Beijing

I went back and read what I wrote last night when we got I and WOW was I tired!! Sorry for all the  incoherent things I wrote...haha!  So, basically we slept all night long -yahoo- and woke up well rested!! We ate a great, BIG breakfast at the hotel and met the other families for sightseeing.  We have an AMAZING guide named Yoshi. He took us too Tienamen square, the Forbidden City, an authentic Chinese lunch, Temple of Heaven, the pearl factory, and an amazing acrobatic show!!! As you can imagine, we are tired!!! I got to experience a "squatty potty" today too...it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! While sightseeing people kept coming up to our group asking us to take pictures with them. our guide explained that some of the Chinese people were here from other parts of China and that we may be the first white people they had ever seen. one of the guys in our group is over 6' tall and. He got plentyof looks and pictures taken of him...ha!!

The sightseeing was wonderful! I took a ton of pictures but I can't load them on here. :(. It seems that we are going to be unable to put any pictures on here until we are home!!! Our laptop and iPad don't have a port to plug in the adapter card for the pictures :(. When we get to our next hotel we will check out the business center there and see if they can help us!! I will still take manictures though!!

We are going to see the Great Wall tomorrow, then we are flying to Xian in the evening. The other families are all flying together to another province but we will meet them again once we go to Guangzhou. When we get to Xian our guide will tell us when we are getting Grace. It will either be tomorrow night once we get to Xian or Monday.  I am praying for Monday...one more good nights sleep would be very helpful!!! Plus, I would like to have the chance to go to the store first and purchase supplies and toys before we meet her.

Ok...I am getting very tired as I write this...I don't want to get incoherent like last night so I will say goodnight for now :)

We are here

Hi everyone!! We just made it to the room!! We have been traveling since 7 AM this morning and it is now 6:00 AM USA time...7:10 PM here in China!  I slept 0% on the way here so I am exhausted!! We are about to turn in for the night! Everything went great on the flights! The longest flight had a myriad of shows and movies to watch and I was excited to see they had Downtown Abbey.  some of my friends watch that show and love it but I have never had the opportunity to sit and watch it.  They had 8 episodes to chose from from season 2 so watched them all... I can truly say I am hooked now!!!

Our guide was waiting for us at the baggage area...just as promised :). He told us that we were waiting for 2 more families and their flight was delayed an hour...so we checked out the starbucks in the airport and hung out for about 90 minutes.  The other families are soooo nice!!! We are going to have a great time together!!

We are sight-seeing tomorrow all day!! I hope we have the stamina to make it...we are soooo tired!!! Maybe tomorrow night I will have pictures to share!!

Leaving on a jet plane

We are leaving for China in the morning!!! Wahooo!!!  I can't believe it is FINALLY here!!!  I can't wait to hold Grace!!!  I am super sad to be leaving Ian here but I know it is for the best.  David and I really need that time alone with Grace for bonding.  I know she will bond very fast to Ian.  I am told that she LOVES his picture the best in the family album I sent to her!

I started feeling pretty crummy last evening.  I went to bed super early but woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach bug Ian had last week :(  Needless to say the timing isn't the best!!  However, I am glad I have it now and NOT tomorrow on the plane!  I am just praying I can get everything done I need to get done today!!

Here's the schedule of our trip...
Thursday, Novmeber 15 - leave America for China
Friday, November 16 - Arrive in China in the afternoon (China time)
Saturday, November 17 - Sightsee throughout Beijing
Sunday, November 18 - more sightseeing then fly to the province of Xi'an (Grace's province) in the evening
Monday, November 19- Get Grace!!!!!
Tuesday, November 20 - finalize adoption in China
Wednesday, November 21 - 22 - hang out in Xi'an and wait for adoption paperwork
Friday, November 23 - fly to Guangzhou
Saturday, November 24 - medical appt. for Grace
Sunday, November 25 - sightsee throughout Guangzhou
Monday, November 26 - Drop off Grace's paperwork at the US Embassy office
Tuesday, November 27 - Pick up Grace's US Visa from US Embassy!!!
Wednesay, November 28 - take train to Hong Kong and sightsee throughout Hong Kong
Thursday, November 29 - COME HOME!!

WOW - that seems like alot!!  They keep us busy - which is great! Too much sitting around and I will focus on how much I miss Ian! Please pray for us while we are gone!  I will be updating the blog as much as possible while we are in China.  I just don't know how internet service will be - so please be patient with me - ha!

Grace's Room 2

Grace's Room 1

TRAVEL APPROVAL

WE GOT IT!!!!!!  I was on the phone with my agency today telling them how frustrated I was that it was taking soooooo looooong to get our Travel Approval.  Laura, one of our facilitators, was telling me that she understood and that because China observed a holiday the week before last that it might take another week or 2 to get it in.  She said if it wasn't here by the end of October they would call about it.  My heart was sinking as she was talking to me...darn holidays!!!  Then I asked Laura what time the mail usually came in so that I wouldn't be waiting around all day on their call.  she said it normally came in around 3:00.  She said they use DHL so they are always looking for the yellow truck and yellow envelopes.  She assured me that they were as anxious to get them in as we were.  About that time she said "Oh my goodness, I see our assistant walking towards my office with 2 yellow envelopes in her hand.  I guess the mail came early today. Wait here on the phone with me and I will open these right now and see if one of them are yours...Isn't your husband's name David?"  I said "What???  Is that our TA you just opened???"  And sure enough it was!!!!!  How CRAZY is that!!!!  Laura said that for all the years she had been working there she has never had anything like that happen!!  Of course, she got to hear me yell and scream with joy - then Ian came in the room to see what was going on - so I told him and yelled and screamed with joy too!!!  Laura said our phone call made her day - she couldn't wait to tell everyone!!  God is so good!!

So...onto the details!!  We have requested our US Embassy appt on November 26.  We hope to hear back from the Embassy tomorrow.  Our agency is about 99% sure that we will get that appt since it is so far off.  That means that we will leave here on Thursday, November 15 and we should be able to leave China on November 28.  The agency said that we should be traveling with 2 more families from their agency!! This is GREAT news because we thought we might be traveling alone!  One of the families lives in GA not too far from us so I am super excited to meet them!  We will all be flying into China on the same date.  We will sight-see in Beijing together - then we will separate from the other families as we all fly out to our child's province.  Then we meet back up together again in Guangzhou for our US Embassy appt. 

OK - so now I am going into super-get-ready mode!!!!  Holy Cow - this is all feeling sooooooo real now!!!  We have a daughter!!! 

Travel Approval Angst

 

Well...I am STILL waiting on our Travel Approval to come in from China.  I was told that China celebrated a holiday the week before last and all govt. offices were shut down.  So, I am guessing that is the hang-up.  I am PRAYING we get it this week!  I am sooooo ready to book our tickets!!!  Please pray that we get it this week!  I hope I post on here real soon with the news that we have TA!!

 

These are the most recent pics I have of Grace - I got them about 3 weeks ago.  I don't think I will get any more before we travel - but I pray I am wrong!  She looks HUGE in these pics - but I know these pics are decieving.  I am traveling with 12-18 month clothes but I am thinking she will be wearing 18-24 months during the winter and 2T in the summer.  I could be wrong but that is what I am thinking now.  Thanks for you prayers!