Finally Home!!

We are finally home!! We left Guangzhou on Friday morning at 5:45 heading to Tokyo on a 4 hour flight. We got onto our 10 hour connection in Tokyo but after being in the air about 45 minutes the pilot alerted us that we would be turning around and heading back to Tokyo due to mechanical difficulties (both stabilizers went out). We had to hover over the ocean about 1 hour before landing to dump a lot of fuel so when we landed the plane would not catch on fire (comforting to know!!) . We heard that it was about $100,000 worth of fuel. We were suppose to all get back on to another plane within the hour but after that time, they ended up cancelling the flight and re-routing everying the following afternoon. Needless to say the craziness began with the Japanese trying to figure everthing out for us. They had to open the immigration office for us so we could get temporary visas to enter Japan since we only had visas to enter China and Carissa had only one to enter America. They sent us all to hotels with food vouchers and then we found out our flight schedules the next morning. Many families were split up on different flights. We were all together except Curt's mom but we were able to switch her to our flight. We did, however, end up with bulk head seats which were GREAT!! We also got 27,000 more flight miles for each of us so that is a free flight somewhere in the US. Maybe we will use it for Disney next summer!!!



I did not post while in Guangzhou due to our busy schedules (shopping most of the time!!) and our limited access to a computer. We arrived in Guangzou Monday evening and ate at Lucy's. They served most American food and we LOVED IT!! They had the best french fries. We looked through a few stores that evening before heading back to the White Swan. That was my favorite hotel of all. They were so nice and the whole area we were in catered to us American's and adoptive families. I guess it's because we all spend money shopping there!!



On Tuesday we shopped in the morning and then in the afternoon our Bethany group took the babies for their medical exams. There were three stations and they all went quickly. Some cried and some didn't. Carissa only fussed a little when getting her measurements. According to them her weight is 24 lbs. and height is 29". She goes to her first American doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning so we will know more on her ear condition and her weight and height. Should be fun!! We shopped for a little while in the afternoon before our group got together for a traditional Chinese dinner around a big table. That was the best Chinese we had eaten the whole trip. We then shopped more after dinner before meeting with our group leader, Shiyan, to make sure we had all of our paperwork in order. We had to re-fill out two different forms because ours were out of date (several of us had to do this). We also found out that Shiyan had put the wrong babies picture on Carissa;s medical file that was going to the U.S. Consulate the next day so we had schedule to go back to the medical office to get that straightened out before going to the consulate the next morning. She then later called me to let me know that another form was not properly notarized by my SW so Curt had to go with her to the consulate the next day.



Wednesday was suppose to be our free day, while Shiyan delivered all of our paperwork to the U.S. Consulate. I was to meet her at 7:30 to go the medical office and then go with her to the consulate. When I got up I looked outside to see that the street were flooded to peoples knees. A typhoon had hit Guangzhou on the other side but the river had risen and flooded some of the stores. Shiyan and I were supposed to walk several blocks to the medical office so we were not able to before we left for the consulate. Curt decided to go in my place so he went with Shiyan then by the time they got back to water had receeded and he went in my place to the medical office. Shiyan then took it back to the consulate that afternoon to fix the problem. We enjoyed more shopping that afternoon in between down pours of rain from the typhoon. At least it was cooler. We were disappointed that we didn't get to swim in the beautiful White Swan pools. Somehow the yucky waters had gotten into the pools so they had to close them. I didn't even get to see the beautiful water falls outside but the inside of the hotel was beautiful. That evening we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant that many had recommended. It was such a delight to finally eat some normal foods and the pizza was incredible.



On Thursday morning we met as a group for the red couch pictures. We had three girls in our group from the Hunan province. They were sooo good getting their pictures taken. I was even able to get a bow that a local store owner given her (for her future hair-ha! ha!) to stay for a little while. She was soooo cute in her traditional Chinese outfits and squeeky shoes (which she loves). Later that afternoon we along with other familes from other agencies met at the U.S. Consulate for the rest of our pick up our paperwork and for our swearing in. It was official she was finally ours and on her way to becoming a U.S. Citizen. She fell asleep about 5 minutes before the swearing in so she missed it. We were not allowed cameras so we don't have any pictures from that day. We went back to Lucy's for dinner with our new friends and "spicy girl" parents. It was so much fun getting to know everyone from our group and other groups as we all begin this new journey together. I know many of us will stay in touch with each other. We then packed for a LONG journey home. I posted at the beginning about our extra day in Tokyo so I won't repeat that.



Once we finally arrived in Minneapolis we were directed to customs and went through like a breeze in less than 15 minutes. I was expecting 2 hours. Babies do come in handy at times!! We were able to go out to the main part and meet with Curt's dad, sister Katy and his sister Sue and her family. They won't see Carissa for a while so they joined us at the airport there. We had a short flight home to Grand Rapids then were greeted by some great friends. All except one has adopted children from China and Russia. Carissa was a little shy but seemed to not mind it. She is so easy going right now. She didn't like the car seat ride home. That was the first time she really screamed and cried. She has never been in one so it was new to her. We are going to have to do some adjusting to fit her. Hopefully next time will be better.



Our sleep patterns today were a little out of wack but we all fee much better tonight and pray that she stays asleep. We just put her down for the night at 10:00 p.m. It will take about a week to get back to a normal schedule.



I am posting some pictures from the rest of our trip. I will also post most of our entire trip on my facebook if anyone is interested in all of them.