danny, I’m making you wait also!

Upon returning to our house last night, I was reminded of the ruins at Pompeii where people fled in the midst of every day activities. Things happened fast around here after we received word of Pink.

Once our DNA results were submitted to the Embassy, we were told that we should expect Pink late the following week. So I was in my undefined deadline mode which is to say, I was doing very little packing. Our agency, Special Delivery also would not give us confirmation until we received Pink that we could travel to the children’s home to meet Danny. This had a major impact on packing since the children’s home, the Eagle’s Nest, is located in the highlands and can get quite chilly.

Thursday night Gordon checked his e-mail and there was our notification. Customarily, families are given seven days notice. We were given an appointment six days from notification. Once we told Special Delivery of our status, they bestowed permission to visit the Children’s Home.

As you can imagine, frantic packing ensued. We wanted to leave on Sunday (about 56 hours after we got Pink.) so that we could spend the night at Eagle’s Nest prior to returning to Guatemala City with our son.

Bags were packed we left at 4:00 am on Sunday, finally heading toward our Danny.

I’ve written a lot about this little boy. But now my Gracie gets a turn. This girl was amazing on the airplane. She settled into her seat, got out her sticker book and went to work. We were helped along by the fact that sitting next to us was a woman travelling with her small puppy. Any time Gracie got a bit loud or impatient, I reminded her that we didn’t want to bother the puppy. Humans don’t rate, but for puppies…well…

Gracie with her puppy "Quenta" and the greatest invention since sliced bread!

In Dallas, we thrilled to rides on the “flat escalator.”

I had two memorable moments on the plane:

The first was, for me, a definite sign that Josh was with us on this journey. It needs a little background: when Josh was almost exactly the age Gracie is now, we went on our Make-A-Wish trip to Chicago. We took a cab from the train station to the hotel. Midway through the ride, the dispatcher came over the radio to announce an available fare. Josh’s eyes got as big as saucers and he said in awe: “We’re in a talking car!” Gordon started to explain the whole radio thing and Josh adamantly said: “NO! We’re in a talking car!” Flash forward five years to our plan ride. The attendant came on to announce something and now it was Gracie’s turn to have big eyes as she announced: “The airplane is talking to us!!” This was all I needed to know that Josh was with us every step of the way on this journey.

Second, was the indescribable emotion I felt as we flew over Guatemala. The terrain is breathtaking. But what really got me was knowing that somewhere down there, our boy was waiting for us to come and take him home. It finally seemed this was really going to happen.

Once on the ground, after working our way through customs, immigration and baggage pick-up we were met by our driver, Edwin. I will write more about him later, but suffice it to say that he was a life saver for us. He added so much to this trip by being there with us every step of the way to navigate, translate and educate us. (If you ever need a driver in Guatemala, he is the best!)

We were deposited at the Grand Tikal hotel, destination of movie stars, presidents and, thanks to a screaming deal on hotels.com, our humble family.

So very grand!

One of Gracie’s favorite sports is hotel room exploration so needless to say we enjoyed ourselves. The only little annoyance for me was the faint beginnings of the drill bit in my right temple that signaled the immanent onset of a migraine. But there was little to dampen the thrill of realizing that the first leg of our journey was complete.

Outside: a view of Guatemala City, the beautiful mountains in the distance, and of course, the Golden Arches

Room service was just fine for us that night, and we went to bed knowing that tomorrow we would meet Danny!

P.S. Please remember to pray for Nathan A. (see side bar). His birth mother has disappeared which greatly complicates the process. His parents' arms are aching for him. Please include Nathan and his family in your prayers.