Aloha!

We made it to the beautiful Waikiki on Sunday morning. The flight was brutal. We left our house at 6:15 am and flew to Tokyo where we had an 8 hour layover. After hours spent in the playroom, we finally boarded the red eye to Honolulu at 9 pm. Maddie Rae slept on the floor, the boys slept sprawled out on the middle seats, and Jon and I hunched in the aisle seats just praying for it to be over! After 6.5 hours, we flew in to the good ole USA and Maddie Rae touched down on Oahu soil and became an American. We then went to our hotel at around 10 am, which was the middle of the night in Hong Kong and we were told we couldn't check in until 3 pm. AiYa! Exhausted and weary, we layed a blanket out on the beach and tried to rest for 5 more hours. After a good night's sleep we were all feeling much better the next day and we had our first appointment to turn in our paperwork for Maddie Rae's citizenship.

Highlights:

• Maddie Rae is officially an American complete with her own US passport.
• The blue, clear, nonpolluted sky. I keep taking deep breaths just to try to detox my lungs from the China filth.
• The beach! The kids love it and could spend hours there. Maddie Rae throws a good ole fit every time she has to leave.
• The hottub. Jonah's personal favorite.
• Being able to walk into a convenience store on any block and find Nutter Butters, Dr. Pepper, Yoplait yogurt, Reese's cups, medicine, Tide, Bounce, and all the other items that I search in vain for in Asia. I'm wondering how long it will take once we move home for the feeling of elation at everything being so easy to wear off!
• Being in AMERICA!
• Have I mentioned the blue sky?

Jon put some of our pictures up on www.kelleyhut.com. Merry Christmas!