On Our Way Home - Hong Kong to USA

Time to wake up! We were up late after arriving in Hong Kong but sleep doesn't seem to matter much when you know you will be sitting on a plane for 14 plus hours.
Shall we call room service? We ordered one American breakfast and other than the two eggs that Joshua devoured, we were a little too keyed up to eat.Not only is he wearing the new sneakers but he is adding socks. We were shocked.
The journey begins. Let's go home!
Joshua loves taking a picture of the plane even in the pouring rain.
We met up with another adoptive couple who received their daughter from the same orphanage. The Asian sensations!Pam and Jeff were a delight to meet. If we lived closer, I know we would be great friends. They waited a long time for their first child and we could tell they are going to be great parents. What a privilege it was to hear and be a small part of their story by traveling home with our new children together.
Here is the real skinny. The second week was fraught with trying to get oxygen for Joshua on the plane. The doctor's recommended having it and we tried, or should I say our Sensational Social Worker back in the States tried. Too complicated. The tricky part was that if our airline suspected that was a need and we weren't prepared, they could kick us off the flight. We definitely prayed, put Joshua between us, and kept a low profile. Bob and I felt that Joshua would do fine and the doctor at home gave the o.k. to go without oxygen on the flight. A bit of a gamble but we went with the parent gut. We also did not have any seats together when we arrived at the airport. The guy at check in managed to get two seats together and then we asked a young man to swap one aisle seat for another and we settled in for the day. Joshua slept for exactly 19 minutes during the whole fourteen plus hour flight. Those 19 minutes occurred at take-off. He was NOT sleepy during the flight as other heart kids have been. He was way too busy watching movies and playing video games as we were fortunate to be on a plane with individual seat screens. He did beautifully and perhaps was a touch more blue when we landed but it was subtle.Hello, brand new citizen. Welcome to America.I had the nerve to take my camera out in the Border Patrol Area because I had forgotten to take a picture of the "brown sealed envelope." This package is what allowed Joshua to enter and officially become a citizen. We had to visit the US side and then we were escorted to the Blue Line on the Foreign Entry side to complete the paperwork.

What a feeling. Everything is completely official in both countries now.

Hey, Joshua, let's go home.

Joshua?

He crashed big time after we got through customs which praise God we breezed through. No one seemed interested in giving us a second glance for which we were very grateful.
Since we had a four hour lay over, we got a decent meal ordering way more than we could eat and found a corner to crash in. Joshua probably slept two solid hours and I curled up on the floor behind the stroller and slept an hour while our protector watched over us. Actually, he was happy to have his lifeline phone back and he checked e-mails and returned calls. I was so proud of him for taking a two week vacation from work. He mentioned that he should really check his e-mails a few times but never did.

Our flight from Detroit to Manchester was uneventful and Bob even got two seats so he could get some sleep. We did have to sit on the jetway for an hour in a very hot plane and I spent the entire time fanning Joshua because he overheats and sweats a lot completely soaking his clothes.

The welcoming committee. Almost the whole gang with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Marc and Carlson. I loved the sign.
Trey made a beeline for me and Micah made a beeline for Joshua. We both got huge hugs. Matching shirts was brilliant on my part. Instant connection since this is Joshua's favorite shirt.
We made the two hour car ride home with no problem. Joshua is NOT a fan of a shoulder belt and that will be one for the doctor because I'm not sure how uncomfortable that might really be.
Micah adores his new brother.

We all fell into bed around 10:30 as happy as can be and slept 8 hours solid.

What bliss to sleep in your own bed AND have all your kids under one roof.

Practically perfect in every way.