December 21, 2007

Guangzhou to Tokyo, North West Airlines Flight 10

Well the trek home has begun. The alarm this morning went off at 4:20am in Guangzhou. We will travel, flights and layovers, more than 25 hrs. The first leg of the journey, which is now, takes the whole family, 5 Americans and 1 Chinese, from Guangzhou, China to Tokyo, Japan. After a 2 hour layover, we begin the most significant portion of the trip, Tokyo to Detroit, Michigan in the U.S.A. That leg is significant in 2 key ways. First, it is the longest at over 12 hours. Second, once we land, our family becomes 6 Americans. Six Americans whose biological clocks are mixed up. The rest of us know about this and will do our best to adjust. You on the other hand don't know about it and will undoubtedly be confused. How long before you will sleep all night in Florida? Who knows, as a kid you may make the adjustment faster than the rest of us.

We anticiapte a large welcoming party to be waiting at the airport when we finally make it home. Mammy and Pop, your mom's parents, will be there as well as several close friends from Crossway Community Church. Despite how tired we will be, it will be very nice to see everyone. You're not even in America yet and you're already a hit.

In just a few days you will experience your first Christmas in America. It will undoubtedly be much different than any you have experienced to date. Not only is Christmas a much larger cultural and social event in America than in China, it also has a very significant meaning within our family. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Jesus was God in human form, as the son of God the Father. This birth was the start of something very special. This baby Jesus grew up to be the savior of the world. He paid the price of a perfect sacrifice so that those who know Him and put their faith in Him can live eternally in heaven, in the presence of God. We will celebrate at home and with our church family. You will like getting to know our church family. Most of your friends and sisters will be a part of our church family. At your age that will be the most important thing to you, friends and s. The church family part will come later. That's ok.

For the first several days at home, Mammy and Pop will be there. Then BeBe and Poppy will come to see you. That's my mother and father. Your grandparents have been waiting patiently to meet you. They have been excited about the adoption since we first mentioned it to them. They are probably as amazed as we are that it is finally winding down. You are very fortunate that your mom and dad both have moms and dads who love each other and remain close to their children. This means your family is actually much larger than those of us in the house in Niceville. Adding to the list of family is your aunts, uncles and cousins. Your mom's brother, Troy, is married to your Aunt Angela and they have a son, your cousin, named Ross. My sister, your "Aunt Sis," is married to your Uncle Todd and they have 4 children. These cousins are named Cherish, Chase, Linda, and Ashley. Cherish is older and already living on her own so I don't expect you will have much time or relationship with her. Chase is nearing that point but I expect you'll get to know him as he is very close to the family and will probably remain that way. Linda and Ashley are only a few years older than you and y'all should have many years of growing up together.