Home!

We're Home!


After 30 hours of traveling (hotel lobby to our front door) we made it safely home. What a blessing it is to be back in Tehachapi surrounded by family and friends!


Our last days in Guangzhou were quite busy. We flew there on Friday December 31. Linsey did great on the flight. We had all 8 families together for this flight and would soon be reunited with the 20 other families that had gone to other Provinces. Our guides were phenomenal and did all the thinking for us. We'd give them our passports, have our luggage outside our room and sure enough.........they'd have us all checked in at our next destination.


It was so fun to meet up with the other families and meet their new daughters. Every child seemed perfect for every family. Amazing how the Lord worked that out.


Our family of 5 had dinner in a hotel restaurant for New Year's Eve. We were serenaded by very talented musicians singing Joy to the World! We stayed at the China Hotel in Guangzhou and it was beautiful. Guangzhou was cool but much nicer than where we'd been. As hard as Changsha was, we were thankful to have experienced that life and see the hardships of the people firsthand. People that never leave Guangzhou when they adopt, really don't get a picture of what life in China is like.


New Year's Day was spent getting 28 babies their check-ups at the clinic. Lucky us.....we were family number one so Linsey went first. She was crowned the strongest baby in the bunch! She arched her back and screamed anytime anyone tried to get a look at her. She passed her physical with flying colors (that's so funny because they couldn't touch her) and we were set free to do some shopping in the area of Shamain Island. It's set up to attract adoptive families that are doing business at the Consulate and clinic. We had a great afternoon bargaining at all the booths.


On Sunday one member from the family met in Linnekar's room (our guide) to fill out mounds of paperwork that would be taken to the Consolata on Monday. There were a few husbands that were elected but mostly the duty fell to us mom's. We had a contest going to see who could get through the stack without white out. I was not one of them........I think there were only 3. Even tasks like this were made fun because we were together as a group with one goal in mind..........get our girls home! We laughed and teased one another as somebody would call for white out. We turned in our paperwork and were instructed to stay in our rooms Monday am while the guides turned in our paperwork to the Consulate. We would be called if there were any problems. Praise God............nobody got the call. We were home free! Well, almost.


That afternoon we all went to the Consolata as a group with our adoption agreement and passports. We passed many many Chinese people in lines trying to get permission to visit the U.S. They all smiled and enjoyed seeing the babies that were getting forever families. We all felt bad as our line just moved ahead of all of them and gained entrance onto U.S. ground. It was such a comfort walking into this building and seeing President Bush's picture and the U.S. flag..............we were so close to home!


We were all escorted into a room (that was about 90 degrees.....the only heated room in China!) and raised our right had as we took an oath. It was a bittersweet moment. This was the last bit of paperwork that had to be done before our girls could leave the country. I can't quite explain the emotion..........the Lord chose us, and chose this child for us. We were so grateful. Sadness also crept inside somehow. A sadness that her birth mother would not know the baby she gave up was safe and would be loved beyond measure. We were so sad for all the babies left behind. Mark and I both decided that day that if the Lord allows........we will return. We will bring another one of his children home to America where they can have a hope and a future.


Okay...........it was off to do more shopping. We were all pretty shopped out but managed to get a photo of all the babies on the infamous red couch at the White Swam hotel. It's where many adoptive families stay.


As days passed we looked forward to home but so enjoyed the friends we had made. We spent the next few days touring a tea factory, museums, and enjoying adventurous meals together. Our bus rides alone were a blast as we counted how many times our driver hit the horn and the breaks as he weaved in and out of traffic. When it comes to driving in China.......there are no rules...........drive on the sidewalk if you have to........no problem!!


Our last night in Guangzhou was spent with some friends at a Chinese restaurant where nobody spoke English. We had one girl in our group that could speak some Cantonese so she proceeded to order for the whole table. We laughed so hard when the chicken came that looked like a pheasant (complete with head and feet!) and the broccoli she ordered was actually celery. We were finishing up some yummy ribs when Nick commented "Gee, these ribs are small.......wonder what we're eating?" The shrimp had heads and the egg rolls that I had ordered were actually a grey pasty root of some kind. (Of course I didn't know this until I took a HUGE bite) We just enjoyed being together and all walked to McDonald's for ice cream afterwords.


Our flights home went amazingly well. Security and customs are stressful just because we have so much stuff to keep track of and there are so many people everywhere. Our seats were moved up to right behind first class. That was such a blessing because we had bulkhead room and it worked out really well with Linsey.


Speaking of Linsey..........she was such a trooper on the whole trip! She played and slept and would even sleep in her stroller through the airport. The rest of us didn't get much sleep however. We watched lots of movies and Amy did some homework. We were kept busy with Linsey and the time actually went pretty fast.


We arrived in SF on Thursday morning. Funny..........we left Beijing on Thursday morning! The airport was packed and lines were everywhere. We made it through customs and were sent to a never ending line where they finally just told us to leave our luggage and go get on the plane. Mark commented, "We'll never see our luggage again, but at least we have our girl!" It was our first U.S. flight with our adopted daughter and boy did she draw a crowd. The stewardesses stopped working just to talk about our trip and find out more about adoption. We love talking about it and hope and pray someone will be moved to experience it themselves.


After 7 flights and no lost luggage we arrived in LAX to lost luggage! Actually, it wasn't really lost............just not on our flight. We had to hang around the baggage for another hour and a half with no place to sit and everybody (except Linsey) ready to collapse. It came and we were on our way to Tehachapi. We arrived home about 6:30 to a house full of dear friends, balloons, banners, and lots of food. We were thrilled to be home and so happy for our friends and family to see our Linsey.


Thank you again for your continued prayers. We felt them daily. We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for His protection. We have been blessed beyond measure and give Him all the glory.


We've been home 3 days and have just done the last load of laundry. Linsey slept 16 hours the first night we were home! She's adjusting very well to her new house and we keep promising that we don't have to leave and go to another hotel. She's getting more and more adventurous everyday. She had a drs. appt, shots, and lab work yesterday so she was not too happy with things. She's very forgiving though............and laughed and chattered all the way home.


I'll continue to send pictures to the mighty webmaster Kris and hopefully you can enjoy some candid moments.


Love,


Elizabeth