Home again, home again.

Sunday was our last day with Eva. We only had about an hour with her before our flight left Petro. We took her a few gifts for her birthday, and a moonpie for her first birthday cake. She sat quiet as a little mouse and ate little bites of the cake. She loved her rattle we brought her, and I think she liked her squeaky shoes. We said a very sad goodbye to her, then went to the Petro airport for our plane ride to Almaty.

The plane to Almaty is a 70's Soviet plane. I've heard stories about this old plane, but nothing compares to riding it. We wheeled our own luggage on. The seats were old, mostly broken, green shag. They were very small, only reaching about halfway up our backs. It was the scariest plane ride I've ever been on. About 2 hours in, I started hyperventilating and crying. I hate flying anyway, and this plane just put me over the top. The good news is, I get to take it two more times when I fly back to pick her up.

We stayed in Almaty for only one day (saw the Russian Orthodox church pictured below) before we caught a flight back to London. No problems on any of the flights until we got in to Chicago late Tuesday night. We went to the United desk to check in to our last flight into Nashville, and they didn't show us on the flight. Apparently our travel agent forgot to confirm our reservation, so they gave it away, and now the flight was full. This was about 8 PM, after we'd been up for over 28 straight hours. I just started crying in the airport. We had to get a hotel and stay in Chicago Tuesday night. We caught a flight out on Wednedsday morning, and finally made it home. It was a very long journey, and I am very glad to be home. The boys were happy to see us, and Owen told me that he missed me "really bad."

We showed the videos of Eva to my mom and the boys. Owen actually acted interested, which is a good sign. He said we should think up a game that they could all play, since she can't walk yet. Maybe seeing pictures and videos of her is preparing him for the big change that's coming up.

The boys were well-cared for by all parties, and they are doing just fine. Owen is extra-sensitive right now, especially to discipline, but I think he's just trying to get back into the swing of having Mom and Dad home. I sure missed them!

I'll be flying out again either next Sunday or Monday. I need to be back in Petro to pick Eva up on Wednesday the 19th at the latest. I cannot express how much I am dreading flying again, especially the long flights home when it's just me and her. But I also cannot express how excited I am to get back to her and bring her home!

I'll update again on this page when I head back to Petro!