The one with #pattersonpartyoffive update (Originally written 3/30/2015)

Originally written 3/30/2015**

Hello all~

Most of you know by now that yes, we are home safe & sound!  What a relief it was to hear "Welcome to the United States of America Ladies & Gentlemen" & even sweeter, 4 hours later, "Welcome to Charlotte!"  Not that our trip was bad at all, but international travel with 3 kids under 7 is a tad bit stressful (ha).

Apparently overcoming jet lag with 3 kids under 7 is proving to be a tad bit stressful as well, though I am very happy to report that we really are all doing well considering 2/5 of us don't speak English & we've been out of the country for almost 3 weeks!  

Friday night many of you were able to gather to welcome us home...what a blessing each of you were to our weary bodies & stressed souls!  Truly a sight for sore eyes!  Jonathan & I have talked several times about how energizing it was to be welcomed home by our family & friends with open arms & familiar hugs.  There were also friends present with multiple cameras catching sweet moments on film.  As soon as they are compiled, we'll send them out!  Such a huge blessing & hard to verbalize how special that time was for us.  We hope one day the boys understand what that was all about, but until then, JP & I will cherish the memories on their behalf. 

Jayson sure was excited to see many of his favorite people in the same place welcoming him home :D  

For those that couldn't make it in person, THANK YOU a 1000x over for all the phone calls, texts, emails, & well-wishes from afar!  Know that you are no less important to every member of our family than those that were physically able to be there in person. 

I really have to say the boys seem to be settling in well overall.  They are still waking up in the night, but their time awake has gotten shorter each night.  They are eating well, thanks to our dear friends Wendy & Alexis that managed to shop Grand Asia Market for a few of their favorites & stock our pantry with their 'comfort' foods!  Wendy--whose family is from Taiwan & whose daughter is adopted from China--also suggested a few simple recipes for me to cook & they have delighted in daily congee & romen noodles :-D  We've been very grateful for her insight!

Grand Asian Market was waiting on us when we got home!
Perfect for the boy's late-night cravings & comfort food needs.
Thank you Alexis & Wendy!!

Another HUGE blessing has been our local family & friends: they are stocking our friend's freezer with crockpot & freezer meals. What a relief not to have to worry about dinner at this point!  I simply let myself in our friends--the Morris'--garage & peruse their extra freezer that has been stocked with meals for our family to enjoy.  Quite a blessing!

Jayson is doing extremely well, although he too has been quite stressed (as we completely expected).  He is sleeping great, which is the biggest blessing.  He is very silly with the boys, & although this kinda irritates JP & me at times, we have talked about how great he has been with the boys--we fully believe his silliness & playfulness has helped remove much of the fear the boys could have been experiencing during this time!  To watch the brotherly bond develop between the 3 of them is absolutely precious & a bit mind-boggling.  Neither JP nor I told them about their birth order or how to relate to one another, but boy their personalities "fit" to a t!

We also want you to know that we may 'hibernate' for a bit, unintentionally & intentionally.  Now that we know the boys & understand a bit of their personalities, we're trying to wisely discern how to proceed in integrating them into our life outside the walls of our home.  We plan to attend church & take them swimming at the Y (they LOVE swimming, just like Jayson), but we're not sure when or what it will look like yet.  By that we mean we're quite ready to leave them in someone else's care, outside JP & me.  Please understand this is not a reflection on anyone personally, but a a period of time meant for us to teach our boys what it means to be a part of a family, what it means to have a Mommy & Daddy, & that they can trust us to care for them.  We know this is not a foreign concept to many of you, but we just wanted you to know where we are right now :)

There are definitely moments when I wonder how we're actually doing to do this day in & day out, but the Lord constantly reminds me that He brought us here & asked us to stretch our faith to follow Him here, & He will not leave us.  Thank you all for being tangible hands & feet of Christ to our family as we transition to a #pattersonpartyoffive & thank you for being our prayer warriors!

Now that we're home, I'm going to put updates & such on our blog: 

http://truthsfromajoy-filledverytiredmama.blogspot.com/

So feel free to sign up for email updates or check there to get the latest.  Information was so haphazard about how China monitors things & who they monitor, we felt it was best for me to keep our story--& our faith--somewhat 'quite' publicly so as not to draw attention to ourselves in a negative light from the powers that be.  The Lord made it clear the boys were our mission (this time around) & that we were being wise in how we chose to proceed.  Now that we're home in America--the land of the free & the home of freely expressed opinions--we plan to continue blogging :D

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for being a blessing to our family, all 5 of us 6 if you count the dog ;)

Much hugs & love to you all~

Jonathan, DeAnna, & our 3 boys!

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