Our Journey Home

First off I need to let you know that the date posted on the blog for the last entry and this one are off. It posts the date that I post information not the date it actually happened. So this entry is for July 29th. We woke up at 4:00 a.m. in order to put our bags out into the hall for the bell boy. We didn't get to bed until late due to our packing. We were exhausted but hoped to sleep on the plane. We met our party in the lobby at 6:00 to head for the airport. Our first destination was Tokyo Japan which is about a 5 hour flight. When we got to the air port we had to purchase a ticket for Jade. This threw a wrench in the day right from the beginning. The check in counter was not equipped to do this. We stood in line for what seemed forever but finally got our ticket. We had to run to make up for lost time. At one check in a woman infront of us (not in our group but with a Chinese baby) had dropped her bottle of formula. There was a huge puddle of cereal formula on the floor in front of the counter. A man ran to the counter and his heel slipped in the formula and down he went with a splash. I think he thought it was throw up at first and was disgusted. He was not a happy camper even with it only being formula. And I thought we had a rough start. Any way we got on the plane and sat by a nice Chinese man that played with Jade along the way. Jade slept a bit on the first flight but not a lot. I was not disappointed because we had the long flight next. When we got to Japan we were still with Dana, Lisa, Leah, Scott, Nancy, True and our new daughters. We were so disappointed and sad to realized that the long flight we thought we were going to share with all of them was incorrect. All three of us had different flights. Not only that but Dana, Shaelin, Lisa and Leah's flights were boarding as we were arriving. We gave teary hugs and loves and they were off. I just love these women. They have become life long friends and I look forward to the day our paths cross again. Well we found the gate we needed to be at only to discover that Scott, Nancy, True and Mia were at a different gate. We were not even able to wait together for our flights. So more sad teary goodbyes. What an amazing family they are. We could not have asked to meet more amazing people. Mia is so blessed to be in their family.
So off we all went in our various directions toward home. One bonus for this flight is that the lady at the gate let us board first before the crowd. That was a blessing. We sat in the middle of the airplane in the middle section. We had 2 seats next to eachother with an extra seat between myself and a man. This was great because he was much different than the nice Chinese man on the first flight. He looked frightened when he saw that we would be sitting by a 15 month old for 11 hours. The entire plane was full except for that one seat. We felt so lucky to have a bit more room. Jade slept a ton on this flight however it was a very restless sleep. She tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. She ate well. She enjoyed the Japanese rice especially. THEN::: When we only had approximately 3 hours left in the flight she had a very runny diaper. I took her into the very small bathroom to change and wash her up. After I returned to my seat, Brent had received his dinner so I just had him slide in and let me have the isle seat. As I sat down Jade threw up an enormous amount all down the isle. I know the man we had been sitting by was so relieved I was on the isle and not in the middle of the row. So was I. I wrapped her in an airline blanket and took her back up to the restroom, someone was occupying the rest room so I just sat down on a seat that the stewardess uses to take off and land. I mentioned to her that Jade had thrown up and she seemed irritated that it was in the isle on the floor. She had a brief case sitting on the seat next to me and she said, "Well don't let her throw up in this". I was very disappoited that she did not offer any help or sympathy. Luckily I had packed an extra outfit for Jade and was able to wash her up again and change her. I went and sat back down by Brent and the blanked covered isle. I was there a few minutes when Jade threw up all over herself and me again. I was out of clothes and had nothing for me. The same woman came by again and said, "Don't you have a blanket for her to throw up in"? We told her we did and now all three are on the floor. She just walked away and did not offer any help or more blankets. I cleaned Jade and myself up the best I could and prayed for the next 3 hours to go by quickly. Jade fell asleep and I kept breathing in threw my nose and out through my mouth to keep my nausea under control. Between the thowup smell and the descent I almost lost it several times. I have never been so glad to be on land in my life. We landed in Minneapolis where we were so glad to have to recheck our bags. We were able to get them and grab some new clothes for both Jade and I. I did this right there in baggage claim for Jade. I got her all cleaned up again, set in down on the carpeted floor to wrap up soiled clothes picked her up only to discover her messy diaper all up her back. Yeia!!! I could not believe it. I ran back through customs to the restrooms and gave her a bath in the sink. All I could think about is that we have one more flight about 3 hours long to Salt Lake City, Please let her be empty. I just wanted to be home. The thought that kept me going through all of this is that my Bailey, Kyle and Landon are at the other end!!! Another bright spot in all of this mess is knowing that Jade became an American citizen as we hit Minneapolis soil. God Bless America. I don't even think Jade meant any harm when she had an accident sitting down in America for the first time. The woman at the immigration counter was so sweet to welcome her to America. What an amazing milestone. We had about an hour layover in Minneapolis which was so nice to stretch our legs. At our gate we were amazed to see Brent's cousin Greg Burningham there. He was on standby for our same flight. It was fun to see him. It really is a small world. Our last flight was pretty uneventful. Only one messy diaper. I am a pro at changing a diaper in a closet bathroom. The flight attendant on this flight was amazing. She even gave me a large plastic bag and some napkins just in case they were needed. What a difference customer service makes. What a long day. At times I did not think it would end. I am going to end this post here however because the next post is so much happier. It is the children meeting their sister for the first time and deserves it's own happy post. Whew what a ride.