Sorry for the web silence since the last post. It has been just over 24 hours since we touched down at PDX. I've never been so grateful to see that airport. After 18 days in China and 28 hours of traveling, our Family of Four finally made it home!
The trip from Seoul to Seattle felt way longer to Aaron and Christina than other trans-continental flights we'd been on. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with our eagerness to get home and how weary we were of suitcase living. However, a good portion of that probably had to do with the fact that you simply can't get good sleep on a plane when your daughters are sleeping on your laps. Where do you lay your arms? On their face? Nope, that doesn't work. Maybe just folding them tightly enough that they hold themselves up when you slip into dreamland. Nope, also a failed tactic. One strategy that showed promise for a while was to lean forward and use the seat in front as a sort of forehead support. Then, position the elbow on the thigh in such a manner to hold your chin. In this position, the head is oriented horizontally, thereby mimicking the angle of repose on a pillow. While this position allowed you to drift off to sleep, sadly the state of sleep was not sustainable. Either the forehead began to slide down the seat or the forearm pivoted at the chin resulting in a violent jolt to one side or the other. Sleep was not going to happen...except on our rear ends. They were sound asleep.
After watching UP (predictably PIXAR good), Land of the Lost (thumbs down except for the parts with Matt Lauer) and GI Joe (surprisingly not horrible), Aaron was done sitting. Tessa was still sleeping peacefully on his lap, but now her ability to lay flat and sleep was taunting him mercilessly. He couldn't get up and risk waking Tessa, and even if he did manage that, he would have woken up Tori trying to get to the aisle. Freedom was only two feet away, but it might as well have been across the ocean. All the sudden, the air began to feel very heavy around him. Tessa's head now felt like an anvil. Did his seat just shrink six inches? Is the plane really in the air, or are we all really in a bunker buried under 1000 feet of concrete? Aaron was not feeling well in the middle seat. So much so that when we mercifully began our decent, he made sure the little bag from the seat pocket was ready just in case. But hey, the girls got some rest.
Sea-Tac was a labyrinth getting through immigration, customs, security and then over to the correct gate, but we made it. And the all important final step in our journey -- Tori's immigration -- went off without and issue. We were directed to a desk for immigration where an accommodating man named Ruppert (who sounded as though he were displaced to Seattle from Georgia) processed Tori's paperwork and stamped her in as a US Citizen. Hooray.
We made it to gate C2E and waiting a couple hours for our Horizon flight to take off. Our flight to Portland was only 30 minutes, thank the Lord. It felt amazing to land in Portland and get off a plane for the last time.
After loading up our carry-on bags onto luggage carts and pushing our way down the terminal gate, we were joyfully greeted by Aaron's family, Paul and Judy Sundstrom and a contingent of the Schmidt family. Flashbulbs and video cameras were catching every second of the reunion. Seeing the outpouring of love for Tori and our family was immensely touching. The Schmidts had brought Mattea and Elise along so they could welcome an adoptive daughter to the U.S. just as they had once been welcomed. Pretty cool to see that. Tessa had fun reconnecting with Brecken and Bryce. She had mentioned several times on the trip that she didn't have any friends that were kids in China and that she wanted to play with her cousins when she got back.
We got all our bags downstairs, then drove home. Fritz and Dee drove home with the Sundstroms who had a dinner prepared for them at their house. God was guiding us on our drive, because Aaron was not the sharpest tack in the drawer at this point. We made it home safely to a house that had been cleaned and a lawn that had been mowed by Aaron's family. Thanks so much guys! Aaron's sister, Nicole had made a Chili dinner that was warming in our crock pot. We exchanged some gifts, ate and then Aaron's family left us for the night. Our first night in our home as a Family of Four.
Today we woke up at 11:00am and felt like we'd been drugged or something. The jet lag is going to be with us awhile. Michelle and Mom visited us for a bit, but Tori was napping. They came by later to catch her in her awake state before Shell had to catch a flight back to SoCal. Holly Maiden brought by a dinner for us which was awesome. It's a blessing to have loving friends and family. Now it's laundry and mail processing (hoo boy, lots of mail) and just, well, life. Here we go. We're looking forward to it...
The trip from Seoul to Seattle felt way longer to Aaron and Christina than other trans-continental flights we'd been on. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with our eagerness to get home and how weary we were of suitcase living. However, a good portion of that probably had to do with the fact that you simply can't get good sleep on a plane when your daughters are sleeping on your laps. Where do you lay your arms? On their face? Nope, that doesn't work. Maybe just folding them tightly enough that they hold themselves up when you slip into dreamland. Nope, also a failed tactic. One strategy that showed promise for a while was to lean forward and use the seat in front as a sort of forehead support. Then, position the elbow on the thigh in such a manner to hold your chin. In this position, the head is oriented horizontally, thereby mimicking the angle of repose on a pillow. While this position allowed you to drift off to sleep, sadly the state of sleep was not sustainable. Either the forehead began to slide down the seat or the forearm pivoted at the chin resulting in a violent jolt to one side or the other. Sleep was not going to happen...except on our rear ends. They were sound asleep.
After watching UP (predictably PIXAR good), Land of the Lost (thumbs down except for the parts with Matt Lauer) and GI Joe (surprisingly not horrible), Aaron was done sitting. Tessa was still sleeping peacefully on his lap, but now her ability to lay flat and sleep was taunting him mercilessly. He couldn't get up and risk waking Tessa, and even if he did manage that, he would have woken up Tori trying to get to the aisle. Freedom was only two feet away, but it might as well have been across the ocean. All the sudden, the air began to feel very heavy around him. Tessa's head now felt like an anvil. Did his seat just shrink six inches? Is the plane really in the air, or are we all really in a bunker buried under 1000 feet of concrete? Aaron was not feeling well in the middle seat. So much so that when we mercifully began our decent, he made sure the little bag from the seat pocket was ready just in case. But hey, the girls got some rest.
Sea-Tac was a labyrinth getting through immigration, customs, security and then over to the correct gate, but we made it. And the all important final step in our journey -- Tori's immigration -- went off without and issue. We were directed to a desk for immigration where an accommodating man named Ruppert (who sounded as though he were displaced to Seattle from Georgia) processed Tori's paperwork and stamped her in as a US Citizen. Hooray.
We made it to gate C2E and waiting a couple hours for our Horizon flight to take off. Our flight to Portland was only 30 minutes, thank the Lord. It felt amazing to land in Portland and get off a plane for the last time.
After loading up our carry-on bags onto luggage carts and pushing our way down the terminal gate, we were joyfully greeted by Aaron's family, Paul and Judy Sundstrom and a contingent of the Schmidt family. Flashbulbs and video cameras were catching every second of the reunion. Seeing the outpouring of love for Tori and our family was immensely touching. The Schmidts had brought Mattea and Elise along so they could welcome an adoptive daughter to the U.S. just as they had once been welcomed. Pretty cool to see that. Tessa had fun reconnecting with Brecken and Bryce. She had mentioned several times on the trip that she didn't have any friends that were kids in China and that she wanted to play with her cousins when she got back.
We got all our bags downstairs, then drove home. Fritz and Dee drove home with the Sundstroms who had a dinner prepared for them at their house. God was guiding us on our drive, because Aaron was not the sharpest tack in the drawer at this point. We made it home safely to a house that had been cleaned and a lawn that had been mowed by Aaron's family. Thanks so much guys! Aaron's sister, Nicole had made a Chili dinner that was warming in our crock pot. We exchanged some gifts, ate and then Aaron's family left us for the night. Our first night in our home as a Family of Four.
Today we woke up at 11:00am and felt like we'd been drugged or something. The jet lag is going to be with us awhile. Michelle and Mom visited us for a bit, but Tori was napping. They came by later to catch her in her awake state before Shell had to catch a flight back to SoCal. Holly Maiden brought by a dinner for us which was awesome. It's a blessing to have loving friends and family. Now it's laundry and mail processing (hoo boy, lots of mail) and just, well, life. Here we go. We're looking forward to it...
Oh so glad to hear you are home safely! We hated to leaved you guys behind- especially after all the mess you had to put up with those last few days. (Praise God once again for Roy!) Looking forward to watching your sweet family as you grow- we know God has mighty and wonderful things in store for each of you!
ReplyDeleteJennifer (family #14)
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