The Whole Gang

Since the day Shawn and I knew we would be done with the adoption process before Christmas, our goal was to get to Missouri before all of Shawn's family left. This was the first year in more than 4 years that everyone would be together and we didn't want to miss it. After our Christmas Day flight was cancelled, we were scheduled to arrive in Richmond at 2:30pm on the 26th. Well, as you can probably guess, our flights were delayed and we didn't end up in Richmond until 6:30pm. We got our shuttle to our car and I focused on acclimating Laura to her carseat (she thought it was some sort of torture chamber!!) while Shawn got all of our bags. We got home as fast as we could, emptied all our suitcases, and packed again for our drive to Missouri. As we were pulling out of the driveway about 8:30pm, I asked Shawn where a particular suitcase was because I needed my glasses. Turns out that bag never made it from the airport shuttle to our car. A quick call to park-n-go revealed that bag was taken home by another couple! So instead of hitting the road, we headed back to the airport and waited on our bag. We didn't get started until 10:00pm...luckily by this time Laura had made peace with her carseat and fallen fast asleep. We drove all night, arrived at Shawn's mom's house about 11:00 Saturday morning and had a wonderful day with all the family. Laura was a hit with the adults and the kids. She was overwhelmed at first and clung to me and Shawn, but by the end of the day she was right in the middle of the fray! Two families left this morning and Kelly and her daughter will be here through the end of the week. We are enjoying letting Laura spend time with her Mema...but we also can't wait to get home so Nana and Grandad get to meet her!! More pictures will be posted when we get home...Happy New Year!