House full of Hypes!

We all went to church on Sunday and Tom delivered a great message related to our trip and our experiences. It was so good to see everyone again and to share Emily with them after we have waited for so long for that moment. Emily handled church like a pro. I had mapped out my escape route and was prepared to leave in the middle of the service if necessary but never had to leave. She sat quietly and watched her daddy the entire time!

Later in the afternoon we had Tom's family over so they could meet Emily. We had a surprise visit from Anna-Vija who came all the way up from Tennessee! Surprise! It was so good to see everyone. Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

Here is one of my favorite homecoming gifts we have received so far! Tom's mom went through all our blog entries and wrote down all the stuff we had been craving while we were in Kazakhstan. The chips and salsa were the first things to be opened... Tom had been craving them for quite some time. We could find salsa in Uralsk but he NEVER found chips and much to our dismay, Aliya has never had chips and salsa.




It was a full house this afternoon, but boy, was it fun! Thanks for coming everyone and for all the goodies and yummy food!




Emily had help from several people to finish her bottle. There was so much going on and so many things to look at that she just couldn't chug it like she normally does... but I think the people that fed her didn't mind it so much!

Here's Emily with Tom's mom, Nancy (otherwise known as Mawmaw).




And, Tom's dad, Pawpaw (codenamed: Bill), couldn't help but get in on the action as well.




And, you can't open presents without the help of the little ones... that tape was awful hard to get off! I'm so glad they had the muscles to open the goodies for Emily! Meet my helpers, Rachel and Jeffrey!