Home!

H-O-M-E.  Four little letters that form a wonderful word!  I'll post pictures later, but wanted to let everyone know we arrived safe and sound.  :) :) :)

We left Hong Kong early, heading for San Francisco.  We gave Mei the Gravol (similar to Dramamine), but she got sick an hour into the flight.  I gave her a dose of Benedryl to augment the Gravol, and she fell asleep for several hours.  I hate giving her more meds, but it it makes the flight more comfortable, it is worth a try.   When she awoke, the flight was smooth and she was able to play with her toys in her backpack.  She also played with her Baba.  He used a bunny puppet to provide a puppet show from the row behind us.  I'm not sure who was more entertained, Mei or the other passengers.  :)  Once we arrived in San Francisco, it was a sprint to move through Immigration, luggage pick up, Customs, and back through luggage check.  They also changed the gate of our flight, and we had to backtrack to another leg of the airport.  We made it with five minutes to spare!  We were all so happy to get on that last flight.  Mei slept for most of the flight.  We arrived to see family and friends at the airport, with balloons and signs.  Awesome!  To make the day better, the church supplied supper and family brought breakfast rolls, milk, eggs, fruit, etc.  There were signs with balloons welcoming us into the subdivision and down our road.  And there was even a big welcome home banner in our living room.  What a blessing!

Mei spent the evening exploring her new home.  She liked the outdoor fat cats, but not sure what to think of the bearded dragon, frog, and guinea pig.  She loved the doll house, keyboard, and books.  Everyone bathed and we all hit the sack around 9:00pm.  I woke up at 1:00am, but tried to stay in bed and sleep in.  That ended at 1:30am, when I heard a noise from the kitchen.  Lainie and Mei were awake and HUNGRY!   What is it about jet lag that causes you wake up starving?  Thank heaven for the breakfast food that was provided!  I really wasn't up for a grocery store run at 1:30am.  :)  The rest of the crew were all up by 4:30am, ready to eat.  At this pace, lunch will be at 8:00am, supper at 2:00pm and we'll all be back in bed by 3:00pm.  Ha!

This morning, Lainie enjoyed dressing Mei in every little hand-me-down dress in the closet, trying to decide what Mei will wear on Sunday.  Mei was happy to spin around on command, making the dresses flare out around her.  Jad wants me to try to find some little dress shoes for Mei.  That may be a challenge.  We shopped in China, but only found several styles that would work for her feet, and those were not the right size.  For the moment, all she has is one little pair of shoes.  I'll try in our local stores, but I'm not going to put Mei through an hour drive to the city to shop.  I want to give her a break from the motion, at least for a few days.

For all those that prayed us home - our heartfelt "thank you!".  You'll never know how much they helped and how much your prayers were felt.  You are all a blessing, and a part of Mei's forever story.

Love to all -