Short Night, Long Day

Today is the longest day of the year: the summer solstice. But the day seems to be infinitely lengthened for our family, as we had our shortest night of the year last night -- racing forward toward the sunrise from across the Atlantic ocean, on a jet airplane -- and the short night was made even shorter with some of our poorest quality of sleep of the year (I never do well with trying to sleep on the plane). Marci and I are exhausted, as we hardly slept at all. Elliot is also less than 100 percent, although he probably had the most sleep and the smoothest ride of all of us. But it seems that this journey was most difficult for little Olivia, whose travel included only four hours of sleep (compared to a typical night's twelve hours), two and a half "blow-outs" (an affectionate term for where the diaper cannot hold all of its contents), and a surge of vomit upon landing (needless to say, the transition has been a bit of a shock to her system).

Today -- this longest of all days -- we must deal with jet lag. And to be honest, it's no fun.

But we made it safely back to Amsterdam. The flights and connections went very smoothly, and all our bags arrived without incident. We've made our way back to our home, and we're starting to pull things back together and resume "regular" life (whatever that means). Your prayers for the adjustment process would be greatly appreciated.