Home Sweet Home!

We are home!!!!

We got home on Saturday the 29th! Rylie has been an amazing trooper for the past week since we left Astana. Almaty was hectic, but a very beautiful city. We were happy to be able to take in some of the sights of Almaty while we were there.

We left Almaty at 4am on Saturday morning for our long journey home. Rylie loved the planes for the most part. She was a little too pre-occupied with taking everything in that she didn't really sleep too much. But she was a very happy baby and spent much of the flights walking up and down the aisles waving and blowing raspberries to everyone. She especially loved the safety announcements at the beginning of the flights- the flight attendants all joked that they hadn't seen someone pay such close attention in years! After very short layovers in Frankfurt and Chicago (so short that we came very close to missing our connection at O'Hare) we finally landed in Phoenix at 2:47 on Saturday afternoon- the best feeling ever! When we got to the airport, we were greeted by a wonderful gathering of family and friends and even a few strangers who were so excited about our arrival that they helped to hold up some of the signs! Rylie has continued to do amazingly well and we are ecstatic and thrilled beyond words to finally have her home. We will post more pictures soon- especially of her emotional welcome home celebration at the airport, but here are a few from the past week.

Leaving Astana...

We bought Rylie her own seat for all of the flights and brought this carseat along with us. Rylie hated the carseat and only sat in if for 5 minutes during our flight from Astana to Almaty. So while it was very nice to have the extra space on all of the flights, the carseat was not such a hit. Luckily she seems much happier in her more cushioned car seats at home.

Leaving Kazakhstan....Take off from Almaty!

Rylie playing with Pa on one of the flights

While in Frankfurt, Rylie became friends with another special person who was heading home (from Afghanistan) for a very special homecoming as well!

The new US Citizen! Touchdown in Chicago...

Our princess is home! Checkout the shirt her Daddy got made for her as a little surprise!

Happy to be with Daddy again!

Rylie has gotten to meet lots of family and friends over the past few days. She has especially loved hanging out with her two cousins, Jordyn and Micah. Here are a few pics of Rylie dining with Micah (they are only 10 weeks apart.)

And yes, her caregivers were right---- our little Rylie LOVES to eat!

That's all from Phoenix (so nice to say Phoenix instead of Astana!)