HOME!!

We made it home!! At 1:00am this morning we brought Daniel into his new home. The traveling went very well. The Sawatzkys made sure that everything was in order at the ticket counter and then we said our goodbyes. Thank you so much for your prayers. Despite our best efforts, the takeoff and landing led to times of crying and some ear piercing screaming :) This was something that we had expected as it is a common occurrence. Other than that he slept for most of the 15 hours on the plane. Although Tanya and I did not get much sleep to speak of, it led to some welcome rest. The more a baby sleeps on a plane, the better life is for everyone! We could not have asked for a better group of people to fly with. Even before boarding we had many people coming up to us wanting to see and hold Daniel. Tanya and I had prayed that we would have the other seat beside us empty to give us more room and even requested it upon check-in. Instead we were blessed to have a sweet lady from Indonesia that was going to visit her new granddaughter in PA and who was a one point a pediatric nurse. She told us not to worry about anything and even helped us change diapers and held Daniel when we needed to eat and he was awake. Across the aisle sat a man that recognized us from the airport the previous week and had witnessed us meeting Daniel for the first time. He loved to talk. We even met another couple from NY that had was going home with their adopted daughter. We had good conversation with them as we took stretch breaks in the galley area. The flight crew was the most helpful that I have ever experienced (there were 10 flight attendants!) The grandparents were anxiously awaiting at Newark as we officially brought Daniel into the US and collected all of our bags. They kept him entertained on the car ride home as I slept for most of it :)
So now we start things here at home as a new family. There will be a time of sleep adjustment for all of us (although I think Daniel will adjust sooner), and some time for Betsy (our dog) to get adjusted to not being the center of attention. We will keep this blog for a little so that friends and family that we will not get a chance to see for a while can track the progress here at home. Other than that, we will be seeing most of you around somewhere. Thank you so much for your support and especially your prayers as we took this journey. I promise you that they were felt everyday.