Oh my goodness, where do I start?
We were up bright and early on Saturday morning for a 0730 flight. When one of our bags didn't get tagged before being sent down to the bowels of the airport, I declared it our token travel hiccup and boarded our flight to JFK. Two & a half hours on the tarmac at JFK ended up being our second travel hiccup causing us to miss our connecting flight in Rome, but the blessing in disguise is our luggage stayed with us all the way to Albania because of our missed flight (we were pretty confident our luggage would have missed our connection in Rome). We arrived in Tirana hot, sweaty and tired with news that I would be meeting my girl in just a few short hours--no time for a shower or change of clothes, gotta get my momma-on!
I left Isaac, Gramma and Annie at the apartment to settle in while our local missionaries took me to the orphanage. My girl bound down the steps in a pretty white dress, pink purse, going out shoes and a pair of sunglasses. I'm told she said "Mommy! I'm ready to go to America!" Let's get this show on the road!! She next said "I'm so tired. I've been waiting all day long". Oh my girl. I'm so sorry I was late. From the airport and even in the 13 years you have waited for someone to race to find you. You won't have to wait any more <3
We spent just 45 minutes together, but it was enough to tell her she has a mommy who will ALWAYS come back...FOREVER.
DAY 2:
We crashed hard last night and woke up in a bit of a daze. I woke early to visit with my girly for a bit in the morning. She moved 3.5 hours down from the city and orphanage she has lived in for the last 7 years just for these visits. Her orphanage paperwork is registered in Elbasan as is our very adoption-friendly judge. The orphanage where we spend our visits is actually where she spent the first 6 years of her life. The sisters know her well and she is comfortable there.
In the afternoon, Isaac and Gramma and Annie were able to join me to visit the newest family member. After lots of prep for them both, the newest siblings were shy but took to each other well:
Twice daily visits will continue for the coming weeks. This is time for her to get to know me and I her before she leaves all that she has ever known. Working on our language/communication strategies will be the number one priority, but she has already proven herself to be a quick learner repeating words and attempting to teach me the same ones in Albanian!
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