Successful First Weekend!

We had a great weekend! Addy is settling in quite nicely. I think she will like her new home. We had visits from family and friends throughout the weekend, all excited to get a glance at our sweet girl.

Uncle George and Aunt Liz 

Ella and Evan

And Aunt Kay

We spent lots of quality time as a family, swimming, and settling in!! 

Now we start the week with Dr. Appts and picking up the Guinea Pig. Ava is so excited to see her friends at school!!!

Well, Hello USA!!!

We're home, We're home, We're home!!!!

We had a van pick us up at 5am China time and deliver us to the Hong King airport. We took off at 10:30 China time and landed on US soil in Seattle at 7:30am on the same day. Got to love it! We landed in The D around 7pm. Door to door = 27 hours. The girls did ok on the flight home. They were never relaxed and calm at the same time. Well, just once….

We had a 3 hour layover in Seattle and it actually went ok. These girls are pretty easy to entertain. Lots of singing, the people in Seattle got quite a show! Haha!!

Once we landed in Detroit and until this very moment, John and I are in amazement of the love and support of our family and friends! I mean, WOW!!! When you are greeted with this at the airport, how can you not melt???

We had amazing friends meet this and my wonderful friend, Heather, was there snapping pictures the entire time. Even though we looked and smelled like crap, I'm so glad we got these moments captured.

Aunt Tammy, Aunt Emily, and JoJo were there to greet us and pick us up in a limo!!!! Yes, a limo!

And Ava enjoyed her much needed time with Aunt Tammy -- look at the adoration on her face! They missed each other!

We were greeted at home with my BFF's. El Camino, The Feather's, and more awesome signs!

We finished the night with these two munchkins in our bed. For the record, I was strong, Jho wasn't even close. He lasted maybe 10 minutes and went to in and transferred to our bed. Yep, the family that sleeps together, stays together.

John and I are beyond humbled, thankful, grateful. I don't think there are enough adjectives for this! There is a dinner list, friends who show at 9am with a gallon of milk and iced coffee, the calls, the texts, the emails. We love you all so much! I hope you will continue to enjoy our journey. Truly, there is no place like home.

The last post before USA!!!

As we begin to make our journey home, I wanted to share our experiences through others words. So, let's see what John, Nana, and Ava have to say about our China trip! 

John: I like the fact that Addy is attached to my hip. She is funny, smart, and beautiful. Everything I hoped she would be. Just like my Ava Kate. I embraced and loved the Asian cuisine this time around. Most of it was really good. The lodging was great! The weather is extremely hot to the point it was miserable at times. The zoo was amazing! And I'm looking forward to going home. 

Nana: I loved being a part of meeting Addy for the first time. I loved spending time with my family but miss my family at home. I loved the zoo! The zoo was the best part. The rooms were good and showers were great! Things I disliked: the food, the extreme heat, the confusion that Ava is feeling. But I know that will settle when we get home. Oh, and I read 4 books. I haven't read 4 books in 2 years. 

Ava: I liked the food. And I love Addy but she is loud. I love Nana and I don't like to take naps. I like to play with Addy and make lots of noise. Addy is cute. But I don't like her taking long naps and sleeping so long. I liked going to the zoo. I got to swim on the roof and I love my family! Oh, and I miss Jordyn, Emmett, Ella, and Roz. 

We have had a great trip! It was easier this time around but I am ready to go home. The food wasn't any better but we all know what a picky eater I am. I've lived on toast, watermelon, and Coke. I now officially have a Chinese bank account. Which sucks that John knows about it….now where will I hide my millions? Addy is super attached to John but is coming around more to me. We'll get there! 

Now, we are going to finish packing and have one more dinner at Lucy's. The van is picking us up for Hong Kong at 5am. Next stop…Seattle! 

See you all soon! The Ho's are coming home! 

Embassy, Happy Birthday, Nana! and Starbucks

Today was our embassy appointment. Addycakes is all set!! We should receive her visa tomorrow afternoon and this girl is ready to go home! We snapped this sweet picture before we left because there are no cameras allowed at the Consulate. 

 

 

After the appointment we brought back lunch and a birthday cake for Nana! She celebrates her birthday in China this year, too!!! The cake was actually pretty good, but we are all ready for a chocolate cake when we get home. 

 

 

 

 

After yet ANOTHER dinner at Lucy's we stopped on the way back to snap this picture. Doesn't everyone have one?

 

And then we went to Starbucks. And it was a little taste of heaven. Nana had a heart in her latte and the girls enjoyed it, too! Especially their muffin. But John is embracing China and got a green tea red bean frappucino. It wasn't awful but red beans???

 

Koala's, White Tiger's, and Panda's! Oh my!!

Today we went to Guangzhou Chimelong Safari Park. People, if you ever come to Guangzhou and have the opportunity. Worth every single penny. Every single. We did things today that we will probably never do again in this lifetime. You know like ride an elephant, pet a Koala bear, and feed tigers. Seriously. I took over 200 pictures, so here are a few of my favorite!