We're very thankful to all of you who have shared our adoption journey. We're especially thankful for your continuing prayers for Kaleb and our family. We see so many answered prayers in bringing him home with us.
I'll briefly update you on the completion of our trip. Friday morning in Guangzhou, Kaleb took and ENJOYED his first bathtub bath!! He did not want to get out. Now that was a quick answer to prayer :) We took a fairly uneventful train ride from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. I did take Kaleb back to the bathroom during the ride and was surprised to find an 'Eastern' style toilet (i.e. squatty potty) that opened to the tracks! Kaleb was no stranger to this type, but it was a bit strange to see the tracks going by below us. I did remove one of his shoes to accommodate the necessary maneuvers, and we were both a bit jolted as the train slowed and stopped. His shoe about went out the hole! But thankfully did not :) He slept the last hour or so of the train trip.
Once we arrived at the Hong Kong train station, David exchanged some of our Chinese money for Hong Kong dollars and a portion back into US money. Then we went to stand in line for a taxi ride to our hotel. The taxi's loaded up 3 at a time in a fairly quick manner, and we were soon headed to our hotel at a fairly high rate of speed. I didn't know how high, but David later told me @ 110 mph. It's amazing to me how close their traffic comes to hitting each other, but we didn't see accidents.
Once we checked into our hotel we went down to one of the hotel lobby restaurants and then hit the hay for an early checkout and scoot to the attached airport the next morning. So much for seeing much of Hong Kong! Kaleb did really well for a three year old on a 13 hour plane trip. He ended up sleeping 4 hours in the middle and a couple more hours at the end. We landed in Detroit, where he officially became a US citizen upon touching down upon US soil! We went through Customs and Immigration without incident. But the lines were pretty long. I'm so glad we have an uncomplaining little guy.
The end of our flight from Detroit to St. Louis was fairly turbulent. I was praying as I saw the clouds and lightening and held tightly to Kaleb. God reminded me of the passage where He spoke into the storm and calmed it. I remembered that all things are in God's hands. This time He calmed me, and Kaleb fell asleep shortly before we landed. Which was really good, because we ended up sitting in the airplane out on the tarmac at the St. Louis airport for the next couple of hours about 30 feet from our gate. Due to all the lightening strikes, they were not allowing ground crews to load or unload planes. He slept up until the time that we got off the plane and were welcomed home by a very dedicated and loving bunch of friends and family. The combination of 24+ hours without sleep and the relief of seeing our daughters and friends at the airport at the culmination of this '6 year adoption journey' resulted in me shedding a few tears of joy. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Squatty potty? What a concept - never heard of it. And 100 MPH? What a ride! Finally, was so fun to "track your flight" and know when you finally landed. As one does reflect on God's journey with your life to this point, it is so assuring to be still and know that He is God. And also, you have been praying for "Kaleb" for six years, but just think, God has had you selected for him for the past 3+ years. Blessings abound!! Can't wait to meet him.
ReplyDeleteGuess I should correct this. David heard about my post and started laughing. He said it was kilometers per hour not miles per hour. I guess there's a difference ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Kaleb will love meeting his Aunt Jayne as well. ALL of your nephews and nieces love you!