I cooked cheesy scrambled eggs and sliced fruit for breakfast. How nice to have a decent cutting boards, a whisk, and a small bowl to use. Clean up was also so fast with a garbage disposal and dishwasher.
We successfully got three kids ready for church and arrived a tad bit early! What a welcome sight First Baptist was! Samuel was greeted by several people, and he was very friendly to all who came to meet him. Brent's family joined us at church, and we took up two entire rows. Alex goes to her class, because she can't quite sit still for really any time period at all. She waltzed right into her class like such a big girl. I was so proud! Samuel and Lilly Grace stayed in big church with us and the family.
Toward the beginning of the service, Pastor Jay welcomed us back from Colombia and welcomed Samuel to the First Baptist family. We truly were touched, and it brought crocodile tears to my eyes when the congregation clapped for us! It was so moving because we know these folks have been with us every step of the way, and there have been countless prayers sent up for Samuel and our family. Samuel was smiling SO big, and waved at everybody. Lilly Grace, who is actually really social in smaller settings despises having tons of people looking her way. She freaked out and had crocodile tears for an entirely different reason. She and I left to calm down for a bit, and she told me that when people look at her it makes her feel shy. Bless her heart!
The kids did incredible in church! To our knowledge, this is Sam's first church service. He was a total pro. It also seems like Lilly Grace grew up a ton in two months and she was the best she's ever been in church. They both tried to sing the songs along with the congregation, and pretended to fill in the blanks along with the sermon.
Samuel went to Sunday School with us, against his will, while LG went to her class. He was so jealous and kept begging to play with Lilly Grace, but we didn't think he should be left without parents the first day back in America. We promised him that next week he could go to Sunday School. When we later went to pick up Lilly Grace, we let Samuel meet his teachers and play with the remaining kids in the class. It went perfectly. I think it will make for a smooth transition next week.
Alex is in Mary Ruth Wolf's class (our pastor's wife). Her previous teacher was Ms. Anne, whom Alex thought hung the moon. Well, Alex thinks Ms. Mary Ruth is hanging the moon as well. She talked so much about Sunday School, and was crazily proud of her artwork of the burning bush. She showed every single person she encountered her artwork, and kept staring at it in awe of her own skills. She even toted it to lunch and showed it off there as well.
Then, the five of us got in Brent's car and drove to Wynlakes for lunch. While waiting for our table, we saw one of my best friends, Christy, and her family! It was lovely seeing her, and having the entire Glassford gang meet Samuel. Also in the lobby, Steve Harvey walked through. He was evidently golfing at Wynalkes, and surprisingly, very few people were swarming him. One family waited outside the men's bathroom for a photo, which seemed a little creepy to me. Everybody else was pretty cool about it.
We sat at the table adjacent to my parents, which was perfect. The kids behaved like angels, with good manners, sweet attitudes, and eventually full bellies. Lilly Grace had a crying spell, but it wasn't without reason. She fell out of a chair and landed with her boot heel up her hiney. I think that would make me cry, too! Man alive that food was yummy! We had a lot of fruit in Colombia, but not many veggies. At the buffet, there were green beans, sweet potatoes, salads, broccoli, and squash - and those were just some of the veggies. We definitely got our fill, and really enjoyed filling our bellies with scrumptious American food.
We then went home and passed out in food comas. After naps, the girls and I headed to church for Mission Friends, while Brent and Samuel went shopping for pants. Samuel is so tiny that most of his clothes don't fit. Brent ended up buying him several pairs of 2T khakis and jeans. He is about to turn five and is wearing 2T pants. Fortunately, my friend Beth Oliver gave me tons of advice on dressing skinny little boys without them looking too babyish, too grown, or too frumpy.
Sunday was definitely an incredible day. Brent and I feel euphoric being at home and being with everybody who means so much to our family! Now, onto our new normal in America as a family of five! We still have oodles of laundry to do and a few more suitcases to unpack, but that's taking a back burner to us enjoying being back.
A rare photo of the 5 of us. Waiting for lunch. Thanks Brooke Glassford!
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