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December 21, 2009  |  December 9, 2010

Monday, December 21, 2009 GOODBYES / TRAVEL / HELLOS DH here. Our travel back to the E’s at home began on Thursday. We had to check out of our room by 2pm , Red Couch Photo with our Traveling Buddies, Lunch at Lucy’s, Pick up our Visa Paperwork for the boys at 5pm and then off to the airport at 7pm. Thanks to the Wallace’s for letting us crash in their hotel rooms with them for a few hours. We prayed together before we left and said our tearful goodbyes, it is truly amazing how the adoption process will bring divine connections into your lives and not only add children to your family but dear friends who become an extended family. We look forward to seeing our traveling buddies again. Onto the travel marathon. We checked in at the airport for our quick flight to Hong Kong and said goodbye to our guide Connie who the boys were very fond of during our stay in Guangzhou. We waited for a few hours and made our 30 minute flight and arrived in HK a little before midnight. Quick Elijah note – He was asleep when we boarded, took off and landed. We had a hotel room reserved at the HK airport where we spent about 6 ½ hours before we had to check in for our flight to Chicago. Nicole and I tried to sleep but with the hardest beds in China along with an early wake-up call we barely slept at all. We checked in at around 8 AM and were praying for favor because none of our seats were together. Prayer answered, all four together. We went through immigration and yet another security check before getting to our gate for a 2 hour wait for boarding. (Don’t forget about the huge x-rays and some crazy medical file the is attached to Elijah’s Passport because of the wonderful Hague process) While we waited Nicole noticed a family that she followed on their first adoption and were able to meet in person. Nicole will always say to me, “You know, So and So’s family”. She always remembers the kids. So we got to meet Jaden. It was very nice connecting with another family and sharing stories and seeing how we live in such a small world even when in China. We boarded the plane at around 11:15am and prepared for the 14 hour flight to Chicago. It is always fun when you depart and arrive at the same time, especially with a 14 hour time difference. I would have to say that this was the longest and most painful 14 hours that I have every encountered in my entire lifetime. Elijah did very well through the flight and I believe he has overcome his fear of flying on big birds. He slept off and on and other than being uncomfortable while he was sleeping did quite well. Enick on the other hand was quite the challenge. Imagine yourself sitting in front of a child that is constantly kicking the back of your chair, playing with the magazines and throwing fits any time his parents try to correct him. And I don’t just mean little fits. They were the ones where you throw your arms and legs and scream at the top of your lungs. Oh you should have seen the looks that we were getting. You know, why don’t you do something with your child. Believe me, I wanted to do something but I don’t think gate checking your child is legal. Nicole and I traded off taking him to the back of the plane while he settled down and prayed for maybe something like the rapture or one of those biblical translations where we would instantly arrive in Chicago. 14 hours later we ended our flight from the gates of H&%# and headed off to clear customs and immigration with our large x-rays and medical documents connected to Elijah’s passport. We cleared the immigration desk and headed over to the custom’s desk with all of our paperwork so they could open our brown envelopes and check out the boy’s Visas. Oh no, TB – run for your lives. The not so kind lady behind the desk had to make a call because of the false positive TB test that Elijah had in GZ. You know the one where you have to take an x-ray to prove that there is no TB. Apparently our customs group is not quite aware of all the pleasantries that you have to go through now with the Hague process and that the medical exams in GZ are not quite good enough for them or the CDC. After waiting about 30 minutes they inform us that we have to contact our state’s health department and have Eijah examined by them within 48 hours. Arghhhh. Still fighting the good fight we are. Continuing our travels, we have a 4 hours layover in Chicago so we grabbed a quick bite to eat and a very large water and green tea from Starbuck’s while we waited for the last leg of our journey. We boarded our last flight where Enick decided he would finally fall asleep. And he couldn’t have done that on the 14 hour flight? The flight was only 45 minutes and then the emotions started to rise while we knew the rest of our E’s would be waiting for us at the security check. Nicole and I were so fried both physically and emotionally after the 2 day journey and we were so glad to hug and kiss the E’s who stayed behind. Emmali was so funny, she ran up to the boys and was trying to kiss them and hug them. It was like, yeah someone else who looks like me. The boy’s didn’t know what to think with all the kids trying to hug and kiss them. We loaded everything up and headed home for we hope is the last of traveling for a very long time.

Red Couch Photo Group Picture Family Picture w/ Guide Connie Boys on the Plane All the E's Our Van Runneth Over

When we got home we unpacked all the goodies for the kids and for Nana and Pappy who we can’t thank enough for taking care of the E’s at home while we were traveling half way around the world. We then were trying to figure out how we were going to fit 6 kids into two bedrooms. We decided we would put the three youngest together and pulled the bed out of the garage and set it up in Emmali’s room. Emmali then proceeded to tell us that she wanted to sleep with the boys. Sure, then Elijah wanted to cram himself into Emmali’s toddler bed. Not a problem. So the sleeping arrangements are set and the next chapter in the Story of All My E’s begins. We thank all of you who have encouraged us with your comments and prayed for us on our journey to Enick and Elijah. God is very good and we look forward to what lies ahead for our family.

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