Saturday, November 13, 2010
WE ARE HOME!!!

What a trip! So glad to be back on US soil and our home sweet home!

I will pick up from where I left off in Hong Kong . . .

We took a free shuttle to the airport in Hong Kong. Our shuttle was a brand new Toyota Sienna! It was hilarious because it was just like ours, only smaller (narrow and shorter). All of the minivans in China were smaller...it was so funny.

Our flight to from Hong Kong to NJ was very bumpy! We were sitting in the last row so we felt everything on the tail. But even with that, the turbulence was awful! There was one time when I thought we were goners! LOL. But the flight went by pretty fast considering it was a 15 hours flight. Mike and I got caught up on our movies. The girls played games and watched a couple of movies. We did not sleep much on the plane. To me, it is harder to sleep on a plane than it is a bus...LOL.

We arrived in NJ on time, but it was a mad rush to get through customs, get Annalyn's Visa processed, and get our luggage checked. We barely made it to the gate before our boarding time started. The girls slept most of way from NJ to Atlanta. It was a pretty smooth ride. When we got to Atlanta, the sun was setting and it was beautiful from the plane. We were so happy that our 6th and final plane ride was over! I thought that it was symbolic that the sun was setting and our trip was over. My cousins, Angie and Tony picked us up at the airport in Atlanta. It was perfect timing as we were just getting to the baggage claim as they arrived looking for us. We were so happy to see them. For those of you who do not know, they adopted 2 Russian brothers 10 years ago. It was so awesome to end our journey with them! We arrived at my mom and dad's house in the dark, but they had decorated the door with balloons and a sweet welcome sign in Chinese and English. Unfortuately, my poor mother had 2 of the Chinese characters upside down! LOL! It was a hoot!

Annalyn was so excited to see them and greeted them all happily. Anthony was already in bed so Mike and I just peaked in on him to watch him sleep. We showed them as much as possible and then went straight to bed. We were exhausted!

I wanted to be the first one up to see Anthony the next morning. As soon as I saw that the sun was up, I ran into his bedroom and he was laying there awake with his eyes half open. He saw me and sat up in the bed and looked at me like "Is it really you? Am I dreaming?" He said "Hey Mama", then the next words our of his mouth was sister. He wanted to see his sister! He was so happy to see us all, but he was really happy to see his sister and Daddy. He knew Annalyn right away and seemed happy to see her too.

We started out the day with fresh Pritchett McGriddles followed by many trips down the driveway on my Dad's 4-wheeler. He made a wagon to hook to the back of it for the kids. They loved it!! All 3 of them!

My grandmother came over and stayed for a long time after she got off from work. Then we had another family friend that came over who had adopted a 14 month old girl from China 9 years ago. She was so excited to meet Annalyn and she got to join them for a wagon ride. Then, that night, my Uncle Howard came over for a few minutes to meet Annalyn. It was a good day.

That brings me to today. After a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast, we packed up and headed to home to Alabama. We had our new van loaded down with 6 people, 5 big suitcases, 4 backpacks, my mother-in-law's luggage, Anthony's luggage, many other packages, and our welcome balloons. I do not think that we could have fit anything else in the van! LOL! Anyway, it was a smooth ride to our home. The kids really enjoyed the DVD player for the trip.

When we arrived at our house, our great friend, Phyllis and her Dad were standing on the porch with a bunch of ballons and posters on the front porch! Also, our friends Mark, Kim, Grant, and Allison had come by before we got there and put some balloons on each side of the driveway to welcome us home! It was so sweet! Phyllis and her Dad quickly left so that we could get settled in. We unloaded and then Mike's mother left to go home. Annalyn loved her new room and played with all of the toys very well. Once the excitement was over, she seemed a lot more calm than she has been in days. I think it was good for us to be by ourselves as we settled in as a family in our own home. We are looking forward to going to church tomorrow to see all of our wonderful church family! Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! We are very thankful that Mike is off until Friday! We are going to see the African Children's Choir for a field trip on Monday. Tuesday we have nothing. Wednesday we will take Annalyn to the International Adoption Clinic for her 3 hour appointment. Thursday we have nothing. Then, Mike will go back to work on Friday and work all weekend. Again, we are very thankful to all of you who followed our journey and prayed for us! We could certainly feel your prayers. Please continue to pray for our transition as a family. We love you all! Enjoy our homecoming pictures!

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" ~Joshua 24:15