Our agency had rented a private van and driver to take us to Hong Kong and it was so nice. It was a brand new Toyota and it still had the new smell. However, we had our first problem only 5 minutes from the hotel when we realized that we forgot all Marshall's clothes in his closet. After finding out that our driver did not speak English, he finally repeated "Hotel?" and we turned around and headed back. The problem came when we got stuck in rush hour traffic on a one way street in the middle of the shopping market. One hour later......we pull back in at the hotel and get Marshall's clothes. The ride to Hong Kong was very nice. The cities are bright with different colored lights all around the sky scrapers. Hong Kong was a sight to see from the bridge. It was enormous and the high buildings lit up the sky. I don't think Jeremy noticed the beauty because he was too worried about our driver's wreckless weaving in and out of traffic and not using the brake until we were way too close. We arrived at the Regal Hotel that is connected to the airport and didn't have a clue what to do. He just dropped our bags and left. It took us some time to check in and ended up having to upgrade to a suite.....about $500 total.....not good. The room they had us in had 2 twin beds and no room to make beds on the floor for the kids. Jeremy also had to walk down into the airport to pick up some fast food for us to eat. By the time we got in bed it was after midnight. We were up at 7am and hurried off to the airport to check in. Shelby YiLin was wonderful on the long flight to Detroit. She only had 2 minor melt downs....one due to the fact that she had to sit by me :-( and the other because she had just slipped into a sound sleep when we arrived in Detroit. She did well on the second flight too. The long flight from China gave me lots of time to interact with her.....on her terms, of course. We colored and wrote numbers, played with a doll, had snacks and packed every piece of paper found in the back of the seats into her pockets and backpack. She cleaned the seats and trays.....many times, played with stickers, watched Beauty and the Beast and much more. She took a good nap and started to wake up in the middle of it and reached over and held my hand (I'm sure she thought I was Jeremy)....of course I sat there and cried as I watched her sleep. She is so beautiful, so precious. It is hard to believe that she is our daughter. Despite the discomfort of her rejection, she is so perfect for our family. I can't begin to tell you how much she is just like her daddy. Shelby YiLin will grab the corners of blankets, towels, and even her dress and fiddle with it between her fingers. Jeremy has done the same thing ever since I've known him. They both do it to relax themselves. It is like she has always been ours, but not.
When we arrived in Nashville, we managed to get all our luggage to Economy Long Term Parking and Jeremy did a fantastic job of making it all fit into the trunk of our car. YiLin jumped right up in her car seat (which is in the middle of her brothers) and grabbed each of their hands and smiled as if to say, "Let's go home now". Jeremy stayed awake and got us all home safetly. We arrived home to balloons, pink bows, banners, flowers, posters, and a refrigerator full of food and drinks. I thank God for our family. They have all been so faithful to pray for us and support us. Our brothers and sisters in Christ make up a huge part of our family and we appreciate them so much. Shelby YiLin took to the balloons and bananas right off the bat. She toured the house and checked out her room several times. She did not take to the kitten we have for her, Mr. Chen Po Po. He is black with almost black almond eyes and he looks like he is Chinese. We are sad to report that he has probably eaten Marshall's lizard or else the lizard is Missing in Action. Shelby YiLin has eagerly taken a bath, with my assistance :-) and Jeremy is reading her a book now and putting her to bed....in our bed.
I thank God for bringing us through the many hard days that were spent in China. I couldn't have made it without Him. I am thankful for all the emails and blog posts that we received that lifted us up and encouraged us. I thank God for my dedicated husband who has been the constant model of Christ during times that I was overcome with sadness. I thank God for my boys who have just been themselves and made this change so much easier on their little sister. I am thankful we shared it together as a family. Finally, I am thankful for my baby girl. I know she was sent to us by the Lord and I know the He has a special plan for her life.
I'll post pictures of our last 2 days tomorrow ......stay tuned,
With all our love,
The Grimms
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