It is still hard to believe what a crazy whirlwind our last week in South Africa ended up being! And still hard to believe we've been back just over a week now. For our own sake when looking back, here's a drawn out recap of the past week and a half, but feel free to skip to the pictures! :)
We knew there was the possibility of flying home by the 3rd weekend of October, which was earlier than expected and the earliest timeline we were given, but it was hard to get our hearts set on that knowing how quickly and easily things could change. By the end of the 2nd weekend, we were just waiting to hear about the printing and shipping of Ollie's passport and our hopes were high that we'd be hearing good news early the next week.
Our hopes, and our agency's, were so high in fact that our appointment to receive Ollie's visa at the US consulate in Johannesburg was scheduled for Thurs, the 19th at 1pm. So, we were all sweating bullets the Tuesday before that when we found out the passport was still in Pretoria, way across the country! We all prayed hard and held fast that it would arrive by courier by Wed so that we could fly to Joburg Wed night with no problems making the visa appt on Thurs.
We played the waiting game all day Wednesday, furiously packing but at the same time not knowing for sure when we'd be flying out! We finally heard that afternoon that the passport had indeed arrived, but that the home affairs office had closed for the day so we couldn't pick it up!!! So there went flying out Wed evening...
Along with our agency, we put a plan into place for Steve and Ollie to leave first thing Thurs morning to collect the passport from Home Affairs, while my mom and the girls and I headed to the airport. Our visa appointment at the consulate was able to be bumped back to 2pm and we were all confident we'd receive the visa by Friday in order to fly home Friday night! It was a mad dash out the door to say the least but everything that could've fallen into place that morning did! Steve was the first in line to collect Ollie's passport and they made it to the airport in plenty of time to board our 9am flight. Despite a small delay, we arrived to Joburg right on schedule! Our van dropped Steve and I off with Ollie at the consulate just after 1pm, then took my mom and the girls to our hotel.
We were SO thrilled at how smoothly everything had been going that the news we were about to receive at the consulate truly felt like a punch in the gut. After the crazy up and downs we had experienced the last couple days before arriving in Joburg, we were shocked to be told that Ollie's medical form had not yet arrived and that the visa could not be issued without it. His appt was in the beginning of Oct, and our agency had been in touch with the consulate all week making sure everything was in order so we could not understand how we were not notified of this. We truly felt sick to our stomachs to have gotten that far, and have felt that close to our trip home, only to have the possibility that we'd be waiting for several more days before flying back. There wasn't much compassion over our situation at the consulate and no real answer as to why we weren't notified of the missing document; instead, we were essentially told fat chance that we'd be picking up the visa before Monday/Tuesday and that it would be a "miracle" if it were to arrive in time to receive the visa on Friday before the office closed early at 12:30pm.
Well, we were reminded that we happen to have a big God who deals in miracles so as discouraged as we were, we tried to stay prayerfully hopeful! When we were able to reach our agency, they told us that they'd been in touch with the Doctor who assured them it was being sent overnight and should arrive first thing Friday morning. The emotional roller coaster was on again!!!
We hated having to break the news to my mom and the girls back at the hotel, and given how underwhelmed we were at where we were staying (and their lack of working wifi), it was a fairly depressing day! Luckily, there was a great playground nearby and the highlight was getting to see some of our dearest friends for dinner at another awesome restaurant with playspace. Pete & Heather, who we became very close with many years back in NYC, live in Joburg and seeing them was a major priority during our time in South Africa! We weren't sure how long we'd end up being in Joburg so we were so grateful for the little time we did have with them.
We woke up Fri morning in knots all over again and waited and waited to get word about the medical document. We finally heard around 10:30am that the document had been received and was being reviewed! As the clock got closer and closer to 12, we decided to just head on over anyway, and as we were getting ready, we heard that everything had been approved and the visa was ready to go! Hard to explain our emotions at that point, but mainly just so overwhelmed at how God worked. He has been so faithful and it has been so humbling!!!
Whew! All of that long-windedness to say, it was a wild ride.
We spent the rest of Friday getting to enjoy time with our dearest SA friends and they were even so gracious to let us stay at their place while we waited til it was time to leave for the airport. Our flight was at 9pm, 15 hrs to JFK, where we had an almost 6 hr layover before our quick hop to DC. We realized how fitting it was that our son's first point of entry to the US would be the city where his sisters were born. We <3 br="" nyc="">
Amazingly, all the kiddos slept quite a bit on that crazy long flight, especially Ollie. And the little play area at JFK entertained them for several hrs during our layover. We were overjoyed to be greeted by so many smiling faces of many of our dear friends and it was so sweet to watch Ollie meet Pop-Pop for the first time.
Since being home, we've been amazed at how well Ollie is transitioning. He's seemed so comfortable and loves to say "Ollie's room, Ollie's home" and he already has several favorite go-to toys. We've still dealt with some tricky goofy defiance that we are still sorting out how to approach, but overall, he's doing incredible well and we are so grateful.
Maelee and Lilee were both about as ready to get back to school as you can get! Maelee practically bounded into school on Monday and our whole experience of "homeschooling" for those 5 weeks was only more confirmation for our family that our decisions over the education of our kiddos is very much God-led! :) And our girls are right where He'd have them be.
And now to back track through the pics from our last week in South Africa, through our first week home, including a fun afternoon spent at Cox Farm this Saturday trying to salvage what little bit of fall festival-ing we could get in!
A low-key, rainy day after our safari, the beginning of the packing...
The kiddos had to get out so it was a mall play space to the rescue!
Enjoying a quick stop at a winery with an amazing play area attached!
Splitting 3 glasses of wine while the kiddos played.
Dinner at the parent's home of our social worker, Rose, on Tuesday night-
these kiddos all adore "Miss Rose" and we were so grateful for her!
Taking care of the "noting of adoption" Wednesday morning!
Then a final stop at Wandisa-
beyond grateful for this group of people!!!
A final visit to the playground across the street.
The last few days were such a blur!
Off we go to the aiport!
(Squeezed in while the rental car agent gets us to our terminal!)
Off we go!
(This didn't even include a few bags that Steve was still bringing...)
On the plane!
After the flight and the disappointment about the medical form, these kids were ready to play!
Making a smiley face pizza that evening at the coolest restaurant-
when will the states catch up with these restaurants with amazing play structures attached???
My dear Heather meeting our dear boy.
SO special to see these sweet friends of ours!
Friday- we got the visa!!!
Another cool spot for lunch where Pete had something fun in store for Steve...
Video of awesome "bday" performance!
Bittersweet to say goodbye to this amazing family Friday evening.
Our visit was too short, but so sweet.
USA- here we come!!!
Sweet boy fell asleep a couple hrs in and slept for 9 total hours!!!
After a good break with some play, they were ready for their final flight HOME!
We made it!!!
More pics from our last week in SA:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/woVPETvNNYKUxCas1
Such a sweet greeting.
JOY!
So excited to see each other!
He was just happy to play with the balloons. :)
So thankful for this lady right here!!!
Sweet kiddos :)
Sweet friends.
You would never have guessed this trio had been traveling over 24 hrs at this point-
they were one goofy crew in the car!
Home sweet home!
Taking in his new room.
Enjoying his first meal at HOME!
So ready to get back to school!
These two missed big sis but had a blast at the nearby playground.
First haircut stateside!
So handsome. :)
Dinner at Nana & Pop-Pop's!
Dinner fundraiser at Maelee's school.
And even a date night to round out our first week home!
So much to be grateful for.
First time at church, settling in just fine :)
More pics from first week home:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oymgO6Pye7p9dnvy2
And last but not least, several pics from our fun trip to Cox farm where the kiddos LOVED the slides, the hayride, and the sunshine.
More pics from Cox Farm:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RydFM5s2ECe7uK5I2
And that just about wraps up the past couple of weeks! What a wild ride indeed. :)
