Monday,
Decemebr 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 |
