| Today was the day we've been working towards for the past two weeks--we get to go home. We have Stephanie's entrance Visa, issued by the Canadian Government in Beijing, so it's now okay for us to go home. We had to check out of our rooms by noon, but our bus to the airport wasn't leaving until 2pm, so we went to the Cantonese-style restaurant in the Novotel hotel. It was passable, but a good way to pass the time. Finally, it was time to bid Beijing goodbye. Freda had the bus pick up the whole group and take us to the airport. We were never so happy to see the Air Canada sign before. The lines were slow but moving and we had some time to pass while we waited for our 5:45pm flight. The flight was really full, packed with babies and their families, but otherwise unremarkable. Both our girls did really well on the flight. Emily slept a lot of the flight, and Stephanie slept some but she was so busy looking around and getting excited by her surroundings that she didn't sleep enough. Most of the other babies on the flight did well, too, so it wasn't too loud. When we arrived in Vancouver, we did the "go to customs, get your luggage, take your new daughter to immigration, re-check your luggage, go back through security, then run to the farthest gate" jog!! Since we had done this once before we knew the routine and had no trouble getting to our gate with time to spare. Of course, when we got to the gate, our flight was delayed by over half an hour. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but after traveling that far and being so close to home yet so far away, it was enough to make us cry. The flight did eventually take off, and it was also full. Emily slept some more, and Stephanie did this time too. Normally, I'd have been excited by this, but by then I was starting to realize that when we got home it would be the middle of the night, and both girls had just slept over 12 hours! Oh, boy! We arrived at the airport to find Gwen Gibson waiting for us, with our minivan, equipped with two baby seats!! We made one quick stop on the way home (Pizza Pizza is open at 1:06am) and by the time we unloaded the kids, got settled down and tried to go to sleep, it was 3am. By some miracle, we got both girls to go to sleep and the whole Fung Four slept until almost 3pm on Friday, the 25th of March. Since we got home, both girls have settled in well. Stephanie continues to sleep well, although she is now testing us. She will wake up, scream for no reason, wait to see what we do, and then put herself back to sleep. Emily is another story. Her tiny little 2 year old body clock is rather messed up. She's been going to sleep around 5am each day. We're trying hard to get her re-adjusted, but it's not easy when we're so tired we can hardly function. This has been another incredible journey in the lives of Danny, Brenda, Emily and of course, Stephanie Fung. This will definitely be our last adoption journey, but not our last journey to Hong Kong and China. Finally, we want to thank: People's Republic of China (and the CCAA) for granting us the right to raise two very special little girls. Children's Bridge for facilitating both our adoptions professionally and with care. Mrs. Yu and the nannies, for the care, love, and tenderness they obviously showed both our girls. All of our family and friends for your unending love and the support you've shown us as we prepared for and completed our two adoption trips. We look forward to sharing our girls with you as they grow and develop. Thank you. |
