We're Home
July 20, 2010

Sunday, March 14, 2010 Sienna Grace has now been home with us now for four days. We were so grateful for the U.S. Consulate’s willingness to grant us Sienna’s Visa so we could leave China early. We have seen our little girl blossom since arriving home! To back up, we left China on Wednesday night, and arrived into MSP around 6am Thursday morning. Both Sienna and Ainsley were great travelers. We are blessed with three kids now that travel well. On the long flight from Guangzhou to LAX everyone got some much-needed sleep! Sienna had no problem enjoying Premium Economy (Business Class) on China Southern! Once in LAX we were thankful for our long layover. It took us over two hours just to clear customs since this is where Tung Tung became an American Citizen officially. After that we headed over to Delta and our first stop was McDonalds for a large diet coke with ice!!!! We had to do it; we introduced Sienna to her first Happy Meal. She loved the nuggets, but she had no interest in the fries! She even enjoyed her first ice cream cone with us! Finally we boarded our flight home at 12:35am, the red-eye. We were so happy to be 3+ hours away from Ruby Mei! We landed early around 6am. And, we were welcomed home by some of our dearest friends. Thanks to everyone who was there. It was a wonderful homecoming! Ruby was so happy to see us. Lots of tears of joy! What a blessing to finally be back home with her! Next our new family of 5 headed home!! We held our breath as we put Sienna into her car seat. But, after watching Ruby get into hers, she made no fuss. Once again, she surprised us! For those of you reading this who know the Officer Wilson story, hopefully we will not have to make that visit anytime soon! Once home, we got to see Sienna open up. It was so wonderful to watch her discover things we take for granted. She loved her room and her closet! We also found out she loves Barbies and Polly Pockets. She sat on the floor for over an hour just combing doll hair! It was an action packed first day for the new sisters. Tea parties, dress up, Barbies, etc . . . Precious! And, we were so happy to see how Sienna interacted with Ruby. Especially, when Ruby was upset, or having trouble sharing. This is a huge adjustment for the Mei Mei. But, Sienna seems to understand this. She does her best to compromise, or give Ruby a little rub on the back. They also have had their sisterly moments, but overall we are so happy to see their relationship evolve in a positive way! Ainsley, “Jie Jie,” continues to amaze us with her gift with young children. She is like the camp counselor around here. She thinks of silly things for them to do, she entertains, and she is patient when she needs to be. We are so proud of her! Like anyone who has made this trip, re-entry is brutal. Getting over the jet lag is so hard!. There is just no other way to say it. The first couple of nights were really tough. Sienna just could not adjust. We were eating dinner at midnight two nights in a row. And, she was sleeping on the couch instead of in her room. But, Saturday night we had a major breakthrough… We made sure she stayed up for dinner, and we got her down to sleep at a respectable time, in her bed, next to Ruby! She did great, and made it until about 5am. The rest of us finally got sleep too, so today was a great day! Praying that tonight everyone can sleep all night, and a little later! Since being home, Sienna has said just a few English words… Her first, “Go Away” to our dogs! and “Yummy” when she saw noodles at Costco!  She now refers to us all as Mama, Baba, Jie Jie, and Mei Mei. We are starting to hear “Shay Shay (thank you)” when we do things for her. It has been so fun to see her blossom before our eyes! Sienna Grace has done remarkably well considering the major changes and trials that have taken place for her in just 14 days. We are seeing prayers answered before our eyes. Her health has been stable since we got home, she is eating well, she is interacting and engaging with us all She is showing signs of trusting us on a daily basis. We think she likes it here! Her little personality is so much fun! She will always be our spirited “spicy” girl, but what a joy it is going to be to watch her grow up. There is no doubt in our minds that God is going to use this precious child in mighty ways! He already has! I will continue to do most of our updates at our family blog going forward. I included a short video over there of our homecoming day. You are welcome to visit us at “First a Pearl and Then Two Rubies.” http://1diamond1ruby1pearl.blogspot.com And, if you have followed us here on our second journey to China, please sign Sienna’s guest book before you go. It will be a treasure for Sienna one day to know that so many all over the world were praying her home! Thank you again for your prayers and support! We feel very blessed to be home safely with another one of God’s precious children! Blessings, Diana

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