The rest of the story, Conleigh's homecoming, part 3

(Scroll down to read if you'd like to read the long version of the story.  Otherwise the short version has us flying out of Nebraska on Monday, getting to Orlando, driving 2 hours north only to get a call saying they were coming in and turning around and driving 3 hours south, only to get a call saying tha they were not coming after all.  A night misspent in a hotel, then off to the mall to numb our minds, and yet another call saying that they were indeed coming.)

Out the door, into the car, and back on the Florida toll roads which are something this Nebraska girl is glad she doesn't have to contend with on a daily basis. We left a bit before lunctime, I think. 3 hours south, hurrying like mad to get to the Miami airport, praying that the GPS actually knows how to get us to the airport. We had contact with the other two American families who were waiting for their kids so we knew that they were both already at the airport. We finally got to the airport, parked, and tried not to race into the building.

When we got in, it took us a moment to find the other waiting families who were in a special room reserved just for families who were waiting. What we found out was that nothing had happened yet; the kids had not left Haiti yet. And what I feared-the kids would not be immediately released into our custody. The state of Florida had contacted with a private group home who would serve as temporary shelter for the kids until the proper documents could be processed. D and I headed to find some airport version of lunch and as we were getting our sandwiches, Jennifer (another adoptive parent) called us to say that they were requesting that all the parents head out to the group home facility. Since we had a rental car and Jen and her friend did not, we all piled into our car and headed for the group home.

At the group home, we were briefed on what the process would be. The group home showed us their facilities, where the kids would sleep, eat, etc.. Several of us were very clear that we had orphanage staff accompanying our children and that we felt it would be advantageous for those staff to stay with the kids. We were told that was up to the group home but no one would clarify what the policy actually was. It was after suppertime by this point and the kids still had not arrived. We were told that the kids would not be released until morning due to their late arrival time but that the state department officials who would be actually granting our kids parole would work through the night to process the documents. D and I, along with Jen and her friend, went with the general concensus which was to go find a hotel and return in the morning.

(More to come...See?  I've still got you hanging on the edge of your seat.)