Flying Home!

We caught a taxi to the Hong Kong airport at 7:15 am for our flight home on July 4th. We knew it was going to be a long flight (15 hours), and hoped that Ava would handle it okay. We prayed for extra patience and grace.

Woohoo!  I'm going home!

playing with a little girl who currently lives in
Hong Kong but is going back to the US to
visit her grandparents!

Goodbye China and Hong Kong!

We absolutely loved our time in China.  While it was hard to leave the country that our daughter was born in, we were ready to get home to our boys and start life as a family of 5!

Kind of like labor, you forget the pain of the flight. While it wasn't great, it wasn't horrendous. Ava had difficulty getting to sleep, so we tried just about everything. Standing, walking, dancing, singing, wearing her in the carrier, laying her in our laps, laying her in the seat. I'm not really sure how much sleep she did get, but it wasn't much..maybe a couple hours. Jeremy and I got even less.


But we made it and landed safely in Newark, NJ. Ava became a US citizen on the 4th of July! I love that our travel lined up for us to arrive home on this special holiday!

Becoming a US citizen is tiring!

We had a four hour layover in Newark in which Ava and I probably slept for 2 of it! We then had a short flight to Pittsburgh where we could not wait to be reunited with our boys. I got all emotional just thinking about it and imagining holding them once again!

I will never forget seeing them there waiting for us at the Pittsburgh Airport with their homemade signs. Trevor wasn't sure if he was allowed to run to us or not..so he took a few steps, stops, and I think I said "it's okay!" And he came running followed by Evan!

I can't look at this picture without getting all teary!
Missed my boys so much, and so amazing
to introduce them to their sister!

The boys were so sweet with Ava! She did very well with them too! It was wonderful to have my parents and great grandma there too, along with our friends Chad and Rachel. It was a sweet homecoming, and we were so happy to be back! Now the journey as a family begins!

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