Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Finally at Home



Here is a photo of the girls at home after their first bath. They curled up on the couch - so cute! There will be plenty more pictures to come as we settle into life together! Thanks for following our journey becoming a family of six! Wow! Did I just say a family of SIX??

Finishing Up the Journey - Part Two






Our plane rides were okay - the ride from Beijing to Los Angeles went on forever and the girls were restless. Our greatest relief came when we were hosted by the Yingling family in LA for our marathon eight hour layover there. Karen made a great meal and it was such a needed break to just sit in a home. The time flew by as we enjoyed their wonderful hospitality. Only too soon, we had to pack up again and head back to the airport for another flight to Atlanta. And then finally home. I would show you pictures of the airport reunion... but Ella and I were covered in throw-up from the last five minutes of the trip as we landed in Asheville. I'm hoping some other photos of that reunion show up somewhere - but I was not thinking about a camera during that time.

Finishing up the Journey - Part One



I know there has been silence from us since returning... jet lag is awful! And coming home to a full house of activity, you want to sleep and be with your children, not on the computer! Have I mentioned you want to sleep?? And at all the wrong times! But anyway.... here are some photos of us leaving the White Swan before travel hit us squarely in the face!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

A Photo from the Road

Just saw our picture on another travel log....http://kennedyohana.blogspot.com/

Home!!!

Home Sweet Home! There's no place like home!! Home is where the heart is... and all of that! We'll post photos soon!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy to Report....

...that Kevin, Bridget, Ella, and Mia are all in Los Angeles for the next 7 hours! They have made it through customs, Ella is a brand new American citizen, and their fellow-adopter-friends (not sure what else to call them:) have just picked them up and taken them home for hot showers and a meal! You can meet the wonderful family here and bookmark the site so you can follow their journey in a few weeks!

http://casadealegria.blogspot.com/

They will be back at the airport in about 5 or 6 hours to catch their flight to Atlanta and then home!

Travel Days in "Asheville Time"

In case you are interested in following the travel during the next hours... I'm going to try my best to interpret times to "Asheville Time"...

Leaving Guangzhou to fly to Beijing: 1:30 AM - 4:30 AM (January 1st) - 3 hour flight
3.5 hours layover in Beijing

Leaving Beijing to fly to Los Angeles: 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM (January 1st) - 11.5 hour flight... if you want to track our progress follow the link below and scroll down to the bottom of the page - You'll see our plane in flight!!

http://www.airport-la.com/lax/flight?flight_arrival=CA983

7.5 hour layover in LA... the adoption community is wonderful - we are planning to spend time with a family in LA who is also adopting from the same special needs list where we found Ella - they leave January 19th to pick up their daughter!



Leaving LA to fly to Atlanta: 2:55 AM - 7:08 AM (January 2nd) - 4 hour flight
Almost 3 hour layover in Atlanta

Leaving Atlanta to fly to Asheville: 9:52 AM - 10:50 AM (January 2nd) - 1 hour flight