Saturday morning came early; 4:00 a.m. to be exact. We stumbled out of bed and tried to get ready and pack last minute items in the dark so we wouldn't wake Princess Sam. Gracie let her sleep until the last minute when she reluctantly removed her haggard body from the crib. She stretched as Gracie got her dressed for the day. Grace then secured her in the carrier as we scanned the room for any disregarded items.
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| Checking out of the hotel. |
Once Saturday arrived I was more than ready to leave. I did not like Bulgaria. While my train of thought may be irrational, I could not bring myself to like a country that threw away my niece or a city that has not shut down the orphanage that systematically tried to break her. I know I should not make rationalizations or base my opinions of an entire country on one group of people, but I'm human and sharing my honest (if not dark) thoughts with you. I was ready to be home.
Our journey home began in the Sofia airport. As we weaved through the airport checking our bags and locating our terminal I noticed a woman watching Sam through affectionate eyes; she seemed to be enamored by her. While I was in the gift shop she approached Gracie and a conversation ensued. Grace was able to share Sam's story to a captive listener. While she may not know it yet, Sam is impacting the lives of people all over the world.
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| I saw this beautiful sunrise over the mountains in Sofia as a reminder that God is with us. |
Samantha proved to be a good traveler. She only fussed once on our long flight and it was because she was exhausted and fighting sleep. Grace helped with that by giving her Benadryl, allowing her to give in to her exhaustion and sleep for 5 hours.
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| The koosh ball was a life saver on the plane. |
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| Some photo worthy mountains we saw as we landed in Munich, Germany. |
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| After a 5 hour nap she perked up and we gave a movie a try. She didn't keep the headphones on. |
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| However, she was interested in the movements and colors on the TV screen (Chicken Little was the movie we chose). |
It was such a relief to finally land in Chicago. We breezed through customs and immigration. After quenching our thirst for caffeine we got settled in our terminal. Little did we know that we would spend the next 5 hours there as our flight encountered one delay after another.
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| Shortly after landing in Chicago, when Samantha officially became and American citizen. |
After being stuck in Chicago 2 hours longer than expected, our happy little traveler began to unravel. While she did not fuss, she began to rock her body and flop on the floor.
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| I caught her in action. |
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| It was freezing in the airport, thus the hoodie. |
Slightly over two hours later than expected, we boarded our plane where Samantha promptly fell asleep and stayed that way until we landed in Lincoln.
Almost immediately after the tires hit the tarmac, Grace was in tears; we were finally home. Exhaustion, in addition to the knowledge that Samantha's new life was about to begin, collided and erupted in the form of joyful sobs. I, however, was pretty cool. I rubbed her back and smiled, keeping it together until I walked out of the jet bridge and saw this
and this
I was toast after that and broke down into the ugly (and I do mean ugly) cry. The moment hundreds (if not thousands) of people all over the world had been praying for was upon us and it was incredible. In fact, that doesn't even describe it. Anything I could say would be a feeble attempt to put the emotions to words. Samantha was finally home and looking into the faces of people who love her.
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| Papa (my dad) is smitten with his new granddaughter. |
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| Reuniting with my girls. |
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| I would not have been able to go to Bulgaria if it weren't for him. He did an amazing job taking care of the girls and house while I was away. I really love him. |
Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying us through the journey. You have all played a vital role in saving an orphan. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world". James 1:27
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