One Year Home!

The top 2 pictures above are from the day after we got home from Russia. Jack was checking out his new bedroom. The rest are recent shots of the J-man these days.

A year ago today we touched down at JFK airport in New York and Jack became a citizen! Wow, what an exciting day that was! Over the last month, there have been so many times where we have said "at this time exactly a year ago we were doing ___(insert life changing event)___." It's been fun to reminisce about the month we spent in Russia, and the reflecting we have done over the last month or so has really allowed us to recapture all the great experiences we had. Perhaps the greatest of all the experiences though was touching down in New York with Jack. There was a sense of "nobody can take him away from us now". Throughout the whole adoption process, there seemed to always be a feeling that at any moment things could be called off and that would be the end of the dream. When we touched down in the States a year ago that fear immediately went away. Sure we still had/have a lot of work to do with post placements and things, but Jack was a citizen and our dream would live on, nobody was going to end that dream.

I still remember the feeling I had when we walked through the front door of our home with Jack for the first time. First of all, it was great to be home after a month in a foreign country, but to know that Jack was seeing his new home for the first time was really emotional. He was seeing his things for the first time. Wow, I would give anything to know what he was thinking that night. I know Michelle and I were thinking that every minute of the journey leading up to that night was well worth it.

I can't believe we have been home a year. In some respects it seems like it's been 20 years since we went to Russia to get Jack. In other respects it seems like yesterday. Anyway we look at it, it's been a wonderful year filled with growth and love, and we look forward to what lies ahead!