from HOMe to HOME part Four [of Five]

goodbye HOMe hello HOME!

So...back up to the end of our day Thursday. We had planned to get to HOMe later in the day so the boys would be home from school. We arrived shortly before they got home. We were finally able to bring all our goodies, gifts and donations. We had been advised to not bring any of these things prior to visa approval. [apparently it can look like bribe].

We [I guess mostly I] had not been looking forward to this day. Christabel was a bit confused that we were back at HOMe. I imagine she remembered the last time we brought her back and then left for 4 and a half months. After a little reassuring that she would be leaving with us, she started to play with all of her friends. The boys were excited to have her back. We passed out the toffee [the boys had been asking for toffee each time we saw them]. We had been collecting clothing for Pastor Williams Yam Market program kids since our first trip. We had two large suitcases to donate. We also had special gifts for William and Priscilla. How exactly do you say thank you to the people who cared for your child when you could not? Nothing we found seemed to do the job well. They are an amazing couple & they are doing beautiful things for the "least of these" in Ghana!!

Priscilla & William with Akos,
Christabel & NaNa Yaw

**All the children in the above photo are adopted/being adopted. Akos will be coming home to Hudsonville within the next few months. She will live less than 5 miles from us. We are excited that Christabel will have her "sister" so close! These two were to only girls at HOMe for awhile and they are very close. Christabel was always looking out for Akos & made sure she had toys to play with. The little boy is NaNa Yaw, and he is being adopted by William & Priscilla. They have one other son whom they adopted after he came to HOMe as an orphan.

The time came for us to head back to Accra. We said our good byes. [this was only tearful for one of us...I will let you guess who that one of us was]. Christabel was a rock star. I am certain that she did not understand the enormity of the journey she was starting when we walked out the gate at HOMe. I kept thinking that the next time she is in Ghana she will be walking on perfect feet!! Lord willing she will walk through that gate to see her family some day!! The thought still brings joy to my heart and tears to my eyes!! Here is a glimpse of the good bye...pretty darn precious.

After a quick stop for dinner we headed back to the  Pentagon to prepare for our final day in Ghana. We did not have a lot planned for Friday. [at this point we did not know we would be making another trip out to FOCOS]. But I did need to repack and try to consolidate from 5 checked bags & 2 carry-on's down to 3 checked bags & 1 carry-on. This was my mission. It took a little work...but before we went to bed that night the consolidation was complete.

Friday morning the call came to inform us about FOCOS take two. We ate our final breakfast out on the patio at the Pentagon. We stopped at the Art Market for a few last purchases on our way back to FOCOS. [the details of that trip can be found in part Three].

Our flight out of Accra was scheduled to leave at 950pm. The general rule at the Kotoka International Airport is to arrive 3 hours prior to departure time to get checked in & get through security and customs. So after FOCOS, on our way back to the Pentagon we stopped at a restaurant that we had been passing all week. [we never asked about it because it looked expensive]. Turns out to be an amazing place! Largest menu we had seen. So many choices. And items in all different prices. I had not had fruit for 8 days...so I opted for the fruit platter. Cam & Chirstabel shared a pizza. We had thought that our pizza at MamaMia's was the best ever. But the pizza at Bosphorus was by far the best!! Had we known about this little gem we may have eaten every meal there! If you ever find yourself in Accra at least one meal should be eaten there! We arrived back at the Pentagon around 5pm. We freshened up, changed & checked out. One last stop at the mall to exchange a little money to tip our driver & at 7pm we found our selves back in the airport with one pretty special added passenger :]

We made our way through check in. And into the customs area. As anticipated, we were asked to go speak with an officer who wanted to see our adoption documents. I had prepared several copies of just what he was asking for before we left home [on the advise of other Bethany Ghana families] and was thankful to be able to confidently hand it over and move on!

At about 8pm we found ourselves sitting at our gate and waiting to board our first flight HOME!!

ready for flight number one :]

Soon we were boarded & ready for take off with a very sleepy Christabel. [it was nearly 2 hours past bed time] She fell asleep shortly after take off and slept the entire 6 hours to Amsterdam. Where we spent about 5 hours. We changed out of our 90 degree weather clothing & into our single digits weather clothing. Did a LOT of walking [cause when you know a 9 hour flight is up next...sitting is not on the agenda]. We did make a stop at McDonald for coffee. Christabel found a balloon which kept her pretty entertained for the duration of our layover.

Soon we were in the air again...next stop Detroit!! Again Christabel was out cold shortly after take off. She slept for a couple of hours. Was up to eat, watch a little TV, back to sleep for a while. More food, more TV, a few trips across the isle to see daddy. She did so well. For a child who had never seen the inside of a plane and really was confined to a house for the better part of the last 2 years...she was a ROCK STAR!! The last hour of this flight was pretty ugly. She was more than ready to be OFF the plane!

In Detroit we were sent to the customs line. This process was a little more complicated for us because we had to be brought to the "special" room to present Christabel's visa packet. I am not certain what exactly they do with it...but it was done speedy quick. The officer welcomed her to the US with a smile...and we were on our way.

We retrieved ALL our luggage. To head through the customs line & recheck it for our final flight. Got our tickets. Found our gate. [we had run into my cousins husband in the customs line...and he ended up being on our flight to GR...small world :]

I took Christabel to get her freshened up and into her "coming home" outfit.
One last short flight and this journey would be over!!
Christabel was less than excited about flight #3.
We were all glad it was only 1 hour from gate to gate!!

We landed in GR & headed into the lobby where our family & friends were waiting for us.
It was SO good to be home. It is amazing how much you can miss people in 10 days :]
Tate was excited to be reunited with Christabel & Quinn and Haidyn were excited to FINALLY meet her!!

We spent lots of time in the lobby at the airport...just so glad to be home, and happy to get to share her with so many people who had spent more than 16 months praying for this sweet little girl & for our family.

We loaded into the van and headed HOME!

Tomorrow...part Five: HOME [is this real life??]