We're Home!

Friday was spent packing, changing money and taking care of a sick little boy. Gideon was having a lot of trouble again that day. We got very concerned about putting him on an airplane that evening to go to Beijing where we would stay overnight and catch our next plane at 8:30 am for Seattle. We prayed much and so did many of you. We thank you for that.

Miracles do happen and Gideon was a recipient of one this weekend. Not too long before our Beijing flight Gideon started doing better. From that time on he had no more problems. In the two weeks that we have had Gideon he didn't go a day without heart issues. Before we got him they were giving him oxygen every morning when he would struggle. We have seen the same pattern of heart and breathing issue every morning as well. We have now gone two days, or one very long one, with no breathing trouble. While on the plane his color looked the best it has been and not once did he get even a little blue. This is truly the work of God. Once we got home we did see  a little struggle when he would run around but still no problems after eating. His heart has done very well.

                                                               At the airport in Beijing.

We were met at the airport by all the kids and Jared, Sereen, and Preston. Hyrum started running before I even got off the escalator and cried "Mama!" I hugged Bria next and she resisted. I expected this but it was sad that she couldn't even look me in the eye. We took care of that throughout the day with lots of hugs and holding. We drove home in the bus and at that time were told that the van's transmission had gone out. Neither Doug nor I were worried for some reason, maybe it's because we have been waiting for the van to die. It happens that Sereen doesn't know the quirks of our van and when it gets low on gas it acts funny. What a blessing that all we needed was gas!

 

This is what we saw when we walked in the front door. Some friends of ours have decided the take care of our kids like grandparents when we were gone. They came over and helped make this sign with the kids. There were also many other small signs, so many that I didn't count.

Gideon didn't hold back much once home. He explored and was always in a crowd of kids. He did really well with all the chaos and noise of just being home.

Some friends had dropped off some large Lego type blocks. My first thought was "Oh great, one more thing to throw." A couple hours home and Gideon chucked a block at Marshall and caused a lump and a cut.  The poor kids are going to struggle some as Gideon learns.

 

Tyler and some friends came over to the house while we were gone to do a school project.

They had to organize games for a large group and entertain the people. They chose to use our kids for this project. They ran out of time so they left a Pinata for later. We did the Pinata today and Gideon took to it as though he had done this before.

 

When the candy started falling out he immediately started picking it up as fast as he could.

 

We also had friend leave Gideon a cake and balloons to welcome him home.

 

Another online friend, I have not met her in person, brought dinner over for the family tonight. With it they brought wonderful desserts and a gift for Gideon. This was his reaction when seeing it.

 

He loved it so much that he had to kiss it!

Thank You Wendy and family!!

On a side note. We saw quite a few Africans in Guangzhou. It was pretty neat to see that because from what I was told by an agency that there has been prejudice until very recently. One night Doug had to go out for water. As he was walking down the street a black guy walked up to him and offered him drugs. I guess we now know why some of the Africans are in China. It makes me sad.