Home is a WONDERFUL Thing!

We're home!

Hard to believe and oh, so wonderful!

That's how Tim and I feel. Imagine how Joy feels!

Thanks to some very special friends, Mike and Sharon, our arrival and trip home were very special. I'm sure there was a part of Joy that thought, "okay, now who are these new people I'm supposed to say hello to and surely I'm not supposed to stay with them, right?" She did really well with that.

In fact, she did really well the entire trip!! There was a little meltdown in the plane coming home from Seattle. I'm sure she saw all that white snow and the mountains (lifting off in Seattle) and thought, I'll never see green things again! For all she knew, we were taking her to Antarctica! ;)

So a few tears and crossing arms and telling me to go away basically. Then we looked through our book with her friends and she talked to one picture with her primary caregiver for a while. Then the Happy Joy was back. Just amazing!

Of course, it didn't help that the worst part of our trip was the Seattle part. The hotel was, understandably on Christmas, understaffed. The airport was crowded and also understaffed (at least at United) and with the extra security, it took much longer than it should have. We stood in line for "special handling" because we had paper tickets. Not our choice - Eva air issues paper tickets and because of the difference in the names and passports, we were probably going to encounter a delay getting checked in anyway. Joy has dual citizenship and a Taiwan passport for now. Her Chinese name is on the passport and therefore on her ticket. Once we get her USCIS paperwork back, we'll be able to change her name legally.

We made it on the plane okay. And got settled okay. And the plane took off okay. And then I burst into tears!

Here was this little girl, just fascinated by the blue engine on the plane, the planes on the ground and who wasn't scared a bit at takeoff. When the plane tilted to turn and the ground was all she could see in her window, she squealed with delight! She pointed to the snow, the mountains, the cars in the parking lot - all with anticipation and wonder. This little girl who is so smart and capable and a real survivor wouldn't have had a chance at any of these things in Taiwan. Because she is native Taiwanese, she has been labeled as excelling in (and not excelling in) certain things. She would wear that label for the rest of her life. Now that I know more of her and her personality, it just struck me how enormously different her life is going to be because we adopted her. We worked hard and diligently to make this happen - and there is no doubt in my mind that we are all better off for it!

I hope I have the wisdom to remember all of that on the days when she frustrates me beyond my limits! I'm sure there will be those days too....

Back to the homecoming -

She stood in awe in front of the Christmas Tree with all the lights and presents (but didn't touch it!), then raced from room to room asking a million questions! I had no idea what she was asking, but I just said something about each room and that seemed to satisfy. She somehow knew her room was at the top and that's where we had to go in a hurry! She said "ahhhooo" at the playroom and all the puzzles on the table, but didn't touch them. Then ran to her room and just exploded with laughter!

Jumped on the bed. Grabbed every toy she saw and put them on the bed (except for the doll that Jaycee gave us which came with her back downstairs). Got a book out of the bookcase and when I said yes, those are yours, she just giggled with delight. Her closet with clothes in it seemed like a big mystery. I'm sure she'll figure that out soon enough....

We came back downstairs where she pointed out every picture of Zach and Courtney we have up. And she picked up every picture of herself that she saw. Like, I belong here!! She pointed to a picture of my mother and said, Nai-nai (grandmother) with authority! She's counting days until she sees each of them - the dogs are Monday, Zach is Tuesday, Courtney is Saturday and Nai-nai, Joy told me, is going to be the next Wednesday, just so you know, Mother! ;)

We then had a Playdoh session (had gotten a lovely package in the mail with a little playdoh set in a backpack - Thank you, Erin!). She certainly knew that the backpack went on her back! She tried to carry it around that way, but we put it in the toy bin in the living room instead.

That was while Tim cooked a wonderful meal, thanks to Mike and Sharon having loaded up our refrigerator!! How sweet was that!! So we had a nice relaxing meal at home with friends and a very happy little girl.

I want to post some pictures here, so I'll write about BEDTIME in the next post!

Thanks for all your prayers for a safe journey. We were certainly a little anxious traveling today, but we are home, safe, sound, and happy!
love,
Margaret