Welcome to the Wright Home!

Off for a walk First picture together in a long time. We've both greyed a bit since last summer. Having fun with the sparklers

Watching the big fireworks. As we spent a lovely weekend relaxing in the Ozarks, Buddy and I reflected on "this time last year." Last year, July 3rd we were stuck on the runway, waiting to see if our flight would leave, only to be taxiing into Houston to see our connecting flight taking off. July 4th was spent in airports, and July 5th, we saw the plane the director of our adoption agency was on when we landing, never getting to meet her face to face. However, we also got to see Hannah in real life for the first time and spend some surreal time together before heading over to court. What a whirlwind that was. As I sat in air conditioning, enjoying having my family around me, I remembered the sweltering evenings in the apartment, trying to have some contact with home.

When Buddy pulled into the drive for the weekend, Hannah threw up both hands, straight up, and was so excited to see him. I've not seen her do that before. I remember how difficult it was to raise her left one even to shoulder height. She put 6 words together into a sentence. It was jumbled grammatically, but it was 6 words. She spent part of the weekend wandered around the yard carrying a big stick, so pleased with herself.

We shot off a few fireworks on the 3rd, with the little ones in bed, but waited for the big ones until the 4th. At first, the fireworks were not a joy to H. She actually asked not to do sparklers. (We had her try one, and that was too much.) The look on her face during the first big bangs was a mix of confusion, fear, and a request for direction. I told her it was pretty and fun and we liked them. After that, all was well.

The scripture that came to mind was "He puts the lonely in families." Amazing the changes in a year. Thanking God for the good work He's done in us and in her.