July 19, 2006 Goodbye Guangzhou China! Hello America!
Greetings to all our friends and family! Some of you are probably wondering if we ever made it home or not since our journals stopped on July 18th! Sorry about that, the extremely long trip home left us exhausted and we are just getting the chance now to update our web page.
Our last morning in Guangzhou was a beautiful sunny day. I unfortunately woke up with a terrible cold and sore throat so Ken took Anna down for her last "Chinese Buffet" breakfast at the Victory Hotel. He then ventured out to see the sights one more time and get some last day video and pictures. I stayed in the room and started the over-whelming job of packing for the long trip home! Fortunately, Ken did not come back with any last minute purchases because I honestly do not know where we would have put them! Zhou met us in the lobby and did an excellent job of preparing us for the connections and our customs/immigration paperwork. Again, we are so thankful to have worked with an agency that has such a fine coordinator on staff. He made our experience so wonderful. He will forever be a significant part of Anna's journey to America.
Things were going very smooth, our flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong was short and uneventful. Anna continued to travel well, playing and eating crackers and happily resting in the arms of her new parents. We then boarded the huge jet for our 14hr flight from Hong Kong to Chicago. Shortly after we were airborne our pilot came on the intercom stating he anticipated a smooth flight and that we would arrive into Chicago 45 minutes ahead of schedule! We were very happy to hear that! Anna did great during our flight, she played for a few hours, ate dinnner then fell asleep . . . . . .sleeping the majority of the time in the air. We were only about 3 hrs away from Chicago when our movie "Walking the Line" was interrupted by an announcement. They were asking for a physician due to a "medical emergency" on board. Flight attendants were running up and down the isles towards the back of the plane, collecting extra pillows and blankets. Then I saw one run by with the defibrillator case and thought "this is really serious"! Of course Ken and I started sending up some prayers for the person who was in crisis in the back of the plane. About 15 minutes later another announcement was made for any nurses or EMT's to assist with the emergency. Immediately myself and Mark (father to Jayden) proceeded to the back of the plane to find an elderly gentleman on the floor in full cardiac arrest with two nurses starting I.V. lines, preparing to defibrillate and start CPR. Their was no physican on board! By the grace of God all four nurses were ACLS certified with either critical care or E.R. backgrounds. (3 out of 4 of us were adopted parents on their way home!) Another blessing was a Christian Missionary (that has a church in Guangzhou) was also on board and responded to the code. He was able to give pastoral care to the wife, (sitting next to us, watching everything!) and pray for our situation while we continued working on the man for ~1 1/2 hours! After finding out we had successfully revived the gentleman, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in Seattle. It was perfect timing because we were completely out of all of our medications. (Epi, Atropine, etc.!) Once landed in Seattle, an emergency medical team boarded the plane, and asked who the physician was? To their surprise we explained we were all "just nurses"! I have to say they were impressed.
After refueling and re-stocking the plane's medical supplies, we were back in the air headed to Chicago. (which will now take 3 more hours!) At this point we knew we would probably miss our connecting flight to Cleveland. The pilot later announced that the man in Seattle was in stable condition and Ken and I acknowledged a life saved was well worth missing our connection. We truly believe their are no coincidences in life and their was truly a reason all of us were on that flight. Ken has flown numerous times all over the world and has never had a medical emergency on any of his flights! After only 20 minutes in the air, they called for another medical emergency. The four nurses on board again answered the call. Fortunately, this was a lesser emergency. A Chinese gentleman was experiencing what appeared to be a hypoglycemic episode (the first medical emergencey caused the food trays to be delayed for 2 hrs) and recovered fine after some fluids and sugar. A big sigh of relief for all. . . . . Mark and I laughed and said "Let's just walk up and down the isles and check everyone before we sit down!"
The delay landed us in Chicago about 2 hours later than expected. In addition, we got held up in immigration awaiting citizenship and entry for little Xiu Xiu. Once we cleared this process, we arrived at the United counter to learn that our flight was to depart in 20 minutes. We were told that we may make the flight if we run but our baggage would definitely not make it. They also told us that we had already been booked on a 10:00 am flight the following morning if we wanted to wait. . . . . . unfortunately, this turned out to be a terrible option since there were no hotel rooms anywhere in Chicago! Next option. . . . . rent a car and drive the 6 hours home! We decided to take this option as another couple from our group (the Arnolds) took off running for the flight home (without baggage on board). After making a number of phone calls, we finally found an available car at National. However, once at their lot, they did not want to offer us a one-way rental. I pleaded with them about our situation. . . already traveling for 24 hours with a 10 month old that is arriving into the US for the first time. Fortunately, the manager (Candy - big thanks!) agreed to rent us an SUV with car seat for the trip home. After a severe traffic jam, a midnight snack stop at McDonald's, and Anna adjusting to her first time in a car seat, we arrived ~7 hours later in Elyria! I cannot tell you the emotions that ran through both Ken and I as we drove down our street and pulled in our driveway after 31hrs of traveling! Anna's Aunt Sue greeted us in with tears and balloons. It was a major emotional moment for all of us, Anna included. We immediately gave thanks to the Lord for our safe arrival home!
Once at home, we began to settle in and we all slept most of the day. We awoke to big brother Drew waiting for us to wake. Anna took to him very easily and they played with her new toys for about an hour before we all enjoyed our first family meal together compliments of the Church on the Rise Meals Ministry! After our dinner, Anna fell asleep on Drew's shoulder. A moment he will forever cherish. Ken told him, "you are very good with Chinese baby!". (A statement Zhou would say often about himself!) We all laughed!
We have now been home for four days and we are starting to feel a bit normal. Anna continues to have trouble with the time change and has been up most of the last two nights. We know this adjustment will take her awhile and are making our schedule fit around her wake/sleep needs. As our journey closes, we are reminded of the many precious moments that we experienced in Anna's homeland. We truly felt the hand of God with us at all times during our trip. Thanks for all of your prayers. . . . . know that they made a big difference. Thanks for all of the emails from across the globe. . . . . we continue to be amazed by the responses and support. We hope that you all enjoyed our journey. Our new season has finally arrived and we are so thankful.
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3
Please stay tuned for more as we will update our "Home Update" page in a week or so.
Trusting in His Plan for Our Lives,
Ken, Sharon, Andrew, & Anna "Xiu Xiu"
Senior Citizen Visiting with Anna
Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel - Built in 1892
"Anna enjoying a relaxing trip from Hong Kong to Chicago"
