Wendy and Rolfe Antonowitsch and daughter Seleena returned home to Canada with a warm welcome by Lang residents, but a person is missing from their lives.

A little girl who became a part of their family remains in Thailand, where they just completed a missionary tour as volunteer teachers at a rural school in the town of Takuapa. Bee (Supaporn), an abandoned 10-year-old Thai girl, had to stay behind until the couple could make legal arrangements to have her brought to Canada. The goal is to adopt Bee, who is informally being taken care of by the Lutheran church in Takuapa.

Since returning home last week, the family has been busy re-establishing a home and getting the wheels in motion for Bee's arrival. They are not alone in this; Wendy and Rolfe have had the support of family, church, and the Lang community ever since their desire to adopt Bee became known.

Wendy, principal of Lang School, and Rolfe, a biologist with PFRA in Regina, were greeted by approximately 150 people when they stepped off the plane in Regina with daughter Seleena, nine years of age.

"There were members of their family, their church, and Lang at the airport," said Judy Moon, teacher at Lang School. "They sang and a bunch had aprons and hats on and had all kinds of junk food for the family as they really missed it when they were in Thailand."

The family, although severely jet-lagged, appreciated the effort.

"It's just incredible, you can't even imagine how nice it was," said Wendy. "Lang is a pretty special place and so are the people in our family and church, we are very fortunate."

The family stayed with Wendy's sister Kelly's family in Pilot Butte. In less than a week, they had a lawyer at work on Bee's behalf and were in the process of finding a lawyer in Thailand to take care of the process there. They purchased a house at Pilot Butte and will move in on April 3.

Rolfe said that if it is necessary, they will bring Bee home as a foster child and continue to work on the adoption in Canada. Their lawyer is contacting the adoption desk in Ottawa and the Thai child welfare department in Thailand to determine the best option to get Bee here as soon as possible. They hope to be reunited with Bee by June.

"We miss her, but we're hoping that she will be here by summer so she can work on her English before school starts," said Wendy. "She understands spoken English better than written, but she is such a bright child, it won't take her long."

The family is finding it good, if a little strange, to be back in Canada. Seleena, who did not care for the Thai diet (mostly rice and unfamiliar vegetables) is really happy to be home and is looking forward to going to school in the fall. Wendy found it good to be back in a different way.

"All this open space and the cold feel so strange," she said. "Thailand is so completely different. It was good experience, but Thailand has so much noise and traffic. We're fortunate to live in Canada."

Rolfe returns work at the beginning of May and Wendy expects to return to Lang School in the fall, unless something arises with Bee that causes a delay.

The family is grateful for the support they have received from family and friends. Funds have been raised through garage sales, bottle drives and a barbecue thrown in Lang. This assistance will be invaluable as lawyer fees for the adoption alone are prohibitive.