When last we met our intrepid travelers...

We left off after our successful quest to find a power adapter, with Jared, Beth and Thomas all watching the Muppets, a tradition usually reserved for "Friday Family Fun Night." We all slept relatively well that night, although Thomas startled in his sleep a couple times with panicked exclamations like, "My favorite color is blue!" The morning we walked up to the Holt offices, where we would begin our planned tour of Seoul. We met two other couples on this tour who were in the process of their first adoptions. One was a Mennonite couple from western Kansas, and the other was from California. The second couple had been to a Star Wars convention (for their sons, of course!) and that enthralled Thomas (and Jared, of course). Our tour guide was a college student, SaeIp, who had spent four years in the States during her high school and university studies. She is now finishing up her Biology degree at Hong Ik University and volunteering with Holt. She was a fluid english speaker, and a very helpful tour guide. Our first stop was Deoksugung Palace. This was a large area with only a few people around, so Thomas able to run free and explore.

Our next stop was Insadong, where we had gone our first day. This is by far the best place to pick up Korean trinkets and gifts, so we were glad to be back here to pick up a few last things. We were also able, with the help of SaeIp, to visit the nearby Jogyesa Buddhist Temple. This is one of the few temples in Korea situated in an urban area, with most sequestered in the mountains. Buddhism is the second largest religion in Korea, with the majority of Koreans being Christian.

It was then time for us to leave the tour and go to pick up Russell and Elliot. We ended up with about a half-hour to kill before our scheduled meeting, so we did what we had done so often on this trip, and stopped for a cup of coffee. We tried on the Bjorn's and made sure we still remembered how to put them on. After that cup of coffee, Jared said something to the effect of, "Today is the day that we bring two more people into our family. We're going to walk do that street, the three of us all together, and bring our boys home." He then made everyone put their hands together and say something like, "Go team!" It sounds cheesy, and in fact it was really cheesy, but for that moment Thomas seemed genuinely excited about his role in expanding our family. We held hands as we walked those last few blocks to Holt.

Thomas' foster mother was there again that afternoon as well. She gifted Thomas a new hanbok (a traditional Korean outfit, usually worn by Koreans on birthdays and holidays). Thomas hugged her good-bye and she and Beth both shed tears. We then went into the nursery to share more tears with Russell and Elliot's foster mother. Jared explained to her, through the interpretation of our social worker, that "nobody could have done more for our family than what you have done by caring for these two boys. We will never let them forget you and what you've done." We were too busy to take any pictures during these moments, but Thomas snapped these two images while playing with the camera.

We then got in a cab and made it back to the hotel to bed down for the night. From this moment until some 35 hours later, neither Jared nor Beth slept for more than an hour at any one time. The twins were very well behaved on the flight home, as was Thomas. It was the sheer volume of children which kept us up. There was not a time when all three were down long enough for either of us to get any sleep. In addition to this, it must be noted that a fever passed through all the males in our family. (We mentioned it in a previous post with Elliot, during the flight we noticed it on Russell, and Jared and Thomas both picked it up on Thursday.)

When we arrived at O'Hare were greeted at the airport by friends and family, most of whom had driven hours to see us get off the plane. Thank you all so much for coming to share that happy moment with us. And thanks for hugging us in spite of our messy hair, wrinkled clothes, body odor, and the faint stale-milk-aroma of spit-up. It meant a lot to us to have you there, and it helped Thomas to be able to play with his friends. It will also mean a lot to Russell and Elliot when we are able to look back at it with them and explain how broad the community of love was that welcomed them into this country. (Please send along any and all photos of this event. Apparently we were too tired to take any good ones. Thank you for your Snapfish gallery, Carrie. And, yes, that's "shout-out" number two.)

With the time change, Wednesday was 39 hours long for us. Beth and Jared both fell asleep with the children at around 8 PM, then woke up at 11 PM ready for the day to begin. The rest of the night was difficult to get through with nighttime feedings and fitful sleeping all around. We were all in and out of bed until about 1 PM the next afternoon, when we finally forced everyone out of bed. Jared's Aunt Marianne and cousins Stephanie, Jenna and Adam were in town from Colorado and came over for a visit, along with his Aunt Sharon and mother. Thomas played lightsabers with Adam and everybody ogled and goggled over the babies. When they left, Beth's sister Becky and niece Ali (pictured left), who came into town from New Jersey to help with the babies, and her parents came over for a dinner of Chinese food from M J in Davenport. (Note to all Davenport denizens: M J is moving to Locust Street.) Once again, we went to bed early, with the plan for Jared to return to work today.

If we are to be honest, there is a little bit of melancholy lingering in this household. Thomas is still trying to figure out his role in this new, larger family. (He picked "A Baby Sister for Frances" as reading material tonight, where Frances runs away because her new baby sister is getting too much attention.) Jared and Beth, in spite of constantly reminding themselves how difficult twins were going to be, have been waylaid by the enormity of the task. Russell has been fitful, but will occasionally smile. Beth claims to have seen Elliot given a smile to Thomas this afternoon, but Jared is yet to see one on his face since leaving Korea. And above all, we're all very tired. However, this morning, Beth got up at 5:30 when the boys would keep to their beds no longer. When Jared finally joined them in the kitchen, he found Russell and Elliot playing in the egg yolks Beth had prepared for them, and Thomas was laughing at the mess they were making. Thomas looked up at Jared and said, "Guess what Daddy. It's Friday Family Fun Night!" What a happy family the three of us were. And what a happy family the five of us will be.

May you all have a blessed Easter this Sunday. We will be joining our families in their celebrations after Church on Sunday, and try to post more next week.