16 February -- Back in the USA!

After a mere 12-hour flight plus a total of about four hours in various airports, we arrived at Steve's parents' house in Huntington Beach totally exhausted, of course! Melissa handled the flight pretty well, and it's been quite an adventure getting used to the 16-hour time change. Hopefully we'll only have a few more nights of 3am feedings and play sessions before we establish a more normal schedule.

Upon landing at LAX, Melissa automatically became a US citizen. Of course, we still had to wait a couple of hours to retrieve our baggage and for the immigration folks to process Melissa's visa.

Steve's folks rented a giant SUV to haul everyone and everything back from the airport, and we've been settling in trying to establish our new schedule (What? No more breakfast buffets?). Melissa is doing great with the grandparents and their dog, and she's already been checking out where Steve grew up.

We'll be catching up with some of Steve and Suzanne's family and friends over the next couple of days. We're going to take Melissa in for a checkup on Tuesday, and next Thursday we start heading east.

We promise to get some more pictures out soon!