The BRINGING HOME BRITT posts are FINALLY here!
I must tell you I started out writing all my thoughts about why we set out to adopt, what led us on the journey, and how we knew we were meant for adoption but I’ve gotta be honest some of those things are meant just for our family. I’m going to try my best to give you guys lots of details about Britt but I’m also very sensitive to it being HER story. I don’t want to share too much or possibly share anything that could be used against her {think junior high mean girls} so if I don’t overly share, please know I’m doing it for her to have a bit of privacy. The other reason I finally stopped in my tracks with the other post is because all roads leading us to adopt started with God. It’s pretty simple. Did we start the journey on the same page? Absolutely not! Tab and I were in very different corners but almost a year later God had changed both of our hearts and we were united on the same path aimed in the exact direction.
I have a college roommate who is simply amazing {lots of my college roomies are, I should add} but Carrie reminds me so much of Jesus. I’ve shared videos about Carrie and her family before you might remember her? She has three adopted children. She said this on her FB days before we were leaving to get our Britt and I burst into tears while reading…”“For kids in foster care, kids waiting to be adopted and teenagers aging out of the system, there is no momma bear. There is no crazy woman who loves that child so deeply and so madly that she would fight to the death – whether it be yours or hers – to keep them safe. There is no assurance of knowing that they have someone in their corner. There is no hope of tagging in someone when you are too tired to fight for yourself anymore.” I knew right then and there it was just days until sweet Britt would have her momma bear.
We began working on our paper work back in January of 2016. We were paper ready in November {and yes, I’m pretty sure we set a record for slowest paper work completers EVER} and got our girl’s file on Valentine’s Day 2017. We waited for travel approvals, certificates, and many other documents until April 28th, 2017, we were told to book our flights for May to China. Talk about a whirlwind!
On May 9th our crazy crew of five boarded a plane from Dallas heading straight to Beijing. My heart was a big pile of mush at this moment…so many emotions, so much to remember, and so very much to be thankful for.
As ready as we’d ever be for the long flight!
Since we booked so close to the flight date and we needed five seats we were a bit split up. These two were in the very last row behind me. Tab and Nixon were on the opposite side of the plane in the very last row. The flight was thirteenish hours and they did AMAZING! Lots of movies, Battleship against each other, and snacks kept us going.
I had no idea what to expect on a flight so long, but the kiddos did great. The guy seated next to me would sleep until the food cart rolled by {his ears could magically hear the food cart-haha!} and that’s the ONLY time he’d wake up. I couldn’t get into the aisle without waking him up which I hated to do. So every time they served food and he popped his head up, I’d ask to get up. I’m sure it was a beat down for him. Right?!
I can’t say enough great things about the flight UNTIL the last thirty minutes. I never get motion sickness and even I started feeling a little weird. I turned my I-Pad off to just sit with my eyes closed and I heard the girl in the seat in front of me throwing up. I continued sitting there talking myself off the proverbial cliff when I heard that awful sound coming from behind me-where Bowen and Ebby Lee were sitting. Bless his heart…I can’t even remember the last time Bowen has gotten sick so he had no clue what was happening. He just sit there allowing it to get ALL OVER HIM! Remember sleepy guy beside me? He was of course-asleep so I just stood up in my seat and turned around to help him. I thought I’d grabbed a blanket to clean him up and it was my beloved blardigan! AAAHHH!! By the time I realized what I was using, it was WAY too late to save it. 🙁 Tab could see us on the other side of the plane and was making all kinds of-“I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that”-faces to me across the aisle. About that time, I saw Nixon hold his hand over his mouth and LOSE it all over the floor. I looked up and there were people losing it EVERYWHERE…well I should say the last four rows of people were losing it. Lucky us in the back of the plane, I guess. Right? 😉 The stewardess told us it had been happening a lot in and out of Beijing due to certain winds and she was so sweet to help. But we finally made it off the plane and put our feet down on the ground in CHINA! We arrived around 5:30 p.m. Beijing time so by the time we made it to the hotel, checked in, and grabbed some dinner-it was bed time.
We woke up around 3:00 a.m. {thanks to jet lag} and were dancing in front of the hotel lobby windows by 5:45 a.m. haha!
I mentioned before I was unaware how picky I am about food until we got to China! Breakfast was by far my favorite meal of the day. I always stuffed myself with eggs, fruit, toast, and many other American favorites. On this day, Nixon bit into his breakfast and LOST a tooth!
*Please note Ebby Lee and Bowen still working on their dancing skills.
Our driver was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 a.m. to take us to the zoo, but since we were up SO early we decided to take a walk around the hotel. We stayed at the China Marriott City Wall hotel. It was located right next to a cute park.
The park was more of a workout, walk, and run type park and we made our way around it while checking out all the scenery.
On this morning we walked by a little boy {probably five} who appeared to be homeless. His clothes were filthy. He was wearing a ton of layers and he was sitting next to a couple bags/boxes of things…probably all of his possessions. As we walked by, Tab waved at him and said, “Ni Hao” {which is “hi” in Chinese}. You guys I wish I had been recording him. His face LIT up and he began waving to us and greeting us wearing the biggest smile. My kids had so many questions about this little guy. As we answered walking back to the hotel, I had tears running down my face thinking about how much joy that sweet boy possessed. By earthly standards, we would have said he didn’t have much, but he had what truly matters. What a lesson for my children! {And for me as well.} Even Bowen understood what he’d just witnessed. God spoke to us all that day using such an unlikely candidate. He uses us all…this is proof.
I was super impressed with all the flowers in Beijing. There were flowers in all the medians, along the sides of the roads, and in every park. They were gorgeous!
Pacific Coffee was located in our hotel and we made a pit stop here every morning we could. It opened at 8:00 a.m. which cramped my coffee drinkin’ style since we were up before 5:00 a.m. every morning, but we made it work.
Pacific Coffee had a cute lounge area with a book for visitors to sign. Nixon and Ebby Lee took care of the signing for us. 🙂
Our stop for the day was the Beijing Zoo. Our guide was busy so our driver picked us up, showed us right where he’d be waiting using any type of body language he could think of, and we were to go to that spot when we were ready to leave. I was a little nervous about that-I had no clue how we’d get back to the hotel if we couldn’t find the driver.
SPOILER ALERT-It all worked out and the driver was in the exact location waiting for us.
Our kiddos were stoked to see the pandas, but let me tell you…the pandas were not the most sought after in this exhibit…the Slaughter kids were extremely popular. haha!
Everyone and their brother wanted their picture taken with the American kids with the blonde hair.
The kiddos and I were waiting for Tab and Bowen to come around the corner and a lady put her cell phone right in front of us-just like this-so we’d take a selfie on her phone! We laughed and laughed and wanted to remember it so we took our own selfie.
I must say everyone was super nice and polite. They were all excited about seeing some Americans. And I’m sure it was a little weird for my kids, but they did great. By the end of the zoo trip, they were throwing up the peace sign and giving bunny ears in the pictures. #goodsports
Slaughter Selfie
We had to take a picture in front of this giant lion statue.
The Aquarium is attached to the zoo but you have to have separate tickets. We’d heard great things so we grabbed some tickets to check it out as well. In this area, the aquarium played the LOUDEST whale and dolphin sounds. When we first walked in the building, I thought there was a small child throwing a FIT. I quickly realized it was supposed to sound like a marine animal. Their favorite animals in the aquarium were hands-down the sharks!
My favorite eight-year-old. 🙂
We saw lots of other animals, took in all the scenery, and even let the boys play some football before calling it a day.
Hope you guys enjoyed Part 1 of our trip. 🙂
I promise to keep the China posts coming. Have a great day! XO
