Home Sweet Home!!! (10/21/10.....the day that does not seem to end....)

After total travel time of over 23 hours, our new, larger family finally made it home tonight in Nashville to a very warm welcome from our families and extended families from school.  After sitting on airplanes and in airports with strangers for that many hours, it was an awesome surprise to have such a welcoming party for us!  Thank you to the sweet friends from Murfreesboro and CPA that waited for an hour for us to arrive late in Nashville.  Another thank you for our families that came to pick us up and for all the support you have provided to us for this trip, for our heart for the orphans, and for 38+ years of raising us.

We rose in Hong Kong on 10/21 at 6:45 AM, which was really 10/20 at 5:45 PM at home.  The trip from Hong Kong to Newark was pretty rough, but not as bad as it could have been.  Mary Beth was glued to Jennifer the entire trip, and there was nothing I could do to help remedy the situation, as it was only Jennifer that she wanted.  (We are blessed that she has made the transfer to bonding with Jenn, her forever mother, from her foster mother for the past six months.)  Mary Beth did manage to sleep a bit on the plane, but not as much as she really needed to sleep.  Jenn and I did not get much sleep at all, and we felt it later this evening, as it was early morning in China.  However, I am writing this just before 0200 on the 22^nd, which is mid-afternoon in China, so we are still fairly wired.   But with 8 loads of laundry stacked in the laundry room, we can manage to get some of that done.

At least she managed a little sleep on the plane...

Luke is dying to get back to school tomorrow – on time.  He has completed all of his work and truly misses his friends and school.  So we hope to get our clock adjusted well to get him to school in the morning (a few hours from now).  We will check on Lauren and Devin, as Lauren was not feeling well, and Devin is just now getting to bed from some last minute items to complete.

But there is one comical note from the return that I do not want to forget.  A few weeks ago, Luke claimed to have seen a mouse in the boys’ bathroom upstairs.  We thought his eyes were playing tricks on us, and we shrugged it off.  How could a mouse get upstairs???  But as we were getting things straightened out for tomorrow, Jenn picked up one thing from the kitchen floor, and she noticed one “remnant” of a mouse on it.  I hoped that was not the case, and I again blew it off.  But a few minutes later, about midnight, I saw a gray mouse scamper down from the steps into the laundry room.  I quickly realized that we were out of mouse traps after catching the ones in the garage.  So I “ponied-up” and locked myself and the mouse in the laundry room, with the stack of clothes that he ran under.  I then threw clothes around every opening in the room that would allow him to escape and started tossing pieces of clothing around the room, hoping to uncover him.  (I was sweating the entire time……wondering why little mice make us sweat!!!)  As I got closer to the spot in the corner where I last saw him, he ran to the other side of the room, burying under one of the piles of clothes.  Well I am proud to say that after receiving one bruised heel, a stack of smashed dirty clothes, and one over-priced Wallabee school shoe that sealed the deal, the mouse lost the battle, and I erupted from the laundry room as the victor.  (Actually Jenn and Devin were laughing pretty hard at all my foot-stomping they heard from the room.  But nonetheless, this mouse was not going to make a mess any longer in our house.)

We then spent the next 20 minutes uncovering and throwing away all kinds of food in the pantry, as he took it over while we were gone.  It is a good thing the garbage man comes in the morning, as we filled up the can in one night.

Once we thought it was all done, and we could get closer to preparing for bed, I was taking out one more load when I heard “my damsel squeal in distress”.  (Actually she is not a damsel…..and I have never heard her squeal.  But she did let out a good “eek!”)  Junior mouse was hiding among the boxes on the floor of the pantry and ran out towards the boxes of food towards Jennifer.  This time he ran into the kitchen, and Devin and I managed to get him too…..with the same over-priced Wallabee.

 

So as the days get colder, the McKnight family will need to manage the uneaten food a little better, and we will need to invest in more $.50 mouse traps for the winter. 

Mary Beth seemed to enjoy her time at the house before putting herself in bed tonight.  So we are pleased that she has transitioned herself so well this quickly.  We know that as schedules get busy with school and activities, that we will have some separation issues, as someone will not be doting on her every second of the day.  So we will continue to solicit much-desired advice, guidance and Wisdom over the next few weeks and months.  But as a new friend from school reminded me tonight, our Father will never give us anything that we cannot handle without His guidance and lead.  Plus, when He calls us to step out and follow, He never promised the easy path……but one where He will lead our path. 

We are home to start this next journey.  Thanks to anyone that has followed it with us.  We have been blessed by your faithful hearts and prayers.

His Humble Servants