A restless nights sleep on the plane as I anxiously await seeing the rest of the family again! I know they will be so excited! They have waited for their little sister for so long and I know can't wait to lay eyes on her! I cannot wait to see them again!
It feels sooo great to land on American soil again! I did not realize just how much I missed the United States! It feels so good to be back home!
A couple of others who adopted children with us in Guangzhou are at the airport with us waiting to clear customs. It is taking forever! We all stand/sit in line together. I see a family who just adopted a 13 year old from China and she cannot speak any English. Her adoptive parents say she is not very exicted about being here - having to leave all of her friends behind. I wonder what that must be like. My heart goes out to her. I know this family will take her in as their own but it will take time for them all. This family is from AL as well. The other family is from Ashville, NC and they have adopted a little girl who looks about five. We three families are about to leave our Chinese adventure behind and begin this new life together with our Chinese children as a "family". Very exciting and yet a little scary too. We all know that America and our homes will be very different from anything our children have experienced before during their life in China.
We wait for two....three hours before we are finally able to clear customs to enter back into the United States. All three of us have missed our returning flights to our homes, so we all eagerly work to find connecting flights back home. Nate and I are able to find the quickest flight into Birmingham (instead of our original, which would have been Montgomery), but the other two families were not as fortunate and were not able to find a connecting flight until this evening:( We said our good-byes and then quickly ran to our connecting flight to Birmingham. It felt soooo good to be homeward bound!
Upon entering the Birmingham airport we were greeted with airport passengers who were excited when they saw we had just returned from China with our little girl! One man asked if he could take a picture of us getting off the airplane into the terminal, so that was neat:) Anya Mei did so great! What a real trooper she has been through all of this! I cannot even imagine!
After we gather our luggage, we begin looking for Mom Healy (who drove from Montgomery to pick us up). We spot her and she runs to greet us! We embrace and she gets her first look at her new, Chinese granddaughter! She gives her a hug and plants a sweet kiss on Anya Mei's little face. Anya avoids eye contact - for fear of being taken away from us - but I know in time she will warm up. We find our car and begin our hour long ride home. Anya is very unsure of her carseat (she has never used one before - in China, she just sat in our laps, they didn't have car seats) and begins crying. I sit in the back with her though and we play with her little toys until she (tightly gripped to my hand) falls asleep. This has been a very long journey for her and she has no idea what awaits her when she gets home (four very excited siblings!). We pull into the driveway and my heart begins to pound! I cannot wait to show her to her brother and sisters! The kids did not know we were on our way home, so this was to be a surprise for them too - they thought we would be home sometime tonight! As we walk into the house, I round the corner to see our four, beautiful children lined up on the couch with Grandma Eriksmoen watching a movie. They are all in initial shock! They stare at us for a couple of seconds, mouths literally dropped open before Anniston yells, "IT'S OUR CHINA BABY!" and they all come running at us at once. Anya and I are covered with little hands all over us as everyone is reaching to touch her. Finally they sit back long enough to look at her and for the very first time, all of their eyes meet! Anya's eyes are wide as saucers as she tries to take in all that is happening. The kids are overjoyed! They all want to hold her, but Anya will have none of that ..... not just yet:) The next several hours, Anya remains glued to my stomach trying to remain as still as possible (I think she was hoping to go unnoticed) taking it all in. The kids had so much to tell us about their past few weeks with Grandmas. We showed them the gifts that we got for them in China and they were so excited! It was like Christmas all over again:) The girls loved their braclets and real pearl neclaces and Nathan was so excited about her sword and Chinese bear. It feels SO good to be home again!
Once we get the four kids down to bed, we stay up and show grandmas video, pictures, and other chinese things we purchased while away. We present them with their pearl neclaces, jade neclaces, and tea pots. They have done so much for us - so much more than we could ever repay - to help us to bring our little daughter HOME! That is where she is now though.....HOME!!!!! After two years of waiting, our dear, little Anya Mei is finally here with our family home! Now we are a family of seven and how incredibly blessed we are! Thank you, Lord, for this amazing journey! For our safety as we traveled and were away, and for allowing us to bring this precious child home to our family as our daughter and our sister! Lord, You are so good and to You be all of the honor, all of the glory, and all of the praise!!!!!! Thank You!
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