"We're ready to go home!" (taken at Hong Kong Airport)
December 18, 2009 The Trip Home
We met our driver out in front of the hotel at 5:45 a.m. Cordelia was there to say good bye and to make sure our departure went smoothly. Our driver did not speak any English but Cordelia gave us a card with her cell phone number. If needed the driver could call her phone number and she would translate for us. She had packed a breakfast for us to take on the road. It consisted of hard boiled eggs, bananas, croissants, sweet breads and water. Cordelia has taken good care of us and we are going to miss her!
Cordelia informed us that we would be changing drivers at Shenzen which is on the border of mainland China and Hong Kong. Our first driver did not have an international license therefore he could not drive us into Hong Kong. Our departure from Guangzhou was the same as our arrival, in the stillness and darkness of the early morning hours. As we silently traveled along the winding roads it was a time of quiet reflection. All three of our girls were sleeping soundly beside us. God has been so good to us and we are so blessed to be the parents of these three precious little angels! China is often called the “sleeping giant.” but yet as the dawn approached we silently said our good byes to the “awakening giant.”
At the designated spot in Shenzen we met up with the driver and van who would take us into Hong Kong. This driver also did not speak any English. In Hong Kong (which was once ruled by the British government) they drive on the opposite side. It was quite an interesting experience watching the traffic maneuver in this manner! After all the luggage had been transferred the driver handed us immigrations cards which would be needed to enter Hong Kong. Tracy showed him that we already had our completed cards (Cordelia had given them to us a ahead of time and instructed us to fill them out). Upon arriving at the immigration check point our driver had to open the back of the van up and our passports were checked. Then we went to another location where they once again checked our passports and checked our body temperatures by waving a digital scanner across our foreheads. Once we cleared immigration we were allowed to drive into Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a beautiful modern city enclosed by the harbors of the Pearl River and the South China Sea. It is surrounded by majestic mountains. The Hong Kong airport greeted us with colorful Christmas decorations and Christmas carols playing in the background. It was very easy to navigate the airport and we soon found the United Airlines ticket counter. However, it is very difficult to navigate a double stroller, a single stroller and a luggage cart with only two people. We decided I would wait with the girls while Tracy checked our luggage and got our boarding passes. They wanted to see our sealed brown immigration envelope. When Tracy gave me the thumbs up I knew our prayers had been answered. We would all be sitting together on all of the flights home!!! Thank You LORD!! As we were rejoicing in our good news how appropriate that the song “Hallelujah” was being played through out the airport!!
The 14 hour flight to Chicago was looooong but the girls were amazingly good!! We were even able to actually watch a couple of movies during the flight! We were so happy to land in Chicago!! There’s no place like the USA!! When we got to the immigration lines they were very long. We asked an official which line we needed to be in (We had 4 US passports and 1 Foreign passport). The lady moved us to a special window with a very short line. They checked our passports and wanted to see the sealed brown immigration envelope. We were then sent to claim our luggage and from there directed to another area of immigration. We were told to leave the brown sealed envelope along with Hope’s passport on a desk and to have a seat in the waiting area. Within a few minutes they had stamped Hope’s passport and returned it to us along with the Hague Adoption Certificate. Hope is now officially a US citizen!!!! We celebrated with some food from McDonalds while waiting for our flight home!! Our flight was delayed an extra 3 hours due to weather but we finally landed in Springfield around 8:30 p.m. It was so nice to see our family waiting for us! After collecting our luggage we managed to make it to Cracker Barrel in time for a late dinner. :o) Thank you all for your prayers!! Also, a special thank you to our son’s, Brian & Ben and daughter-in-law, Stephanie for taking care of things back home while we were away!
As we celebrate this Christmas the precious gift of Christ we also celebrate the special gift of Hope!
God Bless You and Merry Christmas!
From Our Home With Love
Tracy, Ann, Hannah, Holly and Hope
"Relaxing with Dad at the Airport"
Flight to Chicago
Flight to Chicago
There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn Crying for momma's arms At an orphanage just outside a little China town There the forgotten are
But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine
It's Christmas time again but you're not home Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights I'm warmed by the fire's glow Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white, Make angels in the snow
But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here
It's Christmas time again but you're not home Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child And we celebrate his perfect gift of love He came to earth to give his life And prepare a place for us So we could have a home with him above
It's Christmas time again and now you're home Your family is here so you will never be alone So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
