His shirt says "little brother"
Julianna and John-Nathan were given these stick-n-peel tattoos by our new friends, the Hastings. Julianna put hers on the morning we departed for home! igbok stands for "it's gonna be OK." Really a motto we all have been quoting a lot :).
Jack was not feeling well :(. Baba (Papa) wasn't feeling great either. So we medicated and kept moving on. Nothing was going to stop us from reaching our goal of getting HOME!
The Garden Hotel, a 5-star Guangzhou classic, was nice enough, but we'll take a bowl of cereal in our modest home ANY DAY over it. Here we are about to head by the consulate and then to the train station.
With Lily at the train station. Rebecca, Miko and Lily all cared for us well in Guangzhou.
Bryan and Joy Ford graciously came to Guangzhou from Hong Kong in order to help us with the train and transition from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. They were like angels, ministering to us, and bearing us along! What a huge help they were to us, man-handling our luggage and back packs, showing the ropes, filling out border control documents, taking us to dinner, lodging us in their Hong Kong flat, and just encouraging we weary ones. We truly had our sites set on HOME, as the Christian's longing is for heaven as well. Such a blessing their fellowship was to us!
Our family of five on the train.
John-Nathan was lovin' the train ride.
Joy was a trooper! She played tic tac toe with John-Nathan...John-Nathan style! Later on Bryan got to play the John-Nathan way, too. You see, apparently, there is a rule where you can change the opponent's X to your O... :)
After a short night's rest at the Ford's flat (we called it an oasis!), they once again helped us along to the Hong Kong Airport via a double-decker bus!
John-Nathan and Papa with a great view of Hong Kong from the front row top of the bus. Julianna was enjoying making photos. I am sure she will post some of those on her blog!
Inside the Hong Kong airport, the boys expend some of their energy before boarding the almost 15 hour flight!
He loved the luggage cart!
Planes, trains, buses, taxis... J-N has enjoyed lots of his favorite things this trip :)!
We were so grateful that we were able to get our seat assignments fixed by asking other passengers to swap. The couple was so gracious...or maybe they took one look at us and thought the other side of the plane would be better ! :) Regardless, we were grateful to have five seats close together! The flight was long, but all did fairly well. It was the most turbulent flight of the whole trip -- bumpy all the way up the coastline to Japan and on across the ocean. Thankful for the Dramamine that seems to help Julianna and Celinda. The parents were both keeping the Motrin going since we both had fevers. And Jack and Celinda were coughing...funny to see the woman across the aisle keep putting her mask on! Sorry!
Touch down Detroit! Welcome to the USA, Jack Zanzhi Rosborough! You've just become a US citizen! (As an aside, we could always identify Jack in pictures because of the little crink in his right ear!)
We landed about 30 minutes earlier than expected which helped take a little pressure off of us. Of course, we were still concerned because our connection was tight. While in the immigration line, an officer pulled us to an open line because we were a family with small children. Another answer to prayers to speed us through Detroit immigration! So no running like last time to make our connection. So glad we "took our chances" with this itinerary. It allowed us the straight shot to Birmingham.
Our Birmingham flight ended up being about an hour delayed (anyways). We had time to eat a little something. While in line at Einstein Bagels, Celinda noticed a young caucasian lady and two precious little African girls. It was Katie Davis, who wrote the book Kisses from Katie---a great book and inspiring story. We said a quick "hello" and that we had seen her at church a few months ago when she had come to share her story. She was headed back to Uganda.
On to Birmingham... Well, somehow, we had gotten by on every flight with Jack in Celinda's lap for take-offs and landings. But not this flight! We became those "special" passengers who got "special" attention from the sole flight attendant, who then had to go have a pow-wow in the cockpit to request "special" permission to be an exception. The answer came back "no" because of FAA regulations, fines, etc. So we had to take him out of his buckled carrier (waking him up) and buckle him up with the seatbelt, and practically wrestle him to stay buckled. We were thinking he would have been a LOT safer in Celinda's carrier on her body, but the airline (or rather FAA) thought that a seatbelt, which ended up being crooked across his chest most of the time, was better. Of course, since he didn't understand any of this, we feel like it hurt him emotionally as well as physically. In many ways, the whole travel experience challenges everything you're trying to accomplish in the first days of bonding. But it's a necessary evil in order to get home. Everything might have been avoided if we had lied about his age (said that he was under 2 -- but since he was over 2, we were forced to buy a seat, and thus required to buckle him in it...) but we weren't going to lie, so... The other passengers must have especially enjoyed the final 30 minute descent to the chorus of Jack's cries. Many had their first Mandarin lesson that day, hearing the phrase for "I don't want" literally dozens of times! Those cries led to the expulsion of his small snack as we walked up the jetway, necessitating a trip to the nearest airport restroom to clean-up a bit before being welcomed HOME!
Ready to see those awaiting us!
Grandma and Grandpa Connell were there to welcome us home, just like 4 years ago. The Rowlands and the Wortmans came, too. A sweet welcome!
We were a little concerned about how Jack would do in the car seat. He hadn't been in one the whole time we were in China, and after the plane experience we were left to wonder. BUT he loved his ride HOME. He was so cute, babbling (in Mandarin) about "Papa driving."
Grandma and Grandpa had placed a few welcome home decorations. Jack really loved the pictures!
His first breakfast was breakfast in (our) bed. He guzzled some apple juice and had some bites of egg before...
...his first breakfast came back out (fortunately we had moved to the dining room table by then!). So his first outfit of the day lasted approximately 15 minutes. He made it the rest of the day in outfit #2 -- now that's progress!
He is discovering all kinds of things around here!
Many giggles on the swing!
He goes a bit too fast down the slide and has not yet figured out the proper landing procedure.
More giggles again with his personal chauffeur.
John-Nathan has been waiting a long time for this. Hold on Jack!
Their first duet!
Everyone is in bed and I am headed there shortly! It has been a good first day home with Jack. So fun to rediscover things with him. Appreciate continued prayers for healing and for adjustment. Peter has to finish up the school year this week. Pray he can stay awake while grading the exams his students took while he was gone!
With love and thanksgiving to our great God and to you, our family and friends!
All FIVE Rosboroughs
