Sorry to have been MIA. With the rush of getting home, and then the great jet-lag fatigue setting in, I haven’t been able to blog. I will try to catch up. 🙂
We had a great time on our last day in China. First, we took group pictures and said good-bye to our wonderful travel group. I knew that a lot of people were wishing they could be leaving when we were, but I was sad to be the first ones to be leaving the group. We could not have asked for a better group to travel with, and I can’t wait to see how all of the beautiful children grow and flourish in their new homes!
Attempting to get a picture of all the babies. Ha!
I love all of the expressions here.
We miss you all already!
We spent our final day going to an animal safari park that we had heard great things about. We heard that you could both pet a baby tiger and ride an elephant. I thought that would be a fantastic way to finish our trip! Unfortunately, when we got there it was almost deserted, and both of those attractions were closed. 🙁 I was disappointed about that, but glad that we could see some giant pandas while we were in China.
We checked out of our hotel at 6 pm, and a van picked us up. Z and I said a teary good-bye to some of our friends who happened to be in the waiting room, and we were off. We were all definitely excited to be going home, but Z and I were sniffling for a while. It was hard to say good-bye to such a wonderful, incredible experience. It was also a bit sad to know that we were taking Hannah from the country of her birth.
After 30 hours of luckily uneventful traveling, we landed in the U.S., and Hannah was automatically a U.S. citizen!
We were so excited to see some of our family at the airport, and of course for our reunion with D and K at home. I was worried that K would be angry at us for being gone for 2 weeks and bringing home a baby. She was really great though. She just kept saying, “Hannah Min!”. I got a small dose of what life will be like for a while though, with both girls not wanting me to hold the other one. I guess my arms are going to be getting a work out! 🙂
It fills my heart to see these 4 faces together 🙂
We are tired beyond any tired I think I have felt before, but so thankful for our time in China, and so thankful to be home!
I can’t tell you all how much we have appreciated all of the encouragement and support. We have absolutely loved reading all of the comments together. Thank you!
The real adventure is just beginning! 🙂
My dear Emily! Mom and I are on vacation and while we are away I have been taking a complete time-out from email and Facebook. However, my mom and I have been religiously checking your blog daily on my little netbook to see what the latest news is! My mom and I talk about your blog and it makes us so incredibly happy! Thank you so much for sharing so many details of your journey and so many wonderful photos. It means so much to me (and I am sure many others) to be able to read what is happening and how every step of the journey has been going. You knew deep in your soul that you wanted to adopt a baby and to see the process unfold has been a gift. Thank you for sharing your journey. I hope that you will somehow (???!!!!) find a way to keep blogging and posting photos of your journey because it is a wonderful one and you have so much worth saying and being heard. Hannah is beautiful, amazing, and so resilient. I am convinced her feisty spirit helped her to survive and thrive while in China. Your posts have been amazing and while I have not been commenting, I HAVE been reading. Thank you for letting us into this intimate journey and for sharing this incredibly joyful life event with us in your unique way. 🙂 I love your writing style and photos! You have a great sense of humor too (think of you bargaining is still making me laugh!). I love the photo of the ENTIRE FAMILY CIRCUS together! 🙂 YAY! Yay! Yay! We are so excited for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much love and so many good wishes to your entire family. We love Jeff’s videos too! 🙂 xoxoxoxoxo, Emily and Renee
I keep thinking of Hannah wondering who ALL of these extra kids are. 🙂 Like, wasn’t Z the only sibling? I think you are going to have some adventures with Hannah and and K for sure! Sorry this is a rambling comment….just soooo excited for you!
we like your pictures
we hope to see Hannah soon.
love,
Kate and Sophie
What great pictures! Thanks for sharing them. I’m so looking forward to meet Hannah!
Emily,
I am SO EXCITED for you and your whole family. She could not have found a better home.