We were so excited and ready to go home that we were almost completely packed two days before we left. I had mixed emotions about our trip back home. The first emotion is one of fear... Fear that everything won't go smoothly and uneventful. Although Hadley is legally our daughter she is still a Chinese citizens. Until our plane touches down in Chicago we're not out of the woods. I trust that God will go before us, just as he has time and time again. We left at 5:30 a.m. on December 7th, our flight from Guangzhou to Beijing departed at 8:25 a.m. After we arrived at the airport we made our way to the ticket counter. There was a slight hiccup with my ticket, my middle name was misspelled on my ticket and it didn't match up with my passport. This was fixed by a managers approval. Then we made our way through security. This was overwhelming. Every bag was opened, scanned, and rescanned. You basically had to strip down to your underwear to get through (just kidding, but it sure did feel that way). Once we made it to the other side, we waited for half an hour until our plane left.
Brian and I must have checked, and re-checked, and then re re-checked our passports and tickets making sure there were no problems a hundred times or more.
The flight from Guangzhou to Beijing was uneventful. After we got onto the plane anyway. We each had a backpack (fully loaded), three carry-on suitcases, a baby stroller, and a child that couldn't walk independently. It was a feat, but we got it done. We were both sweating like crazy when we made it to our seats. I must have hit 20 people in the head with my backpack, coming down the isle.
The next big step was getting through security and customs in Beijing. We grabbed a bite to eat at Pizza Hut in the airport before getting through security. Our layover between flights was 4 hours. As we stood in line to go through the last security check in China I could feel my heart pounding through my entire body.... Praying Lord, please be with us. If ever I needed you it's now!!! Ask, and it shall be done..... Our passports were stamped, we were free to go home. Now just waiting for take-off.
The next emotion, saying good-bye to our sweet girls homeland..........
I'm not sad for me, after all my dream is coming true. But sad for our girl, this is her birth country. This is where her story begins, where her only blood relatives are. Although she was mishandled, and abandoned they are still her birth family. She will never know the circumstances her parents were going through. Maybe that's a good thing, but I'm not the one who makes that judgment. When Hadley is older and asks about her family I will tell her everything we know. Though it may not be much information, she will know everything. When we made it to our gate and I saw the United Airline plane that would be carrying us home, my eyes were full of tears. Thank you God!!!
Now it was time to pray that the smog wouldn't stop us from leaving.... you can see in the above photo that the sun was fully shining, however the smog was so thick it just looks like an orange dot....
That is a Boeing 770 taking off.............
After 13 hours of flight time, we were right above Chicago. Another step closer to home. Hadley was such a good girl on the flight, she had a fever most of the way, and she slept 9 hours at least. The last emotion was one of joy. Meeting our family at the airport. Introducing Hadley to her brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles, and aunts that have waited on her. Oh I could barely contain myself! For years I had dreamed about this moment. Actually, when I first had the dream about adopting it was this very moment God showed me. I was carrying a little Asian girl through doors, and on the other side was my family waiting. I can't help but wonder if God had not ever shown me such a vivid dream would I have gone through it???
Aunt Crystal wasted no time getting to Hadley. Crystal has supported me every step of the way, she actually even learned tons of sign language while we were gone. She can even sing a song with sign.
If it wasn't for our parents helping us, I don't know what we would have done. My parents kept our other children while we were gone, and that is no easy job!!! Between the four of them there were activities every single day. Brain's parents helped us with some of the travel cost, and we couldn't have traveled when we did if it wasn't for them. Jordan did all the running while my mom was working, don't know what I would have done without him either....
James and Grayson were there too, that little Grayson is a joy to be around. James is the best, although I would never tell him that!
My mom was just a little late meeting us there, but she showed up with the 3 little ones just a few minutes later.
The only thing missing was our oldest son, Hunter. His football team were playing for the State title Championship the next day, and he was part of the Pulaski County Christmas Parade. Finally this momma could exhale!!!!!
Welcome home, sweet Hadley Caroline!!!!!!!
