A LONG trip, a new American, and a Great Reunion

We're HOME!!!!!!!

Oh man, it feels so good to say that! I've been awake for going on 30 hours now, so forgive me if I start to make no sense. :)

We had a great night in Hong Kong with Sharon watching the National day Fireworks. We're so fortunate we were able to be there on that day! I have a video but it's taking to long to post. I'll try again later.

We woke up early in Hong Kong and took the World's Fastest Taxi Driver to the airport. Seriously, the speed limit in a lot of places was 80km/hr and most of the time he was going at least 120km/hr. We certainly got to the airport in plenty of time! Our first leg of the flight, from Hong Kong to Detroit, was supposed to last 14 hours...more than enough to make me crazy. When we got on board, the pilot told us the winds weren't favorable so it would take 14 hours and 30-some minutes. Ugh...not what I wanted to hear! Anyway, the first 5 hours of the flight were borderline miserable. Rylie was fussy and all over the place. She was exhausted though, and was doing everything in her willpower to keep herself awake. Every time she would doze off, she did something to wake herself back up. It was pretty frustrating. I resorted to Benadryl, which made her nuts...not in a wild way, just in a drunk as a skunk way. It was actually pretty amusing. Finally, after a little over an hour of fighting the Benadryl, she passed out and slept for the next 8 1/2 hours. It was glorious! Rush and I for whatever reason couldn't sleep at all. By the end of the flight, I couldn't get off of that plane fast enough. I felt like a prisoner in my seat. I can't say I am in a hurry to do any major trips like that again.

Saying goodbye to China.

(Notice her 18m size pants are falling off....we ended up changing her clothes.)

Sleepy Time on the Plane

When we got off in Detroit, we knew making our connection to Richmond might be tight. We were in the back of the plane and we had to go through Customs, do Rylie's immigration, and recheck our bags. We had about an hour and a half. After taking close to 2 hours to get through Customs, we knew there was no way we would make it to Richmond on time. I cannot say how bummed I was! I didn't want to wait one more second to see Jonah and Reagan and be done with this trip! (In the meantime though, as soon as we processed Rylie's Immigration Paperwork, she became an AMERICAN CITIZEN!!!!! Hooray! What a great day for her! I wanted to take a picture, but we were too rushed, and they won't let you take pictures right at the window.) Anyway, we went to the counter to recheck our bags and were told we couldn't make our flight and they would reschedule us for the next flight to Richmond.....5 hours later. We weren't happy, but took what we could get. I was sad, because that would put us in Richmond at 9:20pm, which meant a lot of our family who was planning on coming to the airport wouldn't be able to come. So, we finished all of that process and took our time getting to the gate. We exchanged some money and moseyed around a bit, and went to check out the gate area. We decided to get a bite to eat, when I noticed the gate still had the plane's info for the flight we supposedly missed listed....with the plane at the gate!!! Miraculously, a crew member was late arriving which delayed the flight and we were able to make it back onto our original flight! Praise God!! I can't explain how psyched I was!!!! It left almost an hour late, but made up a lot of time in the air, so we only got home about 25 minutes later than planned!! Rylie literally fell asleep as the wheels touched down, so she missed most of her welcoming committee's initial excitement.

We had a great reunion....I can't explain how great it was to hug Jonah and Reagan! Man, how I missed them!! We hung out with some other family and friends for a bit and realized our luggage didn't make it on the flight. Hopefully it was sent on the later flight and will be delivered to our house tonight. Rylie woke up after a bit and was happy as a clam, running around with the kids everywhere.

Check out this banner my mom and sister had the kids make!

Here we come, with a sleepy baby!

Our first family photo....hey, don't judge. We just traveled from the other side of the world!

We came home and Jonah and Reagan wanted to show her every square inch of everything. She laughed like crazy running around the driveway and through the yard. Jonah is doting on her constantly. Reagan seems to like her, but it is very evident there will be some competition there, especially when it comes to Daddy's attention!

It's been a great evening. Rylie screamed for about 20 minutes at bedtime but then passed out. It's no wonder though....we realized this is the 5th place she's slept in the past 2 weeks. Hopefully she will feel at home soon. She's been off to a good start, but we know there will certainly be some issues with the overall adjustment.

The three amigos, together at long last! (Rylie is screaming, but is a happy way!)

Thank you all for your prayers, messages and support! They truly helped us get through the past 17 days and will certainly carry us through the coming ones as well. We're anxious to begin the next part of this journey!

Now....I'm going to bed! :)