Saturday, December 12, 2009

We're Home!!!!





Hi Everyone, We arrived at the Dallas airport last night around 8:30pm. It had been a very long day of traveling! Even though we were tired, we were energized when our friends were waiting for us at the baggage claim area. They had brought balloons, a huge banner from Lydia's religious ed. class, reporters, and a camera crew. No kidding! You may see more about our journey to Julia on the local news in the future. Also, they had stocked our refrigerator and accessorized our house for Christmas! We are so blessed to have such gracious friends! I promised to tell about the train trip from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. The actual ride was okay, but the before and after were arduous. We had four huge suitcases and three carry ons and all had to be transported up four flights of escalators. There were no elevators! If no kids were involved in the process, it may not have been too bad. Julia had to be carried because it is very difficult for her to keep up. We had to hurry because it was near time to board the train. We didn't have time to eat and no food was served on the train. We were exhausted! When we arrived in Hong Kong two hours later, we discovered that our hotel was forty five minutes away. It was just one of those bad travel days, but we made it.
The flight home went well until the last fifteen minutes. The turbulence was really bad and it was all I could do to hold down my stomach contents. Julia wasn't so lucky; she vomited three minutes before landing and didn't make it to the barf bag! She was covered and so was her seat! Fortunately for me, Mark was sitting next to Julia! I had sat next to her the first half of the flight, then we switched! We were late arriving so we didn't have much time in between flights. We couldn't change her until we claimed our baggage so you can imagine how the customs experience went! Mark had to change his shirt too because he had to carry her through customs. I felt so bad for Julia; she was still sick before we went through customs. We saw another family that had been on our flight and both the mom and daughter had thrown up!
We're home and all that is water under the bridge. Our own beds felt so good! We just have to deal with the jet-lag for several days. We can handle that.
Thank you to everyone for your support, comments, and prayers! We will keep the blog updated for a little while to let you know how Julia and Lydia are doing. God is so good and it is so good to be home! Until the next post.....................................blessings, Michelle, Mark, Lydia, and Julia.

3 comments:

  1. YEA!! You made it! Congratulations! God is so good! So sorry about Julia throwing up. UGH!! Traveling is so hard with kids. I am glad you all made it home safe and sound. We will be by to meet Julia once things settle down. I know you all are tired and need time to adjust. We are so excited for your family! WELCOME HOME!! and MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :)

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  2. Welcome Home!! Yeah, Julia is officially a US Citizen! :) I can only imagine what a relief it was to sleep in your own beds. And how sweet of everyone who met you, and then stocked your fridge and decorated your home for Christmas...such a blessing, indeed!! I am so sorry to hear that Julia got sick before landing, I'm sure that was tough. But like you said: water under the bridge. I can't wait to hear how everything is going as you settle into your new 'normal' at home! You all will remain in my thoughts and prayers. Take care and have a blessed week! <><

    love,
    Tanya

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  3. Thanks Michelle for sharing your wonderful story of God's plan of adoption. We will continue to pray for His provision for your sweet family. We rejoice along with you at all He has done, is doing and will do. Welcome to the neighborhood Julia! Ni hao.

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