China {Revisited}: Home

I guess, technically, this is not China revisited.

But, it is revisiting one of the sweetest moments of my life- arriving home with Cooper to a gathering of our friends and family that was a HUGE surprise to us. We assumed our families would be there- less to see us, more to see Cooper.

What I didn't expect was how many of our friends would show up at midnight to let us know how excited they were to have us, and Cooper, home.

It was one of the most wonderful surprises of my life.

The best part was seeing Chloe, who was so intensely out of her element for 18 days in China, so wonderfully HAPPY to be home and to see her family!

 That's Chloe running full steam for Grandma!

 Followed closely by a reunion with Grandpa.

And her cousin.

No one was happier to be home than Chloe, and that's saying a LOT because we were all VERY happy to be home. When we arrived in Newark for our 8 hour layover before boarding the plane for home, we went straight to the (crowded) bathroom, where Chloe yelled at the top of her lungs, "MOM, LOOK! IT'S A WESTERN TOILET!"  

Everyone in the whole bathroom started laughing. Truth be told, I wanted to cheer right along with her! I also wanted to drink directly from the tap. Those of you who have been to China understand this.

Of course, the sweetest part was being able to introduce Cooper (who was half-asleep and overwhelmed) to the family and friends who had loved him and prayed for him and looked forward to this moment with us for years.

 Cooper meeting Mimi (Scot's mom)

Meeting Aunt Melissa, my sister

The first picture of our whole family together on US soil- and with one of America's newest citizens!

The BEST part of the whole thing, is that some friends of ours who are adoptive parents captured the homecoming on video for us. (Click the link. Then, click the thumbnail video to watch it.)

What an amazing gift this has been. They told us their daughter loved watching her homecoming video, and they wanted to give Cooper that gift. We had no idea how much this would mean to us until we saw it. Cooper does indeed LOVE to watch it, and so do I.

I love seeing the anticipation of Cooper's family waiting to meet him for the first time after a long, long wait.

I love seeing all the signs people made (SO unexpected!) because they wanted to share our joy- and help Cooper understand how excited they were to have him home.

I love watching Chloe run to get to Grandma only to be blocked by glass, but then she presses her face to the glass against my mom's on the other side.

I love seeing our tearful reunion with our moms. Because, really, doesn't hug-from-mom = HOME?

I love seeing Cooper's happy smile as he holds the balloon someone (Grandpa?) bought him as he's loaded into Grandpa's truck for the short drive to his new home and the rest of his life.

What's not to love about all of it?

I'm SO thankful to have it! (Thanks, Rob and Laura!)

Then we arrived home to this:

 I expected this even less than I expected the crowd at the airport!

It meant more to us than we could say to know that Cooper was so loved, and so eagerly anticipated by our family and friends! (Thanks, Alex, Liz, Olivia, and Benjamin!)

Arriving home is sweet all by itself after 18 days in a very foreign country. But to have the people you love welcome you with such joyful anticipation? It is very truly priceless and made a wonderful arrival one of the best moments of my life!

We arrived home just days before Thanksgiving with so, so much to be thankful for!