Our website...

Thanks for your many prayers and sharing our journey to Noah Benjamin Hui! This is just the beginning! We are so thankful for our little guy. It feels like he has always been with us. Continue following our journey on our website:
http://www.ouradoptionblessings.com/

Our journey home...

We are praising God for a safe journey home! After a 42 hour journey, we are very tired but so thankful to be reunited with our family of 8.
Our journey began on Friday, August 1 (US time was Thursday, July 31 in the afternoon at 4:30) when we put the luggage outside the door at 4:30AM. We loaded the bus headed to the airport at 5:30AM. 5 of our 6 families were flying together to Tokyo, Japan. Benjamin saying goodbye to China wearing his jammies. He loved looking out the window during the flight.
Sharla, Abby's mom looking mighty pretty so early in the morning.
Amazing view out the window.
And we landed in Tokyo 4 hours later. We said goodbye to Claire's family as they got on a different plane.
Ben was such a trooper and a good boy. He slept in the floor under my feet many hours of the flight. I tried to pick him up to hold him and he wanted to sleep on the floor. It was cozy and dark with his blankies and "bubba"/rag.

12 hours later, we landed in Detroit.

Considering such a long flight, our Benjamin was very happy. As soon as we got off the plane, little guy, Noah Benjamin Hui became a US Citizen!!!

We picked up our luggage and checked it back in for the connecting flight home. We checked in for the flight so all we had to do was walk on the plane in 8 hours.

We decided to stay at the Westin Hotel INSIDE the airport. It was very nice and we needed sleep quickly. One reason we chose to stay there instead of leaving the airport, was because we were right there near our gate, right out the front door of the hotel. We had already been through security (taking off our shoes, jackets, emptying our backpacks of liquids and gels, GameBoys, DVD player, laptop computer,....anything that would set off the alarm....which took awhile...waiting in line behind lots of people...ugh) so this, we thought would make it simple to leave on our flight after our 8 hour layover.

We slept 4 hours of the 8 and gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the gate for our connecting flight home. We got up, got dressed, and went to the front of the hotel expecting to leave with no problems. To our surprise, the front door of the hotel was closed and we were not permitted to use that door..ugh. So now we had to LEAVE the hotel out the back door and guess what..go through security again...stand in line and go through the whole thing again. There was a lady in front of us that had (ironically) tons of jewelry on so when she walked through, the alarm sounded. She took forever to take off all her jewelry. Then the security staff checked us all out..which took much longer than it should have.

At this point, we realized that they had moved our gate..to guess where...on the other side, the very end, the very, very end of the airport. We ran and ran and ran and it took us 20 minutes running with our carry on luggage and a baby to the other end of the airport. It was not supposed to be so challenging...

When we arrived at the gate,....the door was closed!!!! We were in shock as they had closed the gate early. It was the last flight out of this airport and obviously the Northwest staff wanted to go home. We begged but the hard hearted Northwest staff was not compassionate. We told her we had been flying for 30 hours, no sleep with a new baby...no compassion. We stood there at least another 10 to 15 minutes seeing our plane outside the window and sadly watched it leave without us.

As we were standing there, another couple was there. The same thing happened to them. They were getting on a different plane and their gate was actually open when they arrived. They would not allow them on. I felt so bad for them, too, as the lady had just had surgery.

We told the whole story to the Northwest staff at a different location in the airport and thankfully she didn't charge us to change our flight to the next day. We were devastated to say the least. I was almost in tears, Joel B was crying as we walked back to the hotel, hoping they would give us our room back. We ate at the hotel restaurant and went to bed.

The next day, we were at the gate...LOL...two hours early....even though we easily and quickly went out the front door of the hotel. I sat, for fun and watched several flights go out. I looked at my watch and saw many people miss their flights, ...same thing that happened to us. I will never use Northwest again and will never encourage anyone to use them. Joel and I have flown many, many times and never have we experienced this.

As we waited our two hours before we got on the plane, we had McDonalds breakfast and little Benjamin had fun climbing on our carry on luggage. He is so strong and such a climber.

The flight was peaceful and as I sat looking out the window, I thought of why didn't God want us on that flight. If we flew the night before, we would not have seen God's creation out the window. As we flew lower and closer to home, I thanked God for our home and where we live and how beautiful it is. Amazing!! It was so green! The sky was heavenly. I imagined what it might be like as Jesus comes again some day soon...out of the beautiful blue sky. As disappointed as we were, His timing is best and He loves us. We landed 42 hours later from the time we left China.

This is our first site off the plane....
My parents, Alexis, Alaina, Hudson, Chris, Jennifer, Lydia and Isabella were waiting. Hudson hugged each of us...and squealed with delight.

My two baby boys....felt so good. Aren't they cute in their matching shirts? Hudson tilted his head and so sweetly talked to Benjamin as he caressed his back. Alaina was so sweet,too....and loved on her little brother. Alexis grabbed him quickly as she has so been dreaming of this special moment. Ben didn't want to leave his mama's arms so she sadly gave him back.

Then...Renee, Kayla, Jessie and Emily came to greet us.
Benjamin loved his balloon from Deb....his first smile for everybody to see.
Regina, Bobby, Josh, Allie and Emma came to welcome us home.
Scott and Greyson came to help us drive everybody home. Our van holds 8 people....my parents made 10..so we needed help getting home.

Ben's first carseat ride. He didn't like leaving my arms and being strapped in a carseat at all. After we were driving, he was fine and sat there so peaceful. He loves looking out the windows.

As we pulled into the drive way, we saw the balloons and a baby boy sign on the front door. Jennifer and family decorated for our return. Such a sweet welcoming home.
Lisa, Scott's wife, met us at the house to meet our little guy.
The little people hit if off right away. Aren't they cute sucking on their finger (Hudson), thumb (Alaina), and bubba rag (Benjamin)? What bonding...

They played and played outside. Ben didn't want to touch the grass as I'm sure this was the first time seeing grass. Hudson was so cute being so gentle with Benjamin and giving him toys.

Back in the house, Benny was introduced to our play room, "Toy Land Central". I sat in the PlayYard with them for awhile and they so enjoyed playing together.

Benny wanted to feed himself like Hudson. We ate greenbeans, rice, muffins and Ms. Jennifer's homemade bread..yum!
Our first dinner together. We are still figuring out seating arrangements.
My mom swinging with Hudson while Benny and I took a nap.

My parents said goodbye and we all got ready for bed. Ben loves the standing bath and actually laughs when I put water over his head.
He was so tired that smiling was not going to happen at this point...so we settled for this. He is so cute no matter what expression.
We had a great night's sleep. I rocked him to sleep in the rocker and then slowly put him in the pack n play beside my bed. He woke up at 4AM wanting in the bed with me and slept the rest of the night with us. He got about 12 hours sleep and woke up such a happy boy!

We are home!!

We just got in today, August 2 at noon. Long story but we missed our flight and boy are we tired. All is wonderful here. The little people are playing so cute together. Benjamin loves Alaina and Hudson and they have been by his side all day. We are feeling major jetlag today so when I can stay awake long enough to write, I will give all the details and sweet pictures. Can't wait for everybody to meet him. He's a sweetie.

Our last day....

Our day started with breakfast as usual. We have really enjoyed breakfast at the Victory. We heard there was breakfast in the main building but we enjoyed it so much in our building, the annex, that we just decided to continue eating here. It's a beautiful room and every morning, Joel would order all of us eggs the way we like them.
Joel B going back for seconds.
Yes, Benny in a highchair. So cute..and Mommy so happy.
After breakfast, he ran and ran. This is the first time he really ran around away from me. He never leaves my side. So wonderful hearing him laugh. He's going to love running with Hudson when we get home.
Mr. Egg man himself!! Yum!!

Yes, he climbed into the drawer.
Much of our morning, we spent going to each of the shops and picking up last minute things and saying goodbye. Jenny is now one of my favorites as she would give great deals. Daisee at Sherry's Place has the best Squeaky shoes. I missed Sherry this time as she was on a "holiday" as Daisee said.
We enjoyed tea at Susan's Place with our travel mates, Robin, Gary and family (Claires family) and then we ate at the White Swan Deli for lunch.
At 2:45 today, we rode a bus to the American Consulate. All went well. It was so wonderful to hear her say that we are free to go. Little Ben slept the whole ride there. We saw many cyber friends at the Consulate today and special friends, Bobby and Regina.
Back in the room, little guy enjoys his Discovery Toy ball. For dinner, we ordered Papa Johns Pizza.

And back to Susan's Place to pick up our things and to say goodbye.
Mine, Ben and Joel B's favorite place to shop is Double Happiness. Hebe has given me super deals! Since most of these shops had to move, Hebe is only in her old store. It's tiny but she makes great use out of the space. If she doesn't have it in her store, she leaves and comes back with it within minutes with whatever I ask for. She's so talented and makes baby blankets, pearls, and other jewelry. Here, she is making last minute alterations on my dress.


ANd before bed, little guy had some yogurt with a straw. Yes, with a straw. China yogurt is like our "gogurts", easy to drink. He loves them.

This has been the best time in Guangzhou, I think. We have enjoyed Guangzhou so much more this trip. Shaiman Island is so peaceful and safe. We really have enjoyed the Victory and it's location to all the new shops. Maybe we enjoyed Guangzhou because we were here a whole week and had time to really appreciate it. Most of all, we have enjoyed our travel group. We will really miss them.

Our bags are packed and everyone is sleeping but me. We will put the luggage outside the door in one hour and leave for the airport at 5:30AM. The next time I post, we will be home with our kiddos...all 6 of them!! Pray for a wonderful flight for us and that Mr. Noah Benjamin will sleep. It should be a 30 hour adventure...or longer. Thanks for following our adventure....as it's only the beginning.

Smiles!

What does Noah Benjamin do in his free time? Play with our shoes. He loves to wear our shoes..any size.

Speaking English...and Chinese Baby Talk. He can say ByeBye, Hi, Sissy, Mama, Baba, Dada, and See Ya. He waves and blows kisses....very cute. Zachary taught him baby sign language for More Please when he wants another bite of something. He's very smart!!
Open the cabinet...
Playing with the phone...
Sucking his blankie. He has decided he wants it back.
Climbing into the highchair. Tonight at dinner, he leaped out of my lap to climb into his highchair.

Tomorrow is our last day in Guangzhou and we leave very early on Friday morning (your Thursday night). Pray for us as we pack and get ready to leave for such a very long trip. Pray we don't get sick and all stays well for the flight home. Missing my babies at home but sad to leave China as we won't come back for a very long time.