September 22, 2006 We are finally back in the US, even if we aren't quite home yet. We got up around 4:30 AM to leave at 6:00 for our flight out of Guangzhou. It was a short hop over to Hong Kong. We made a couple of discoveries when we got there: 1) the Chinese take their airport security very, very seriously and 2) Mary Joyce was assigned a seat several rows behind her parents. Thankfully, this was noticed by the ticket agent handling our connection, and he was able to get it straightened out. The security was another matter all together. They were searching everybody and everything. We every person, including Mary Joyce, was frisked (when did Al-Quaida start recruiting 9 month olds?) and they went through every single bag and looked at every single thing. Eventually, we did manage to get on board, and even though this trans-pacific crossing was an hour longer than coming over, and included a baby, this flight was much easier than the other long one. This time, we had access to the aisle, plus, with Mary Joyce spending long portions of the flight in our laps, we had an extra seat that we could use for making bottles, etc. We finally got into Chicago around 2PM central time (thanks to the wonders of crossing the International Date Line, this was the same day that we left), and were able to go through Immigration with little trouble. It was when her passport was stamped that Mary Joyce became a US citizen. Then came the wait for the next flight, the one that would take us to Atlanta. It was originally going to be three hours, but then the weather changed. Something about tornadoes in the area were mentioned, and Chicago's O'Hare airport shut down. Nobody was going anywhere. So a three hour layover turned into a four hour, then five hour, and then finally eight hours. Overall, this was the most difficult part of the entire trip. We were a bit concerned that we wouldn't be able to fly out sometimes Saturday, but thankfully, we managed to board, and were flown back to Georgia. We were met at the airport by grandparents, but also by Mike and Jen, who live in Albany, and are about six months behind us in the adoption process. We look forward to following them as they make this same journey. Right now, as I type this, we are in a hotel room in Atlanta. We'll be driving to Madison to pick up a few things, and then to Dawson this afternoon. We'll get some pictures up this evening. *We are a bit later we than we intended with the pictures, so we've tossed in a few photos from home as a bonus. --Dusty and Chet   Atlanta Bound--Finally!     The New Little Citizen   Jen and Mike came all the way from Albany to meet us at the airport. Thanks, y'all!     Meeting Aunt Charlie and Lao Lao     Meeting Papa   Oooh! Glasses!     First Meal in her High Chair     What does this one do?   Napping in her own Crib     Our Little Angel           This page hosted by