Home Sweet Home!

Two continents, five cities, six flights, one train ride, 14,074 miles and we are finally HOME! I can't tell you what a relief it was for our flight to land and know that the four Hills are home for good. As we rode the escalator up to the lobby we saw a mob of family and friends waiting to meet Lucy. Poor Lu wasn't herself after the long travel day - she still had the stomach bug all the way home. But she did great as she met grandmas and papas and great grandmas and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends! She even started sharing - she shared her stomach bug with Papa and Jenna and Auntie Shell!

Four Hills home at last!

Meet the newest American citizen! Lu became a citizen when we landed in Detroit and they steamped her visa.

Grandma Sharon couldn't wait to hold little Lucy!

Neither could Grandma Berni!

Papa Rich with Lucy.

Great Grandma Monteith with Lucy.

Papa Robert finally got his turn.

We've spent the last week adjusting to the new time zone. Whew! That's a lot harder than I realized! Just when Bryan and I were feeling less exhausted and a little more normal the kids would be up all hours of the night. Jaden was waking up for the day at 3am for the first 3 or 4 days - yikes! Lucy, who was the best sleeper ever in China was waking up 3-4 times a night. We were exhausted. But I think things are getting ironed out and our bodies are almost nearly back on track.

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year! Bryan's Mom hosted for both our families so we were all together for Lucy's first Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for always, but this year more than ever. The Lord has been kind to our family and all of us were feeling a unique awareness of his goodness in the gift of Lucy. We are thankful beyond words for this blessing and are honored that he chose us to parent this sweet little girl. As we looked around at how much we are loved and supported by both of our families we felt even more thankful. Not only do we live close to both of our parents, but both of our brothers and their families as well. We all get along and all love one another and enjoy spending time together. Who could ask for more? God has blessed us beyond measure and we are truly grateful!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that the holidays will be extra special for you this year as they will for us! We hope to get to introduce each of you to our little Lucy in the upcoming weeks and months! She is a delight! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your prayers, support and words of encouragement while we were away! We can never fully express our gratitude. The Lord was incredibly kind to us through the wait, through the trip and as we begin this new life together.

I'll leave you with some photos from Hong Kong Disney - what a fantastic day and a great way to end the trip of a lifetime! Jaden was completely surprised and thrilled that we weren't going shopping but were spending the entire day at Disneyland!

No way! You mean we're not shopping today?!

"Hill family, now that you've finally traveled to China to get Lucy what are you going to do?"
"We're going to Disneyland!"

Once you're inside everything is nearly exactly the same as Magic Kingdom in Disneyland and Disneyworld. HK Disney is smaller - there was no Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and some of our favorite rides, but there was enough to keep us busy for a day!

We loved that everything was decorated for Christmas. Unfortunately there was only 1 ornament to buy in the entire park! And it didn't say Hong Kong Disney. Bummer.

An Asian take on Cinderella's Castle.

Jaden LOVED Space Mountain! We rode it quite a few times!

Lu's hairbands are fashionable and functional. She kept pulling them over her eyes to block out the sun while she slept. I told you she was a smarty!

In Toy Story Land Jaden was able to pose with one of the toy solders. This is a real person in the outfit - totally cool!

Jaden in front of Toy Story Land - it was decked out with all the toys from the movie. So fun!

What would Disney be without the "It's a Small World" ride?! The babies could even go on this one!

Daddy and Lucy inside "It's a Small World".

Minnie Lucy!

Look how gorgeous it is with the mountains in the background!

HK Disney even had the big music and fireworks display at the end of the night - fabulous!

And a good time was had by all. A fabulous way to end the journey of a lifetime.

Hello Hong Kong!

Our trip has now come full circle as we are back where we began... in Hong Kong! Of course this time is quite different - we now have our sweet little Lucy with us! It's hard to believe after 18 days in China we will be traveling home tomorrow.

Our kiddos!

Jaden is back in the saddle and feeling back to 100%, thank goodness! I think Lu got it shortly after and she still doesn't seem to be quite herself. I also got the bug, but it wasn't near as bad as the kids and didn't last the full 24 hours. We are still keeping our eye on Lu, though. She's been vomiting and has diarrhea. She continues to eat and drink, not as much, but enough. She did have a slight temperature last night. Please pray for Lu! She had a good night's sleep so we're hoping the bug has run it's course and she's on the mend. Bryan keeps bragging about how strong his system is, so I'm sure he'll be getting it sometime today. :)

Jaden expressing his feelings over Lu's poopy diaper.

We haven't blogged in a couple of days as it's been quite busy and we haven't been feeling up to par. Thursday Daddy stayed at the hotel with the kids resting (that was the day Jaden was so sick) and I got to go to the pearl market with the rest of the group. Bryan sent me with the credit card... look out! I was able to buy a really nice strand of pearls that we plan to save and give to Lu on her wedding day. I may have to wear them a few times before hand - they are beautiful!

Me wearing a $15,000 USD pearl necklace. Goes beautifully with my sweatshirt and  backpack!
 Needless to say I didn't buy this one!

Our CCAI Rep Jocelyn - she was so much fun!

This is a busy shopping street we visited after the pearl market. This was at about 3:00 on a Thursday afternoon  while everyone was still at work. Can you imagine what it would be like on the weekends or in the evenings?!

Friday we skipped the group tour and headed back to Shaiman Island. It's not really an island per say, but a bit of land surrounded by the Pearl River. It used to be the adoption mecca of Guangzhou - most adopting families would stay at the White Swan Hotel, but it is closed for renovation while we are here. There are also several shops that cater to families, and that's where we spent most of our day. Throughout the trip we have been on several tours, but the one thing we haven't been able to do much of is shop. So we dedicated this whole day to collecting a number of souvenirs from the trip! There are still a few things I wish I would have gotten, but maybe we'll see them at some point before we leave.

Lucy's is the name of the restaurant we ate at on Shaiman Island. I love, love, love Asian food but I do have to say that after a couple weeks of it I was ready for some good 'ol American fare. Lucy's is a western style restaurant and we were able to get a taste of home.

Jaden and I had hamburgers - heavenly!

This was a momentous occasion! In China they don't set the tables with napkins. Ever.  So when we got to Lucy's and they set the table with napkins we were thrilled and had to get a picture! They were only cocktail napkins, but we'll take what we can get!

Lucy at Lucy's.

Saturday was travel day. We decided to take the train back to Guangzhou, which was fun! Unfortunately that's the day I was so sick, so we don't have many pictures. You take your luggage with you on the train - poor Bryan looked like a sherpa with 2 heavy carry-ons and pulling 2 rolling duffles! Jade got one big suitcase and manuvered it like a champ and I had Lu on the front and a backpack on the back while pulling a suitcase with one hand and my plastic bag in the other just in case my stomach revolted! It was super hot and humid, we were pretty miserable until we got on the train! But the ride was gorgeous through the southern countryside.

Jaden, Bryan and Lucy's first train ride!

Today is Sunday, our last full day. Our plan is to head to Hong Kong Disney for the day! We've kept it as a surprise for Jaden - he thinks we are going shopping. Can't wait to see his face when we pull up! I am so very proud of my sweet boy - he has been amazing on this whole trip! He's so helpful and so sweet with Lu. There aren't any kids his age and no other boys, but he didn't complain - he's made some great friends in our adult travelmates and enjoyed spending time with them as much as we have. They have all given him so many compliments on how respectful and patient and social he's been. When we come into a stressful moment like when Lu is screaming because her tummy hurts and she has a blow out diaper and Bryan and I are working on changing her we find Jaden to the side praying. We are so proud of the young man he's become! He's been such a trooper tagging along and being patient through meetings and appointments that we wanted to dedicate this last day of the trip completely to our sweet Jaden!

Here are some bonus pictures of Guangzhou:

This is a common sight at many restaurants! This restaurant employee  will get whatever the restaurant guest chooses from the aquariums for their meal. There are all types of fish, eels, shellfish and then there were also snakes, turtles and frogs available! Talk about fresh!

Sweet Lu!

Yummy breakfast buffet!

These items were also on the breakfast buffet! Michelle - that is miso soup. On every breakfast buffet at all 3 hotels there was salad, fried rice, lo mein, noodle bowls and for some strange reason baked beans.
When in Rome... we tried it all!

This is for Kathy Frank - they even had kim chee. I am sad to say I didn't try it.

There were 7-Eleven's everywhere! They had things like meatballs, boiled eggs, etc. There are also several Starbucks, McDonald's, Papa Johns, KFC and Pizza Huts.

Lu eating with chopsticks! Oh wait, no, that's Lu EATING chopsticks. Very different.

The twins were not crazy about riding double in a single stroller!

This picture cracks me up! That is little Sarah next to Lucy. Not. Happy. At. All!

The four Hills together at last. The end of a journey of a lifetime, the beginning of a new life together.

Guangzhou

On Tuesday we left Nanchang and flew to Guangzhou. It was Lu's first time in a plane! All I can say is pray for our 15 hour plane ride home with a lap ticket - Lu is a wiggly, squiggly little girl! She did fine as far as air pressure, but she did not want to be held the whole flight - she wanted to be out and about exploring. It's going to be a long trip home, I'm afraid!

Lucy's first plane ride!

Guangzhou is completely different from Nanchang. Completely. Nanchang wasn't a tourist therefore it was a much safer city. There were mostly natives of the Jiangxi province living there and we stuck out like a sore thumb! But the people were so friendly and so genuinely interested in us. Here in Guangzhou it is more of a melting pot with such a wide variety of people - all of them on a mission. It's fast paced and busy and much more western. I really do miss the connection I felt with the people in Nanchang. However, there are so many more people in Guangzhou that speak English and it is quite a bit easier to get around. Another plus is the traffic noise - in Nanchang there were horns blaring all the time day and night. I think the horn is equally as important as the car there! There were a million scooters and bikes on the road, but here in Guangzhou traffic is much more civilized. I think Jason said that scooters aren't allowed all of the time so you mostly see cars and taxi's on the road. There are some bicycles, but not like Nanchang. Another plus is air conditioning! In Nanchang even though the temps were in the 70's the hotel turned off the AC. We were roasting all the time! I packed mostly for cool fall weather, but we really just needed shorts and t-shirts the whole time. Poor Lu - in Nanchang the people would come up and scold you if they could see any of your babies skin. They felt like babies should wear 4 layers of clothes. She was sweating all the time, it was crazy! But in Guangzhou it's a little warmer, the AC is still on and no one cares if cute little legs are hanging out of dresses. Ahhh.. comfort!

Bryan in the hallway to our hotel room - his head is about 3 inches off the ceiling!  My poor giant is so out of place here in China! This is the first hotel we've been to that offered us 2 double beds instead of 2 twins, though. If you can imagine the two of us have been cuddling up together in a twin bed for  the first twelve days of the trip! It's been wonderful getting to stretch out a bit - we won't know what to do with our master bed back home!

Since the US Consulate is in Guangzhou and all families adopting from any U.S. agency have to apply for Visas here we have met a number of adoptive families. The hotel feels like adoption central! Families are continually coming and going and we've enjoyed meeting them at breakfast and hearing their stories.

Doing the mounds of paperwork together before our visit to the U.S. Consulate.

Jason and Jocelyn are our CCAI reps here and they are taking great care of us! The first day we got Lu's Visa picture taken, had a physical exam and then spent hours working our way through Visa application paperwork. Apparently the U.S. is the most difficult government for the Chinese to work with, but thankfully our reps have it down to a science - they literally took us line by line and told us what to write on each of 5 forms. The next day we were off to the US Consulate to file the paperwork. Everything went smoothly and now Lu is officially our little girl! Hooray! What a feeling! Today we get our Visa's and we are free to go home! We travel back to Hong Kong on Saturday and then fly out to the US on Monday. We built in a couple extra days just in case! As a surprise to Jaden we are planning on going to Hong Kong Disney on Sunday if all goes well. All of us are so ready to go home! Jaden said two nights ago, "Mom, I think I'm homesick.
I miss my friends and all the fun I have with them."

Waiting at the doctor's office.

A heated game of battleship while we wait.

Lu was not impressed with the doctors or nurses!

We had the opportunity to get all the babies pictures taken in Chinese traditional clothes that we bought for them - it was darling!

Our little China doll!

Our whole group at the China Hotel - minus Jaden who is sick and resting in the room.

All 9 girls! The twins were not happy about the arrangement!

My girls - Charity & Natalie, Beth & Delaney, Melissa and Rylei.

Daddy and Lu.

Jaden got a silk, too - he looks awesome in it!

Our prayer request today is for Jaden who is not feeling well at all. Two nights ago he woke up at 10:30 and proceeded to throw up every hour for the next 6 hours. He was able to get a little sleep in between waves of nausea, but none of us slept real well that night - even Lu was out of sorts. One of the ladies in our group is a nurse and gave Jaden something to help him stop throwing up and stop the diarrhea which worked great, but his stomach is still really queasy. Unfortunately the next day was our consulate appointment - the day we file our Visa paperwork and the adoption is complete in the eyes of the U.S. government - not a day we could skip! He was a champ getting up and getting a bath and getting ready while we cleaned up the room. In the middle of it Lu had a blow out diaper like none I've ever seen! We were trying to clean up puke and then all of the sudden we were cleaning up poop while trying to rush to breakfast one at a time and find clothes and pack a diaper bag and where did we put those passports - it was a crazy morning! Jade got a good nights sleep last night and we are praying he'll be feeling much better today.