We're Home
February 7, 2010  |  July 16, 2010

Sunday, February 7, 2010 WE ARE HOME!! There are some things that I will never understand. Like how traveling halfway around the world to bring a child into your family feels so right. Or how the whole date/time thing works when traveling east to west, quantum physics, or a compass. I just don’t get how any of that makes sense, and I doubt I ever will. But anyway here is how our travels went… We woke up at the crack of dawn, not because Mike set the alarm correctly, (he didn’t) but because I could not sleep one wink. I was so nervous that we wouldn’t make a connection and take even longer to get home.

We were just too filthy/exhausted/ cranky for a family picture.

First of all, kudos to us on packing. Not one bag was overweight. Granted we were in ridiculously dirty clothes for the travel home, but we did an outstanding job packing. Sarah did great on the first flight from Guangzhou to Beijing. At first I was worried because she had plastered me with stickers and the plane was still on the runway. Then we asked the flight attendant to explain to Sarah that she needed to keep her seatbelt on for the flight. Something was lost in the translation however and the flight attendant proceeded to demonstrate to her how to GET OUT of the pesky seatbelt. Great, now she can get free and we have hours upon hours to go. After that things went downhill fast. Hurrying through the Beijing airport she turned into a pink banshee wailing at the top of her lungs. We were the only Americans in a sea of Chinese and she was broadcasting loudly what unworthy parents we were. The endless flight from Beijing to Newark had definite memorable Sarah moments. Somehow I was between Cody and Sarah trying to juggle drinks, meals, toys, and be non-stop entertainment while Mike was seated away from us watching movies and enjoying the flight in leisure. The point where we became the most hated passengers on the flight was when Sarah woke up from a nap, wailing, crying in Chinese for about a solid 20 minutes. Naturally we were the only people on the plane who couldn’t actually speak Chinese, and I’m sure the passengers got an earful from her. Mike was looking over from his seat like “Who are those people? And why can’t they control their child?” At that point I almost lost it. Time moved on at a snail’s pace and 3 disgusting meals (including tripe), 2 damaged eardrums, and 1 Sprite poured down my leg, we touched down in Newark. I blinked back tears of utter joy. From then on it is all just a blur and FINALLY we touched down in Tulsa around midnight. Sarah was greeted at the airport by some lunatics with signs around their necks in Chinese proclaiming their relationship to her. The fact that she absolutely could not read the signs and made the people look odd, is negated by the fact that it was done out of love. Both sets of grandparents and Aunt Julie welcomed a shell-shocked Sarah into our family. Yes she will be deeply loved, cherished and adored, even if it is by a bunch of crazies. It is just the beginning and I can’t wait to see how this story plays out… With love from OKLAHOMA, Leanne, Mike, Cody, and Sarah

Web site by myadoptionwebsite.com