LUCKY STARS

Today, Friday, we left our little home away from home at the Lucky Star Motel. The staff treated us very well during our stay. We left behind some little gifts for the staff to share. We were surprised once more by their care for us when two blocks away from the motel on the way to the airport, a staffer raced up to our cab on a moped, knocked on window, and paid the driver for our cab fare to the Airport.

We got to the airport two hours ahead of our departure and had no trouble with waiting or lines, Maia's friend Emma's parents arrived an hour ahead of us and ended up waiting, as check in for the flight began no sooner than 2 hours before departure.We wanted to capture Maia as she left Vietnam for what we hope will be great opportunities and a wonderful life with us in the US. The glare stole the view out the window, but we were able to capture Maia as she watched us leave the ground in her native homeland. The three and a half hour flight went great. Maia stayed awake the entire trip. She had fun sitting on Daddy's lap and said goodbye to her friend Emma who will be leaving us in Taipei for their flight home in Washington.

We had a short layover in Taipei. It was fun to take Maia into a girlie girl Store. Hello Kitty has their own shop and play area at the Taipei airport.

Laurie offered to buy me a Harley while we were overseas. She thought it might be fun to ride with some of the couples we know in the Dells. I decided it might just cause too much jealousy in the Biker community if I should up with the best, most tricked out model Taiwain had to offer.

I thought it might lose a little of its muscle if I added the optional passenger seat on the rear fender.

"Does anyone know what time flight BR0012 leaves for LAX? I am getting tired of waiting."

Maia fell asleep when we got on the plane, and we thought we may be able to enjoy a little sleep ourselves when I transfered her to the bassenette that attached to the bulkhead in front of our seats.
Not so lucky. She woke up after about an hour, we did get to eat, but the next 10 hours ended up being the Daddy and Maia Show. She wanted to be held. She wanted me to stand up while I held her. She wanted me to keep moving while I stood. After a couple hours, I was spent. Laurie tried to hold her, she was not happy until I took her back. After a bout of crying she finally relented to me sitting with her, while she tried to sleep. I was able to keep her quiet for the most part, but she was on and off sleeping, crying, wetting through diapers, and flip flopping like a fish on my lap for the next 7 hours. She was up for good with about an hour to go. We got the benefit of our flight taking an extra hour, someone must have thought 11 and 1/2 was just not enough. We ate a little breakfast, but she nor the food made it worth remembering. Finally, we were on the ground in LA, USA.

We had to pass through customs and immigration. Maia had an entire packet of information we had to turn in. She was finally through everything and out the doors safely with her Mom and Dad in her new country, I hope she will love living her with us and our friends and family.

I have a friend through our agency that lives in LA. She traveled to Vietnam a month or two ago to pick up her son. She was waiting for us at the airport, but we somehow missed each other. Maria and her husband Blair offered to let us stay with them in LA, but since we had to be at the airport at 4 am we checked into the Holiday Inn. Since we changed our tickets, we could not get our last leg home until the morning.

Maria and her son Wyn stopped over for a short visit. It was nice to meet another friend face to face who shared this incredible experience. It was so nice of her to spend the afternoon waiting for us and battling traffic during rush hour home.It was hard to tell if Maia and Wyn recognized each other, but they shared a few toys and got along well.
Maia's first visit to McDonalds for dinner and off to bed. Tomorrow we fly to O'hare. Laurie's brother is picking us up taking us to Rockford to meet up with our boys. We can't wait to see everyone. We really miss the boys and can't wait for them to meet their sister. We are counting our lucky stars.