Welcome Home

I am going to keep the narrative brief because the photographer did such an amazing job of capturing the moment.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

December 10th, 2010

We flew from Beijing to Chicago, spent two hours in Chicago, and then boarded our plane HOME.  To read more about that day see the post below.

Mom receiving the text that says we have landed (where they were all waiting for us)!

The welcome committee gets in place.

Watching and waiting.

Gram and Barrett front and center watching and waiting.

Here we are!!!  I will never forget when I walked around that corner (which I am just about to do in this picture) and saw my loved ones with posters and balloons.  It felt so good to be HOME!

Gram showing Barrett where we are... I have a huge smile on my face as I come around the corner (as I type this I have tears of happiness all over again).

I couldn't get to Barrett fast enough!  At this point the tears were flowing!  Blake was in awe of everyone who is there to welcome us.

It felt so good to have Barrett in my arms after 18 long days!

I love Robert's face in this picture... such happiness.

A daddy glad to see his son!

Hugging my mama after 18 long days.

After all the crying and hugging I said, "Here she is!"  I love how Barrett is proudly smiling and pointing to her.  You can see that Papa is happy to finally get to meet her.

Gram and Papa meeting their granddaughter for the first time.

Our family and friends watching...

Now it is time for hugs from them!

I love Barrett's face as he gets to know his sister!

Brynn was so nervous with all that was going on.  There were tears, hugs, lots of people, balloons.  She didn't know what to think about it all.

Our first picture as a family of 15!

Our first pictures as a family of 5!

There were so many more pictures, but I tried to pick out the ones that clearly depicted the happiness and emotion we all felt on this special day.  I cry looking at these pictures and thinking about this day.  Our family was together all in the same place at the same time.  We were together.  Praise God!

Journey Home

This is the picture of Travel Group 1663.  All 16 families.  16 children who are no longer orphans.  Praise God!

Our flight left Guangzhou around 10 a.m. on Thursday.  We flew back up to Beijing where we spent the night.  A taxi picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the airport at 4 a.m. Friday morning.  Our flight left China at 6:55 a.m. on December 10th.  I was so ready to leave, but so emotional that we were taking Brynn from her birth country.  The place she was born,  I believe she was loved by her parents, became an orphan, loved by her nannies and foster parents, and then became Brynn Olivia AiXin, a daughter and sister.  Wow, how could I not be emotional as we took off and China became a speck out of the plane window?  Our trip was hard.  China is a hard country, so different from what we know.  But it is our daughter's country.  And for that reason, China will always be more than just a speck out of the plane window in our hearts.  On the plane ride home we sat in the bulk head seats, so we had more foot space.  There was an empty seat beside Brynn and I (she had a lap ticket) and then a man next to that.  On the other side of the man was an American couple who we met in China and their newly adopted twins who were a little less than a year old.  That poor man!  Sitting between 3 children who are tired, confused, and trapped on an airplane for 12 hours!!  I know he was probably glad to get off that plane!  We landed in Chicago at 4:45 a.m. on December 10th.  With the time change... we were living the same day all over again.  We went through immigration where they opened the "sealed brown envelope" the Consulate gave us.  Immigration opened it up and stamped Brynn's visa.  She was officially a U.S. Citizen!! We had a two hour layover before we boarded our next plane.  We got a snack stretched our legs and then off we went.  I was so excited I couldn't stand it!  The flight was about 2 hours and I had to make myself not check my watch every 5 minutes. We got off the plane and were practically sprinting through the airport to get to where our family was going to be waiting for us.  I wasn't exactly sure where they would be.  I was just following Blake and Robert with Brynn in my arms.  I will never forget what I saw when I rounded the corner and saw them all standing there.  Red, white, and blue balloons, Welcome Home posters, family and friends, and my sweet Barrett standing in front of all of them with a pink rubber ducky and a string of balloons... waiting and watching for us (yes, I am crying all over again right now just thinking about it).  I immediately burst into tears of pure joy and happiness as I went to hug my Barrett and introduce Brynn to our family and friends.  Barrett so sweetly handed Brynn the pink rubber ducky he had picked out for her and smiled so sweetly at her.  My heart was so full of joy that I thought I might burst.  All 5 of us were finally in the same place at the same time.  Our family that God put together and we couldn't be more thankful.  There will be pictures of this wonderful reunion coming soon.  There was a kind, generous photographer who has a heart for adoption who came to the airport to photograph the reunion.  After many tear filled hugs and introductions, we made our way out to the car.  My mom and dad drove us home.  When we pulled on our street we were greeted by Welcome Home posters and balloons hanging on the mailboxes of our wonderful neighborhood.  We came in the house and Brynn seemed to let out a sigh of relief.  She seemed so much more relaxed.  She was so content and she and the boys played all night.  She is still waking up throughout the night disoriented and sad, but with a little comforting she is able to get back to sleep.  With time we know this will pass.  Things we were so glad to see when we got home: a washing machine, 110 volt outlets, clean water, and dresser drawers.

18 days

7 plane rides

6 hotel rooms

Lots of shuttle/ bus rides

2 taxi rides...

and we are home!!

We cannot tell you how much your prayers and support have meant to us!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Because our journey is complete and we are now a family, I will start posting pictures on our family blog, http://www.mcintire4.blogspot.com/.  I will post the reunion pictures on the adoption blog when I get them, but other than that, we will close this chapter of our lives and start our new family.

HOME

We are HOME and way too tired to think through a post.  I will post more about our last day and traveling adventures home from China later.

For now, enjoy this picture of our three sweet angels!
Thank you so much for your prayers while we were away!

Next Stop - The USA!!

Hey everyone, Shannon here.

I wanted to let everyone know that we've received word that Susan, Robert, Blake and Brynn are on the plane and buckled up. NEXT STOP, THE GOOD OLE USA!!!!!!!!

If you think about it, say a prayer that the next 14 hours go smoothly. We can't wait to have them HOME!

Red Couch Pictures

Red Couch Photos

Today was the customary Red Couch Pictures.  Each travel group that adopts from China ends their trip by taking pictures of the babies in their traditional Chinese silk outfits on the red couch in the White Swan Hotel.  Today was the big day!  We started by taking pictures of each family, and then the group picture of the babies, followed by the whole travel group picture.  The group picture of the babies was quite an ordeal.  16 babies, most crying and unhappy.  Very interesting.  I sat Brynn up there with a snack.  She never cried, but she was very uncertain about it!  The pictures are treasures!  Pictures of the families who we met and experienced the miracle of adoption with.  We will never forget them or our time in China with them.  We toured together, ate together, flew together, and most importantly we watched each other add a new member to our families.  We spent the rest of the day packing and getting ready to leave.  We are being dropped off at the airport bright and early in the morning in order to catch our flight back up to Beijing.  We will stay in Beijing a night and then leave there on Friday morning (Thursday evening in TX).  This flight will bring us back to the U.S.A.!!!  We are so excited and ready to be starting our journey home!!  We will be on flight 2305 landing in Dallas at 10:35 a.m. on Friday the 10th.  Thank you for your prayers as we journey home!

Pearl Market & Shopping Pictures