Return from China

Life in a Nutshell
I had the honor of picking up my friends...now proud parents and their little one....from the airport yesterday evening. Little Elanor surveyed me with serious dark brown eyes, her thick black hair wisping over her forehead. She was snuggled in her stroller, looking like a seasoned traveller. What an ordeal this little one and her new parents have gone through these past two weeks!

And from the sounds of it, they needed all the prayers we offered up....the trip was no picnic. The new Mama got sick, and then the Papa. Little Elanor wouldn't sleep more than three hours at a time...and she is already a year old! Which means that she is walking (something they weren't expecting)....yet another challenge on a 12 hour plane ride.

And so I ushered them home, it seemed like a new home to everyone. Their cat meowed innocently at the window when we arrived....not knowing the utter shock that awaits him! Elanor toddled around after her Papa, loudly protesting when he went outside to get the luggage....she is already a Papa's girl. And Patrick is completely taken. After warming up dinner for them, as Petra stashed all the breakables (again, they weren't expecting her to be so mobile!), I saw Patrick leading Elanor around her new house, showing her all the rooms. I caught her eye as she was rounding the corner into the kitchen. She flashed me a big smile.

And so a new chapter begins.