Back in the USA!

We got up early yesterday to get ready to start the long trip home.  I told Wu Yi that she needed clean clothes and she shook her head no;  I smiled and nodded my head, and she basically shrugged her shoulders and let me do it without a peep!  I wanted to cry with happiness!  I know the clothes/bath thing might not seem like a big deal to anyone reading this, but I hate feeling like I am molesting this child when she needs to be cleaned up!  Bring on the next bath!! :)
Wu Yi must have known something was up the night before with all of the packing.  I waited until that morning to tell her we were leaving on a plane for America (which in Chinese translation means beautiful place).  I was worried what her reaction might be, but she seemed calm and ready to go.  We met up with the Chen's, and at the airport, met two other Seattle area adoptive families who were on the same flight with us.  The long flights were fairly uneventful (except trying to find our luggage in Beijing ~ bless you Johnny!) and I am absolutely amazed at how patient Wu Yi is.  She sat on 3 long flights, waited in airport lines surrounded by 4 families who were speaking only English to each other, and endured a fair amount of walking (carrying her precious heavy backpack) as we wandered from terminal to terminal.  She never seemed upset or frustrated, she just quietly went along with the group.  There were 3 other girls near her age with us, and she continued on her quest to "have no fun".  She did enjoy getting to have her own TV screen on the 12 hour flight with several Chinese cartoons to choose from, and she slept for almost half of the trip.  We had one brief "testing" moment when she refused to keep her seatbelt buckled (the Chinese cab drivers scolded us for trying to buckle her there!), but when Don sternly "shook his finger" at her, she decided to remain buckled the rest of the time.  She really is a well behaved little girl. (And you know how Don is such a tough guy!)
We were treated to family greeting us at the Spokane airport and I broke down and sobbed when I saw my 3 boys all holding up large hand-made banners welcoming us home!  What in the world were their grandmas feeding them for 2 weeks that made them each grow a foot taller!!  I feel so happy to be home!  China was a great life experience and the people were very good to us there, but nothing beats living in this great country and especially the beautiful Pacific NW.

Daniel, Kellen, and Evan were all so eager to meet and play with Wu Yi, and they have spent the evening looking up Chinese phrases to talk to her, and have been very understanding that she isn't quite sure of the situation and not ready to play or talk yet.  They are determined to get her to cheer up ~ go for it boys!  She seems to be doing ok in the house.  I gave her a preliminary tour of the main floor and showed her how to use the toilet/faucets/etc.  Daniel and Kellen want her to check out their rooms downstairs, but we will do that tomorrow.  Our house is big and I don't want her to get confused.  She seems ok with our dog ~ I've just had the boys keep Sami quiet and not too close yet.  At bedtime, she obediently walked to her room and climbed into bed.  She never has any issues at bedtime which is great because she has to be exhausted every single day (both physically and emotionally).  The boys want to "take her out on the town" tomorrow and are disappointed that I think we need to stay put at home for at least a few more days.  (Hard for all of us ~ we are definitely a family on the go!).  I will probably need to catch up on sleep anyway.  In the last 36 hours, I've only slept 30 minutes.  Why am I still up writing??  See ya.