Home at last!

Sorry it's taken me a few days to post anything about our trip home. We've been exhausted and busy trying to help Marci acclimate to a new home and country. So here's a quick recap of the last few days.

Children's Railway

View from ski lift

Saturday, May 26th - We spent part of the day with our interpreter and her family. She took us to a very unique railway station where young people (children from 12 - 18 years of age) help to run the railway. We road the train a little ways and got off at a stop where there was a ski lift. It was at the top of one of the mountains on the Buda side of Budapest. We rode the ski lift back down the mountain and were able to see the entire city. It was a very beautiful ride, and Bruce and I commented that it was a perfect way to spend our last day in that amazing city.  

Our interpreter, Andi,
and one of her daughters

Marci's first plane ride!

Sunday, May 27th -We got up at 5:00 a.m. and finished packing and getting all of our things together for the long trip home. We left our apartment at 6:45 and arrived at the Budapest airport at 7:30. After unpacking and repacking several suitcases, we finally ended up paying for two extra checked bags. Even though we left a lot of Marci's stuff (a set of inline skates and a pretty cool little scooter, along with various toys and clothes) behind, we still couldn't fit all of his belongings into the suitcases we'd taken with us. We flew from Budapest to Frankfurt, Germany and then boarded a plane that took us to Washington DC. That flight was over 8 hours and we were worried Marci might not behave very well for that long of a time. But, with the help of the inflight movies on Lufthansa, he made it through with very few incidents (although he did manage to spill his bowl of cereal into his lap on the first flight. We had to wait until we arrived in DC before we could get to our luggage and pull out some clean clothes for him to wear when we arrived in Atlanta.)

We went through customs and immigration in Washington DC, so before we left there Marci was declared a U.S. citizen. We were relieved that all the paperwork was completed correctly and there were no problems at all. We praise the Lord for working all of that out for us!  We had a 6 1/2 hour layover at Washington/Dulles Airport and that was probably the hardest time of the entire journey home. We were all very tired and Marci was anxious to get to Atlanta and meet Max (our dog)! We had to assure him that it would happen...eventually. One thing we did do during our layover was to get Marci a REAL hamburger at one of our favorite (albeit greasy) hamburger spots...Five Guys! He really seemed to like the burger, but I think he was a little disappointed that it didn't come with a toy (like McDonald's Happy Meals).  

Family and friends came to meet us!

Finally, after a very long and weary day, we arrived in Atlanta to the best looking group of people we could have ever imagined! Some of our family and friends came to meet us, even though it meant they would go without much sleep that night. We arrived at the Atlanta airport at 11:54 p.m. Sunday night. By the time we got home and got Marci calmed down enough to get to bed, it was 2:30. Bruce and I made it to bed by 3:00. Needless to say, we were all exhausted! But we were home and that was all that mattered to us! 

The Treus - picture taken in Budapest

We are SO thankful for all the prayers, emails, letters of encouragement, and love that have been showered on us for these past months. Thank you all for following us on this journey. The adoption has been finalized, but there is still much to do as we strive to become a family unit and continue to follow God's leading in our lives. Please continue to pray for us, and feel free to continue to follow the blog. I'll do my best to keep it updated with news from the Treu family.