At long last, our voyage to get Josie has begun! We've waited years for this and now the day is here...hard to believe, actually. The day itself (4/28/08) began well. As we did before we went to get Emma and Annie, we began the day with a big breakfast at First Watch, stopped by church to ask for God's blessing while we're away, and then went to Starbucks to relax and take in the enormity of the moment. The funny part is that the mood was very relaxed, very quiet. I think we were all just amazed that the day had arrived and we were all lost in our private thoughts. Another surprise was how calm we all were. This is thanks mainly to Colleen, who had this whole trip organized from beginning to end: the tickets, the adoption paperwork, the packing, the passports and visas...EVERYTHING. We were all set...there really wasn't much to do except triple check to make sure we had everything.
By 11:00 or so we were back home and waited for our babysitter (and now honorary family member) Danielle to show up with her mom, Rebecca. At 12:15 on the nose, they arrived, and so had the oversized van we took to the airport. We had a LOT of luggage (see photo)! Rebecca was nice enough to take a family photo before we left (see photo), and that was it: into the van we went and off to Ft. Myers airport to begin a very long journey.
As luck would have it, our flight to Newark was delayed by 4 hours. Fortunately, we planned to stay overnight in Newark before heading to Hong Kong, so no connections were missed. But still, having 4 extra hours to kill with kids was a pain in the a**! Danielle was amazing, though, and really made things much easier. By 9:00 PM, we were in Newark and off to our hotel. We had a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant and then it was up to the rooms and off to bed. The girlies were exhausted...and so were the parents.
Not much has happened so far today (Tuesday the 29th). We were woken up by Annie at about 7:30, got showered and dressed, and headed down to a different hotel restaurant for a very expensive breakfast. Back up to the rooms after that to re-pack and get organized, and then onto the shuttle bus and back to the airport for our 16 hour non-stop flight to Hong Kong. As I type, I am in the Business Class lounge sipping a soda and munching on cheese and crackers with the fam and Danielle...not a bad way to kill a few hours. Emma and Annie are playing a video game next to us (see photo), making little if any noise (which is a good thing!). Dad and Sandy should be here shortly to join us, which is going to make this trip very special. They'll be there for the actually adoption, and we are very grateful for this.
So, we have about 2 hours until takeoff. Then, it's 16 hours in the air until we touch down in Hong Kong. More from there once we arrive. Thaks to everyone for their well wishes and support. We miss and love all of you!
