At the Airport

Why all this remembering? I wanted yesterday's pictures to be posted on June 10th, when we celebrated Henry's third "family day," but I wasn't able to get it together. So I decided, it would be nice to have both Henry's and Walter's pictures ready by August 12, when we will celebrate our first year together as a family of four. I wonder if I'll always remember these moments so clearly that it feels like it just happened a few minutes ago...

June 10, 2008
After flying from Incheon to Narita to MSP, we finally landed. The first faces to greet us were our friends, Mary and Patrick, which helped melt the weariness. We went through customs and finally walked through the doors to see...


This is Henry's favorite part: I was wearing him on my back and everybody was wondering where he was. They were happy to see us...

(At this moment, Nate and I were thinking, "Did we just survive 15 hours on an airplane with an 11 month old baby?" You can't even tell that Henry initiated Nate into fatherhood by throwing up on him and his shirt a number of hours earlier - although we do look a little tired!)

But they clapped and cheered when I turned around so they could see this guy...


Greeting his cousins...

A few minutes later, I was strapping him into the car seat incorrectly! Rookie mistake.

August 12, 2010
We flew from Incheon to LAX to MSP. On the last leg, a very kind woman offered her seat to Nate so we could sit together when she found out this was our big trip home. The weather that night delayed us, and I could hardly wait any longer to see Henry again. Mary and Addie (once again, a big encouragement to see their faces) walked with us to the baggage claim, where there were some special people waiting to meet Walter.






It felt really good to walk through those doors.


Just a quiet moment with the four of us.


Henry and Walter getting acquainted.


Meeting his cousins and friends

I did the carseat correctly this time.