We are leaving China today. It is a bittersweet moment for all of us. We have enjoyed our time in to China. We waited two years to finally hold our daughter in our arms. We will truly miss the wonderful Chinese people as well as our guides and travel companions. However, it is wonderful and exciting to bring our beautiful daughter home with her family.
Our day started very early. Our initial flight from Guangzhou back north to Beijing was canceled so we had to take the early flight. Our luggage was at our hotel room door at 5:00AM. We had a quick breakfast and off to the Guangzhou Airport we went. Our three hour flight was very smooth. We then had a long layover and waited for our 5:25PM flight. It was snowing in Chicago so we experienced some further delays. It was to be a very long travel day. We finally boarded for our 13 hour flight to Chicago International. Thankfully, Joe and Joseph slept a good portion of the flight. Angelina was very active but the flight attendants and other passengers held and rocked her so I could eat and use the restroom. It was nice to see so much kindness from people. We finally arrived in Chicago late because of the snow. Angelina became a citizen of the United States around 6:30 PM Chicago time. We then went through Immigration to get Angelina’s papers turned in (the famous sealed brown envelope from China that was not to be opened by anyone except Immigration) and her passport stamped. We then had to get our luggage and go through customs and then re-check our luggage to Philadelphia. Many of our friend’s flights were canceled and they could not fly home until the following day. The flight to Philadelphia was still on but they were experiencing strong winds and a potential hurricane at home. We cleared several security lines before getting to our gate and found that our flight was only slightly delayed. Hoorah, we are almost home.
We finally landed in Philadelphia shortly after midnight on December 2. Grandmom and Pop Pop Bauer were anxiously waiting for us at the airport. We were tired but so happy to see them! Although we really enjoyed our time in China, there is nothing like seeing and being with the ones you love.
