Our first day home

Well the blog title is our first day home but I'm getting around to posting this almost a week later. Ethan was up bright and early ready to explore. He found dad's typewriter and loved punching the keys. Funny, it was always one of Evie's favorite things to do too.

Okay, maybe the picture isn't so pleasant but Evie was so excited to wake up to hot out of the oven cinnamon rolls. She packed her cheeks like a chipmunk, not wasting a bite. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa Potter for the grocery shopping treat.

It was an amazing morning - clear blue sky, crisp fresh morning air and it's supposed to get up to 70 degrees today...we can't believe it either.

Evie was right back in to making goodies in her sandbox. She makes the yummiest sand cupcakes topped with pea gravel.

Don't be bashful, go ahead and try it....

Evie is just a bit raggle-taggle. She fell out of the bed at the hotel in Dana Point and got carpet burn on her chin. I know it seems like our kids are always beat up....well, okay, maybe they are.

Ethan has fun bringing me plates of sand too. Usually he dumps them down himself while he walks and I get an empty plate

Mandy and Claudia surprised us with a short visit.

Evie got to swing super high in Ethan's swing. She was trying to reach Mandy with her toes.

This was the surprise on our front door when we pulled in the night before. The Clark family made a welcome home poster and somehow found time to hang it just after having a new baby only a week earlier.

Evie is busy baking and Ethan is trying to figure out how he can get in there too...

Evie, putting on the sprinkles - the best part

After naps Joel filled the pool with warm water and let the kids splash around. Hard to believe that it's warm enough outside to play in the water. Evie got to wear her new Small Paul swimsuit we found her in California.

Ethan loved soaking himself and us and Evie and everything around him.

We met the Tabor girls at Chilis for dinner. Joel picked Chilis because it was such a treat for us to eat there when we were in Taiwan and we were curious how it compared. We have only eaten there maybe 2 or 3 times living in the US but when we were craving a burger and fries we splurged and went to Chilis. Splurged because the food was almost double what it costs in the US. Surprisingly the food was better in Taiwan. Maybe it was because we didn't eat much western food.

Evie and Delphina making silly faces

Ethan and his silly little face

Nebraska here we come...

Alexander and Grandpa Malcolm entertained Ethan and Evie with a motorcycle ramp while we finished packing the van - turns out we have a lot of bags...

Bye bye uncle Alexander

Evie was being silly as usual. Bye bye Ashley and Joyce.

We had to rearrange our bags because some of them were overweight. We had to transfer stuff from the overweight to underweight bags to avoid a $150 per bag charge. Ouch. Every time we opened a bag Evie would pull out a toy. Here she found Ariel.

Like I said, we have a lot of bags...

Joel and Ethan catching up on some much needed rest

Evie is a good little traveler. She enjoys looking out the window - we are flying over the snow covered mountains in Colorado. She asked if we could play there tomorrow.

It was beautiful. It looked like there was a lot of snow too.

Just chilling - the flight seemed short but I guess anything domestic would compared to flying from Taiwan.

We had a long 3 hour layover in Denver. The time went by okay. I am always happy to have a little more time rather than being stressed the whole flight wondering if I'm going to make my connection only to run through the airport and miss my flight. Especially now with kids it seems like we just need so much extra time.

And yes, there is Ethan eating a marker....

Ethan (and Evie) love to make messes. Ethan loves to study each marker and crayon. I think he is only moments away from eating this one.

Evie was excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Potter in Lincoln. They met us at the airport with our truck and helped us load all our bags. When we told Evie that Grandma and Grandpa Potter were picking us up she asked if her Uncle Jeremy would be there too. He wasn't but it was cute that she thought of him.

My mom and dad surprised us with a fridge and counter full of groceries. It's always hard arriving home late and then having to go grocery shopping first thing. Turns out Ethan was up early so it was especially nice to have breakfast for him right away. Thanks again mom and dad.

When we got home I put Ethan in his bed straight away. By the time I came back downstairs Evie had gone into her room and dressed up as Tinkerbell and then went back downstairs and pulled out her basket of books. She looked so tired but was excited to be home. She said "this is my home...I like my home".

We were surprised when we pulled up in the driveway to a welcome home sign on the front door from the Clark family and one inside that my sister-in-law Aubrey nicely hung for us in our entryway. My mom had all the grandkids decorate it for us. It was so sweet - one of those things that makes you feel good to be home.

Thanks to everyone who made our welcome home so special!

Ethan's New Big Wheel

Ethan is trying his new Christmas Big Wheel from Grandma Ruthe. His Grandpa Malcolm rigged it with a plush seat that helped Evie reach the pedals too.

Drew and Carrie's Wedding

Drew is getting married today. Drew is Joel's best friend from High school. The wedding is at Drew's mom's house in Laguna Beach. Joel had to be there early for pictures so the kids and I had a few minutes to play nearby at Alta Laguna Park

Drew Hester and Carrie Wilson

It was pretty cold out especially compared to the day before. After the ceremony it started to warm up though.

Mr. and Mrs. Drew Hester

Evie wanted to stand where 'the bride' did. She said she was going to marry daddy.

Drew's brother and the Maid of Honor gave their speeches and then it was cake time - Evie was anxiously waiting for this moment...she had to look at the cake at least a dozen times. Every time we looked she asked if it was cake time yet.

Drew's brother Wyatt lives in Colorado with is wife and two boys. The boys were so great with Ethan and Evie. They would play so sweet and seemed so gentle with the kids and then I would see them rolling around in the yard beating each other up. It was cute. A flash forward to Evie and Ethan in a few years...

Evie is pretending to be shy with Carrie. We all know she isn't shy...

Ethan is busy picking up little rocks and handing them to Wyatt's boys - they were of course happy to receive Ethan's generous gift

...and finally cake time

She all but licked her plate clean. It must have been worth the wait

This was about three minutes after we left...someone must have played hard