A Homecoming revisted

My computer is gradually slowing down.  Ian is afraid that we don't have much longer with my plum blossom Dell.  So I've been doing some major back ups.  Which has nudged me to start weeding out the "not quite good enough to use up memory" pictures on my laptop.  And as I've looked, I found a bunch of great ones that somehow I missed sharing back when they happened.

Way back.  As in three months ago back...

So today I choose to celebrate the three month homecoming of my precious niece and nephew with a flashback of their homecoming.  (Has it already been three months?  The last time I saw them I listened to them chatter back and forth in Mandarin and was amazed how much they have retained.  Has it been only three months?  These two are so loving, so loyal to their parents, it seems like they've always been here...)

While we left our town in plenty of time to drive across the state, stop by their house, unload the storehouse of groceries we were packin', pick up their car, and still eat dinner before having to be at the airport, we got a text message about halfway there stating that they had been re-routed out of Tokyo and were going to be in a few hours early.  Scratch all the stopping, my kids had nuggets from the Wendy's drive-thru tossed in their general direction in the car and we raced against time to get to the airport before they landed.

Thankfully their flight was a bit delayed, and we had time to get really stir crazy as we anticipated them coming around the corner.

When the finally rounded the corner they were a sight for sore eyes!  It was all I could do to restrain myself from trying to pick up either child.  I was rewarded though as my heart absolutely melted when Pierson happily looked at me and said, "Ayi!" 

And of course, before we put kids into car seats, we stopped for the very first picture of Mom's grand kids all together.

And then, just because we could, we tossed in my cousin's three kids for grins.

Picture wise we did much better with just five, but eight was crazy fun!

Then it was off to Adam and Traci's house because their car battery had been dead and my mom couldn't fit their entire family into her car.  Besides, it made for a wonderful excuse to spend a bit more time with them before we headed home.

Due to a glitch in the time/space continuum, I managed to get my kids out of the car, line them up, replace the banner in their hands, and snap a picture before my sister's family could get to the door.  And then we got to witness the excitement as Pierson and Maylin explored their house (that they had seen over Skype) in person for the first time.

Pierson actually gasped when he saw his room.  He got the hugest smile on his face and then dove headlong onto his bed, hugging each of the animals Traci had waiting there for him.

Somehow I missed the moment that he saw his little guitar, but I did capture his first embrace with an alligator...

Maylin was a little stinker and got to her room before I managed to position myself inside and catch her reaction.  She was also thrilled with her beautiful bed and then it took her about five seconds to begin checking out her new duds in her closet.  Such a girl!  She made a quick inventory and then decided that it was time to don the Hello Kitty galoshes.

I believe she was quite pleased with herself!

Then Mom and I set into action, mom starting laundry while unloading suitcases and me putting away the groceries and first week worth of meals from folks at their church.  We were both all business as we wanted to get out of the way for everyone to go to bed, but I paused for a moment to pose with a little guy who had completely stolen my heart.

Yeah, he had me at "Ayi!"

In the meantime the kids enjoyed a quick bath to get the "airplane funk" off, and how better to celebrate your first bath in the US than a tub party with cousins?

With everyone freshly bathed, it was time for a pajama clad photo shoot, loads of hugs, and our family to roll on out. 

A few hours later my and Ian's joy would be slightly tempered with "the deer incident of 2010," but nothing, not even if I had known about the deer ahead of time, could have stopped me from being there to meet Pierson and Maylin.  Welcome to the family kiddos, ayi ai ni!