Praise God! They Are Home!

At approximately 4:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 8th, Jessi, Barry and Sveta landed at JFK airport in New York. Sveta became a United States citizen the moment the wheels hit the runway. At approximately 6:25 P.M. they landed at CVG. Shortly before 7:00 the Morton Family walked to the homecoming party that awaited them. The photo above was taken through the glass as they approached 50-60 people waiting for them. There were a lot of kids there and most of them rushed to greet Sveta immediately. The adults hung back... but not for long. Sveta ran around shaking the hands of all the kids and saying,"Hi!".

She also accepted the gifts some of the kids had for her. Balloons, stuffed animals and toys. All the adults got a chance to say hello and to greet her. The whole thing only lasted about 30 minutes. Most of that time was spent watching Sveta run around with the other kids. It was as if they'd known each other forever. She handled everything SO well! After traveling more than 14 hours in a plane and getting less than 3 hours sleep in the last 24 hours, she was such a trooper. She was bright, cheery, energetic and much more outgoing than I expected. I guess I expected her to be fearful and clingy. It was totally the opposite of that. At the end she tuckered out. Jessi was holding her and her eyes got that glassed-over look. It was clear she had hit the wall and would surely fall asleep in the car on the way home.

This was an incredible experience. I will never forget the feelings I experienced as I watched the events of this evening unfold. Sheer joy, happiness, relief, gratitude, awe, euphoria, even emotions I have no name for. It seems surreal. Almost as if it was a dream. It wasn't. I just met my granddaughter and she's REAL. Not a photo. Not a video. Not a computer image on Skype.

We left the airport about 7:30. I'm still not sure if we walked out or floated on a cloud. I'm pretty sure it's the latter.

Sveta Morton's journey home is complete. It's the end of a long, difficult, gut-wrenching, nerve-wracking, patience-testing, wonderful, beautiful experience. But it's also only the beginning. There are many amazing times ahead. Thank you to all who have read along, agonized with us, prayed for us and supported us. We are truly grateful. But most of all we are thankful to our great and merciful Lord. To God be the glory!. He did this.