We are HOME!
Okay -- so I did not journal on the plane. Not sure what I was thinking -- I was traveling 13,000 miles with three children on a red eye -- DUH. :)
Friday in Guangzhou we packed, shopped, and got ready to head out. One fun thing -- the boys did their deal where they each took $50 and went school clothes shopping. I am going to have them post about that as well as to publish their official "things carried on a bicycle" list. Friday in Guangzhou was windy and rainy -- still typhoon. We finally got all of our things in our bags and then Bob, our guide picked us up. We headed to the US consulate to swear that all we had said and done in the adoption process was true and honest. On Friday there were four families swearing in at the same time. Bob said that on Wednesday there had been about 40 -- the number varies it sounds like.
The guy doing the ceremony was very informative. I learned that the only difference between a consulate and an embassy is that embassies are in the capital of a country. A consulate if you are abroad will offer the same emergency foreign help that an embassy can offer -- file that away in the memory banks in case you ever get in a bind! He also explained that Julia was still a Chinese citizen when she left that office. She would become a US citizen when her Immigrant visa was stamped in the LAx Airport. At that time she could walk into any US passport office and get a US passport -- which we will be doing this week. :)
From there we went to the airport -- we were pretty early as our flight did not leave unitl 9 PM and we arrived about 5:00 PM. We checked in and then I treated our guide Bob to dinner as he was waiting for another set of families to arrive. We ate our last meal in China and then headed for our plane.
For the record, I flew on four different flights on China Southern on this trip -- and I prayed the whole time. The seats in economy were, well, I think the recycled seats off of old airplanes from 1964. Because Julia is 2, we had to purchase a seat for her so we had four seats for four of us in the middle of the plane. Jacob and I took the isles and spread James and Julia out in the middle.
Julia was GREAT. She twiddled around, ate some dinner, layed down with James and slept, woke up, ate some breakfast and then we landed in LAX not long after. We were glad to have taken off -- the rain was coming in SHEETS when we left. We were glad to land in the US again. Our time in LAX was harried and rushed -- we thought that by the time we got through immigration, customs, ran to another terminal, waiting in line for check in, went through security again, and then made it to our gate that we were going to miss our plane. Fortunately they were a little delayed and we got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare. They were out of non-exit row seats for us though ... soooooo... they did a little manuvering and Julia and I got First class seats for our 2 hour trip home to Portland. What a treat! Julia snoozed most of that trip and when we touched down in Portland, she was ready to roll.
As we got off the plane, I could only think of one thing -- I NEEDED to see JOY! The boys and I hoofed it again and as we came out of the terminal were greeted by Grammy, Gramma with the Pugs, Rob and my good friend Mary with her two girls -- also adopted from China. BUT -- the face I was searching for was Joy's -- I grabbed her little self -- BIG SELF after carrying Julia for two weeks -- and hugged her and the tears rolled. Nothing in the whole world feels so good as coming home to someone you love!
Julia spent the first couple of minutes trying to figure out the scoop. Then Joy got down.
Five years ago Joy came off the plane into my arms and the bond was INSTANT. She and I knew each other fully in a moment. On Friday night at midnight -- Julia came off the plane and met Joy -- and they knew each other in an instant. Joy was in love, Julia was in love and within moments they were holding hands and walking and laughing and sharing lipgloss. Aine, my MIL and dear friend captured those moments for me just as she had captured Joy's arrival home five years ago -- I will post pictures in a separate post.
We loaded up, came home and spent the next couple of hours looking at things I had gotten in China while Julia played. She stepped in our house and seemed to know -- yes, this is the place. On Friday night I climbed into my bed with four beautiful, perfect children and I have not ever felt so thankful for what I have. I still am brought to tears of humility when I wonder how on earth I ended up so incredibly blessed.
Friday in Guangzhou we packed, shopped, and got ready to head out. One fun thing -- the boys did their deal where they each took $50 and went school clothes shopping. I am going to have them post about that as well as to publish their official "things carried on a bicycle" list. Friday in Guangzhou was windy and rainy -- still typhoon. We finally got all of our things in our bags and then Bob, our guide picked us up. We headed to the US consulate to swear that all we had said and done in the adoption process was true and honest. On Friday there were four families swearing in at the same time. Bob said that on Wednesday there had been about 40 -- the number varies it sounds like.
The guy doing the ceremony was very informative. I learned that the only difference between a consulate and an embassy is that embassies are in the capital of a country. A consulate if you are abroad will offer the same emergency foreign help that an embassy can offer -- file that away in the memory banks in case you ever get in a bind! He also explained that Julia was still a Chinese citizen when she left that office. She would become a US citizen when her Immigrant visa was stamped in the LAx Airport. At that time she could walk into any US passport office and get a US passport -- which we will be doing this week. :)
From there we went to the airport -- we were pretty early as our flight did not leave unitl 9 PM and we arrived about 5:00 PM. We checked in and then I treated our guide Bob to dinner as he was waiting for another set of families to arrive. We ate our last meal in China and then headed for our plane.
For the record, I flew on four different flights on China Southern on this trip -- and I prayed the whole time. The seats in economy were, well, I think the recycled seats off of old airplanes from 1964. Because Julia is 2, we had to purchase a seat for her so we had four seats for four of us in the middle of the plane. Jacob and I took the isles and spread James and Julia out in the middle.
Julia was GREAT. She twiddled around, ate some dinner, layed down with James and slept, woke up, ate some breakfast and then we landed in LAX not long after. We were glad to have taken off -- the rain was coming in SHEETS when we left. We were glad to land in the US again. Our time in LAX was harried and rushed -- we thought that by the time we got through immigration, customs, ran to another terminal, waiting in line for check in, went through security again, and then made it to our gate that we were going to miss our plane. Fortunately they were a little delayed and we got to the gate with about 10 minutes to spare. They were out of non-exit row seats for us though ... soooooo... they did a little manuvering and Julia and I got First class seats for our 2 hour trip home to Portland. What a treat! Julia snoozed most of that trip and when we touched down in Portland, she was ready to roll.
As we got off the plane, I could only think of one thing -- I NEEDED to see JOY! The boys and I hoofed it again and as we came out of the terminal were greeted by Grammy, Gramma with the Pugs, Rob and my good friend Mary with her two girls -- also adopted from China. BUT -- the face I was searching for was Joy's -- I grabbed her little self -- BIG SELF after carrying Julia for two weeks -- and hugged her and the tears rolled. Nothing in the whole world feels so good as coming home to someone you love!
Julia spent the first couple of minutes trying to figure out the scoop. Then Joy got down.
Five years ago Joy came off the plane into my arms and the bond was INSTANT. She and I knew each other fully in a moment. On Friday night at midnight -- Julia came off the plane and met Joy -- and they knew each other in an instant. Joy was in love, Julia was in love and within moments they were holding hands and walking and laughing and sharing lipgloss. Aine, my MIL and dear friend captured those moments for me just as she had captured Joy's arrival home five years ago -- I will post pictures in a separate post.
We loaded up, came home and spent the next couple of hours looking at things I had gotten in China while Julia played. She stepped in our house and seemed to know -- yes, this is the place. On Friday night I climbed into my bed with four beautiful, perfect children and I have not ever felt so thankful for what I have. I still am brought to tears of humility when I wonder how on earth I ended up so incredibly blessed.
posted by Jack's Journey at
11:19 AM
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