Oh the joy of jet lag!! It really makes me feel crazy when my body feels awake when it is just not supposed to!! We all crashed hard around 9:00pm. I woke up from a dead sleep at 3:00am WIDE AWAKE!!! Ethan was awake around 3:15 and then Jon Jon woke up around 3:30. Joey and Grace are snoozing hard. Below you will find the "List of POSITIVE THINGS" I composed while wide awake to keep my mind off of being upset about now being able to go back to sleep.
:) POSITIVE THINGS :)
- I am so happy to be in my own bed and not in a hard China hotel bed!!
- I am so happy to hear planes flying over my house right now and I AM NOT ON THEM!!!
- I am so thankful to have three beautiful children in this house, together at last!!
- I am thankful for big boys who are crazy about their little sister!
- I am so thankful Grace made it through the trip home without getting sick!
- I am so thankful we made it home with all of our luggage and that we made our connecting flight!
- I am so thankful I made it through another China trip WITHOUT having to use a squatty potty!!
- I am so thankful to be in a place where I can drink tap water from the sink! Oh yes, I just had to stick my face under the kitchen faucet like a kid and drink! It may be city water and not yummy well water, but it sure beats toxic China water!!
- I am so thankful to be in a place where I can speak freely about Jesus and not have to worry about someone telling me how many children I can have!
- I am thankful to be blessed with so many frinds and such a precious family!!
- I am so thankful our little girl is sleeping in the bed we made ready for her!
** Update **
Ethan went back to sleep at 8:00am and Jon went back to sleep around 11:00am. Joey and Grace are still asleep. I have unpacked suitcases and have been washing clothes ALL DAY and there are still more! How in the world did we end up with so many dirty clothes. I think they are multiplying. :)
I sure hope I sleep tonight! Actually, I hope we all sleep. Wow, this could get really crazy if we all end up on different sleeping schedules!! UGH! :)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
24 hours ago
24 hours ago we woke up and left the hotel to board our plane for the airport. We made it through the many check in and security lines. Thankfully, we had a pretty uneventful flight. Grace and Jon Jon napped alot of the trip. Ethan was awake the ENTIRE 15 hours watching his tv and playing games while enjoying his sodas. He is going to need detox from the amount of television he has watched on both the airplanes and in the hotels and from the incredible amount of soda he has been able to consume during this trip!! Jon Jon enjoyed the meals and snacks on the plane ride home. He grabbed the menu from the seat pocket as soon as we got on board so he could plan his selections! Grace did not get sick at all!!!!!!! Thank you Lord! We are so very grateful for your prayers. She was able to just relax and fly without getting sick!! We made it from Hong Kong to Detroit on a smooth flight. We were able to go through immigration and the adoption paperwork line pretty quickly and easily. We then picked up our luggage and made it through security quite quickly. We were at the airport in the immigration /security area at a very slow time. Thankfully no big crowds and lines to deal with. The TSA/ Border Patrol people were very nice and kept congratulating us. It was quite nice after all of the airline staff on the international flight had been rather rude. We were able to recheck our bags and make it to our connecting gate very quickly. We even had about 45 minutes to spare!! Nothing like our experience with Jon Jon where we had to run the entire way , got stopped at every point and barely made our flight to Memphis! We landed in Memphis around 4:40pm. Again, we had a smooth, uneventful flight. Both boys and Grace slept about 2 hours on the flight. We were blessed by friends and family at the airport to welcome us home. We were so excited to see all of you there. Thank you so much for taking the time to greet us at the airport! It was so kind of you to bless us by being there. We cannot tell you how sweet it was to see your faces after such a long journey! It really made the boys feel special to see people waiting for us. They have been excitedly talking about since we got back to the house. :) Thank you so much for bringing us and all of our stuff home from the airport. Thank you for taking care of everything while we were gone. We appreciate your help so very much. We arrived home to find our kitchen full of groceries!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!! Words cannot express!!!!! I cannot tell
you how much that made my day!!! I had already gottn my grocery list written while I was on the plane. I will admit I was dreading getting out after we got home to go pick up a few necessary things at the grocery. It was so incredible to come home and find those things already in my house!!! Thank you does not even seem adequate enough to express my gratitude to you guys who put all of that together!! I am so thankful and blessed beyond words!!!!!!
We are now home. It has been 24 hours since we woke up and started our trip home! It is SO GREAT to be back home!! I am thankful beyond measure for God watching over us and bringing us home safely. It was a great trip and I am glad it is behind us. We are so thankful to begin our new life as a family of five with our baby girl finally home with us!!!
you how much that made my day!!! I had already gottn my grocery list written while I was on the plane. I will admit I was dreading getting out after we got home to go pick up a few necessary things at the grocery. It was so incredible to come home and find those things already in my house!!! Thank you does not even seem adequate enough to express my gratitude to you guys who put all of that together!! I am so thankful and blessed beyond words!!!!!!
We are now home. It has been 24 hours since we woke up and started our trip home! It is SO GREAT to be back home!! I am thankful beyond measure for God watching over us and bringing us home safely. It was a great trip and I am glad it is behind us. We are so thankful to begin our new life as a family of five with our baby girl finally home with us!!!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Airport!!!!!
We just landed in Detriot!!!!! We are so happy to be in the US!!!!! We are waiting on our LAST flight and should be in Memphis at 4:40pm. Keep praying. We are almost there!!!!!!!!! :)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Leaving Guangzhou
This morning we ate breakfast. We then went to the lobby to have a travel group picture with all of the families with us. We then all went and prayed together. It was a special time spent with people we now share a special bond. We have been blessed by the company of these dear people!!
This afternoon we will receive our visa that will allow us to take Grace back to the USA. Once we receive the paperwork and the visa, we will take a van ride to Hong Kong. We will fly out of Hong Kong tomorrow headed for home!!!! We are very ready to head home. We are so anxious for all of you to meet Grace. She is finally feeling better and we are starting to see her personality. She is quite stubborn and spunky. She is eating again and really moving around more. She is interactiong with the boys. SHe enjoys watching them and leading them around. Last night she was trying to do flips in the floor with them. The boys are so happy to walk around with her and do what she wants. She is bossing them around already!
Please pray as we take these last parts of the journey home. We are quite nervous about the van ride today. It could take up to 3-4 hours. We are praying she will not get sick. We are also praying she will not get sick on the plane. Tomorrow, we will fly from Hong Kong to Detroit and then Detroit to Memphis.
I am not sure if I will get to post again before we take our flights. We will see you all very soon!!
This morning we ate breakfast. We then went to the lobby to have a travel group picture with all of the families with us. We then all went and prayed together. It was a special time spent with people we now share a special bond. We have been blessed by the company of these dear people!!
This afternoon we will receive our visa that will allow us to take Grace back to the USA. Once we receive the paperwork and the visa, we will take a van ride to Hong Kong. We will fly out of Hong Kong tomorrow headed for home!!!! We are very ready to head home. We are so anxious for all of you to meet Grace. She is finally feeling better and we are starting to see her personality. She is quite stubborn and spunky. She is eating again and really moving around more. She is interactiong with the boys. SHe enjoys watching them and leading them around. Last night she was trying to do flips in the floor with them. The boys are so happy to walk around with her and do what she wants. She is bossing them around already!
Please pray as we take these last parts of the journey home. We are quite nervous about the van ride today. It could take up to 3-4 hours. We are praying she will not get sick. We are also praying she will not get sick on the plane. Tomorrow, we will fly from Hong Kong to Detroit and then Detroit to Memphis.
I am not sure if I will get to post again before we take our flights. We will see you all very soon!!
This afternoon we will receive our visa that will allow us to take Grace back to the USA. Once we receive the paperwork and the visa, we will take a van ride to Hong Kong. We will fly out of Hong Kong tomorrow headed for home!!!! We are very ready to head home. We are so anxious for all of you to meet Grace. She is finally feeling better and we are starting to see her personality. She is quite stubborn and spunky. She is eating again and really moving around more. She is interactiong with the boys. SHe enjoys watching them and leading them around. Last night she was trying to do flips in the floor with them. The boys are so happy to walk around with her and do what she wants. She is bossing them around already!
Please pray as we take these last parts of the journey home. We are quite nervous about the van ride today. It could take up to 3-4 hours. We are praying she will not get sick. We are also praying she will not get sick on the plane. Tomorrow, we will fly from Hong Kong to Detroit and then Detroit to Memphis.
I am not sure if I will get to post again before we take our flights. We will see you all very soon!!
This morning we ate breakfast. We then went to the lobby to have a travel group picture with all of the families with us. We then all went and prayed together. It was a special time spent with people we now share a special bond. We have been blessed by the company of these dear people!!
This afternoon we will receive our visa that will allow us to take Grace back to the USA. Once we receive the paperwork and the visa, we will take a van ride to Hong Kong. We will fly out of Hong Kong tomorrow headed for home!!!! We are very ready to head home. We are so anxious for all of you to meet Grace. She is finally feeling better and we are starting to see her personality. She is quite stubborn and spunky. She is eating again and really moving around more. She is interactiong with the boys. SHe enjoys watching them and leading them around. Last night she was trying to do flips in the floor with them. The boys are so happy to walk around with her and do what she wants. She is bossing them around already!
Please pray as we take these last parts of the journey home. We are quite nervous about the van ride today. It could take up to 3-4 hours. We are praying she will not get sick. We are also praying she will not get sick on the plane. Tomorrow, we will fly from Hong Kong to Detroit and then Detroit to Memphis.
I am not sure if I will get to post again before we take our flights. We will see you all very soon!!
happy anniversary
Today Joey and I celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe it. It has been such a crazy journey. Since we never really give each other anniversary gifts, it is funny that again we have ended up celebrating our anniversary by adding another cute little Chinese kid to our family as our anniversary gift! We laughed when we celebrated our 10th anniversary bringing Jon Jon home. I cannot believe we are back 4 years later. It is just crazy the things God calls us to do. It has been a pretty cool journey so far during these 14 years. If someone had told me 14 years ago we would travel around the world to create our family, I would have told them they were crazy! And to think I swore I’d never may you! What a way to celebrate…driving through China on our way to take our girlie home! I love you! I sure am glad I have you to drive me crazy each day!!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
update
Grace seems to be getting a little better. She has been able to take some water and hold down a cracker. We gave her some ibuprophen and tylenol. Her fever seems to be going down. Please keep praying. She has got to get better! Seeing her so sick is scary and just breaking our hearts!
God provides
a man named John and 44 lbs of luggage....
God always gives us just what we need when we need it. I am always amazed at how God will provide things big or small. He knows exactly what we need! We had two experiences of God's provision on the night we flew from Nanning to Guangzhou. The first happened when we met a man named John as we were waiting for our delayed flight to Guangzhou. He came and sat by us as we were waiting for our flight. We began talking with him. We then stood with him in line as we were waiting to board the plane. As we were waiting, he and Ethan were sharing celebrity photo opportunities as Chinese people came up to them to have their pictures made with them. Ethan gets so embarrassed each time but he has really been a good sport and taken a picture at every request. As we were waiting in this line, it became really crowded and hot. People were pushing and at that point Grace began vomiting. She just could not stop. At this point, John suggested we move out of line and walk up to the area near the boarding door to get closer to the air vent. We did. As we were trying to help Grace, he went over and talked to the airline people IN CHINESE and got them to let us go ahead and get on the plane first!! This was so incredible. We did not even know he was doing it. It was so very kind of him. He also helped us get a wet cloth and a cup of ice when we were seated. He could do all of this because he spoke the language! Another cool part, his seat was in the row behind us. We were so thankful for his kindness. How awesome of God to send us exactly what (who) we needed just when we needed it!! HE is so faithful!!
Another awesome provision was a special promotion for luggage weight. We had known the restrictions for luggage were a bit more for in China flights than the international flights. Therefore, we had packed according to the smaller, in China restrictions. The only probalem was that I thought we each got 44 lbs of luggage. I did not know that kids only go 22 lbs of luggage. UGH!! We had packed for all 6 of us to have 44 lbs. Therefore we were 44 lbs over. We tried to add more to our carry on luggage to compensate for the difference. However, the scales in our hotel were not reliable so we were kind of guessing about the weight. As we were driving to the airport, our guide, Mary told us that we could have 44 lbs of luggage EACH today because of a special promotion the airline was having. She said she had just looked it up on the internet before we left the hotel. She laughed and said it was kind of odd because the airlines do not do that very often. We just knew it was God taking care of us! Wow, I am so thankful HE takes care of the little things!!!
God always gives us just what we need when we need it. I am always amazed at how God will provide things big or small. He knows exactly what we need! We had two experiences of God's provision on the night we flew from Nanning to Guangzhou. The first happened when we met a man named John as we were waiting for our delayed flight to Guangzhou. He came and sat by us as we were waiting for our flight. We began talking with him. We then stood with him in line as we were waiting to board the plane. As we were waiting, he and Ethan were sharing celebrity photo opportunities as Chinese people came up to them to have their pictures made with them. Ethan gets so embarrassed each time but he has really been a good sport and taken a picture at every request. As we were waiting in this line, it became really crowded and hot. People were pushing and at that point Grace began vomiting. She just could not stop. At this point, John suggested we move out of line and walk up to the area near the boarding door to get closer to the air vent. We did. As we were trying to help Grace, he went over and talked to the airline people IN CHINESE and got them to let us go ahead and get on the plane first!! This was so incredible. We did not even know he was doing it. It was so very kind of him. He also helped us get a wet cloth and a cup of ice when we were seated. He could do all of this because he spoke the language! Another cool part, his seat was in the row behind us. We were so thankful for his kindness. How awesome of God to send us exactly what (who) we needed just when we needed it!! HE is so faithful!!
Another awesome provision was a special promotion for luggage weight. We had known the restrictions for luggage were a bit more for in China flights than the international flights. Therefore, we had packed according to the smaller, in China restrictions. The only probalem was that I thought we each got 44 lbs of luggage. I did not know that kids only go 22 lbs of luggage. UGH!! We had packed for all 6 of us to have 44 lbs. Therefore we were 44 lbs over. We tried to add more to our carry on luggage to compensate for the difference. However, the scales in our hotel were not reliable so we were kind of guessing about the weight. As we were driving to the airport, our guide, Mary told us that we could have 44 lbs of luggage EACH today because of a special promotion the airline was having. She said she had just looked it up on the internet before we left the hotel. She laughed and said it was kind of odd because the airlines do not do that very often. We just knew it was God taking care of us! Wow, I am so thankful HE takes care of the little things!!!
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