They are HOME!!!

So they both made it.  Dennis slept some and he's doing ok... he was a bit dazed when he came through customs and didn't really warm up until he got home and saw Troy outside.  Apparently he got sick a total of 4 times during the day.  They came through customs faster than I could have expected... there was no lines, the guy at IAD knew exactly what he was doing, and he even helped work things to let Melissa fill out some paperwork without it adding any additional delay -- so much for the stories of it taking 2hrs.  Unfortunately that meant some good friends didn't make it to see them arrive... and they were both so out of it they didn't want to go out to dinner.

Denns was very happy to get a shower and mostly remembered the routine but I had to remind him how to wash himself a little.  The wall mounted shampoo/soap dispenser worked well.  He didn't want to get out after he finished washing so I let him stay in a while.  A few minutes later he wanted out.  Funniest thing... he put the towel on his head to dry and then tried to walk out of the shower unable to see.  For most people that would be adventurous, even more so with his stability issues.  So stopped him and he got the idea.

After getting back from Ukraine, a shower was the first thing I wanted too (after hugging the kids).  Then I washed all my clothes, including the ones washed before I left.  Remember Dennis was like Pig Pen when we saw him at the orphanage... for the most part they made the clothes better after the first day but he was still dirty.  He has a nice clean, never been used, set of Toy Story sheets and comforter to sleep in tonight with a brand new pillow (we gave him the choice of 2).  He also has a heated mattress pad  that he can control to keep extra warm.  I'm sure to him it'll be like heaven.

The kids are showing him around the house again and practicing English with him -- Ashley is already mothering him.  Tomorrow we'll give him his home coming gifts and he will love them.  He won't even know what they are for and I'm not sure we can even explain (he can't read so we'll try the google translate speech feature).  We need to plan a birthday party for him and Amanda where we'll give him more presents, but we wanted him to have some of his own toys in his and Sam's room right away.  Dennis came home with some of the clothes we sent him, some other clothes, but none of the toys/gifts.  It was a last minute rush out of the orphanage so it wasn't a big surprise.

So Melissa is toast... she hasn't slept in like 36hrs.  I'm sure she'll wake up in a couple of days and post.