Safe at Home!

Twenty two hours of travel led Faith to a place called home!  A home where she can feel safe and loved.  A place where we can nurture her own individual interest and talents.  While we believe she received good care in the orphanage, we realize that she was one of many babies. 

The day started way too early!!!  The wake up call was delivered at 4:15 AM sharp, but most of us stayed in bed until 5 AM.  We barely made our 5:45 AM bus ride to the airport in Guangzhou.  Early starters we are not!!  As rough as the morning was, we were glad to have some last moments with our new friends.  Many of our travel mates were on the same flight to Hong Kong.

The flight to Hong Kong was very short (35 minutes)!  We were a little disappointed that we would have a 3 1/2 hour layover, but we were looking forward to having breakfast.  We decided to play it safe by locating our gate first, which turned out to be a wise decision.  Little did we know that it would take us nearly an hour to get to our gate.  The Hong Kong airport is huge!!!!  After we got to the gate, we decided we still had plenty of time to eat!  It was then that we realized the terminal that we were in was far from most of the foods!  Funny thing, as we were near lots of shops!  We ended up at this restaurant/snack bar that mainly served Chinese food.  We opted for prepackaged sandwiches and french fries.  Usually, we do not mention cost, but after throwing in a few sodas and candy bars, the tab was well over $50 (U.S).   Our most expensive meal of the trip!!  As soon as we finished eating, the plane was boarding.  The 3 hour layover turned out to be a blessing!

The plane in Hong Kong sat at the gate for about one hour and 20 minutes (the exact amount of time we had for our layover in San Francisco; fortunately, we made up some time in the air and were only 10 minutes late).  It was roasting in the plane as the generator that runs the auxiliary power was malfunctioning.  We were delayed because they could not get one of the engines started (we were not feeling very reassured about things).  Once the engine was started, we took off and the plane cooled off.  We had a total of 13 adopted Chinese babies on our flight.  Given that high number and with most of us seated near each other, one would have expected lot of crying for 11 1/2 hours.  The babies, however, were all excellent.  Faith enjoyed the flight and eating fruit puff snacks.  I think she especially enjoyed getting baby food all over mommy.  Amazingly, she was able to happily stay awake for 18 hours of our travel.

We rushed off the plane and went through customs and the Department of Homeland Security.  At that point, Faith became a US citizen!!  Samantha rushed to kiss her, so she could be the first to kiss Faith as an American.  We had no time to celebrate as our flight to Los Angeles was leaving in just a few minutes.  We ran through the San Francisco airport, just like the beginning of this great adventure.  Samantha reached the gate first and told them to wait!  Fortunately, we made it with just a few moments to spare.  The plane departed to Los Angeles with all of us, except Faith, sweating.

During the flight, Christy changed Faith into a red onesy and a patriotic skirt (made by Grammy), white tights and American flag socks, along with a little American flag to wave.  We were greeted at the airport by Pop Pop Masyr, Grandpa Strong, Grammy Strong, Aunt Mimi and Cousin Lorelei along with five of our seven checked bags.  Apparently we out ran two of our bags to the airplane!  Evan and Pop Pop waited for the bags to arrive (which was not long at all).  After battling the Southern California traffic, Faith finally was at her home!!

We are so thankful to God for this magnificent experience and our precious daughter.  We would also like to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers during this journey.  May God Bless each and everyone of you!

Guangzhou