First Chinese Dining

We made it to Beijing. The flight only ended up being 13 hours on the way there, so that was a nice surprise. The kids couldn't have been better the entire time.  Karsyn slept most of the way and Billy didn't sleep at all.  He just watched movies, read books and played on his i-pad.  Bill was able to catch-up on all those movies that  I won't watch, so he was happy.   

The airport is a sight to see. They built it for the Olympics in 2008 and it is made mostly of glass.  I will try to take pictures when we fly out. All the people were extremely friendly to us.  They even took us out of the long line at customs and had us go through the "with child" line that had no wait at all.  We found our guide Grace outside Customs and baggage claim and met up with two other families who are adopting through our agency.  The first couple is from Houston and they are adopting a six year old girl.  Then there is a lady from Pittsburgh who is traveling with her father to pick up her one and a half year old son who will be her second adopted child from China.  Her and her husband adopted a few years back a six year old little girl.   

We took a bus to the hotel and decided to settle in for a minute before heading out to find dinner.  Karsyn is our picky eater and since she didn't eat anything on the plane due to it not being chicken nuggets, we decided to take care of her first.  Off to McDonald's we went. 

As we are standing in line, Bill and I are talking back and forth about how in the world we were going to order.  We still hadn't figured it out when we we got to the front of the line.  Luckily, the lady took one look at us and pulled out a picture menu.  So Karsyn got her nuggets and fries.

We walked around a little while longer and finally decided to go back to the hotel.  Grace had said something about a Western buffet they had on the 2nd floor.  Once we found the restaurant, we went in and began our first experience of Chinese food.  I walked from dish to dish and was able to find a couple of things I could brave.  When I looked over at poor Billy , he had one little sample of  Duck that his father talked him into trying and nothing else. On a table off to the side I found some bread that I knew Billy would eat so I loaded him up with banana bread and a roll.  Enough for now! We all agreed that McDonalds was going to be seeing a lot more of us. 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.  The beds are comfortable but the rooms are extremely warm.  Even with the windows open in 25 degree temperatures, we all found ourselves up by 1am because we are used to sleeping in a cold house. It ended up being a great time to Skype and call our family back home. Today we get to go sightseeing so hopefully we will have some fun pictures and stories to post about when we get back.    

Panic Attack

Organized is overrated.  Yesterday would have been just another day and this morning certainly wouldn't have been memorable at all if I had chosen to take off more than just one day from work to prepare for a 16 day adventure to the other side of the world with 3 children. I am still surprised that I didn't have a takeover at my house last night when I had to answer "no" for the 5th time to a friend's text inquiring whether I had started packing yet or not (at 9pm). 

Just a few lessons learned so far. 

1. Don't wait until 3pm the day before you leave to ask your adoption agency to confirm what paperwork you need to bring with you. 
2. If you do anything ahead of time, make sure you at least locate all the appropriate chargers or other necessities that are used to operate the only things you have planned to entertain those 3 children on the 18 hour flights.
3. Weigh your luggage well before 5 mins before you are walking out the door to catch your flight.  This especially applies when you don't have any other luggage in your house. 

Over/Under on how many more we learn before we reach US soil again? 

Clearly prayers are needed. 

Time to bring Kora home!

Ever wonder how God works throughout your life?  

On November 24th, 2010, Bill and I were traveling to Destin, FL to visit my dad for Thanksgiving. Many times throughout our marriage we had talked about the desire of adopting a child from another country, but during that car ride I announced to Bill that I felt like it was the right time for our family to seriously consider it.  He looked over at me and said that he had actually been thinking a lot about it lately as well.  During that 5 hour car ride, we made the decision to start what became our two year journey. 

On that exact same day in November of 2010, a little girl was abandoned at the gate of Social Children's Welfare Institute of Fuyang City in the Anhui Province in The Peoples Republic of China. They named her Yang Chun Yan and brought her into the orphanage.  After putting an announcement in the local newspaper that produced no results and a thorough police search for her parents, the institute became the legal guardian of Chun Yan.  They estimated her birth date to be September 28th, 2010. 

By the end of that year and after many prayers and much research, we chose to adopt a little girl between the ages of 0 and 3 from China. Next came choosing an agency and starting the paperwork chase. Over the next several months we gathered and processed so much paperwork that I now have a 4 inch 3 ring binder that is overflowing with what seems like every single detail of our lives. After completing the Home study, applying for all the necessary documents, and waiting and waiting and waiting, we were given approval from China to adopt. The LID (approval) date actually came on my birthday April 16, 2012.  This granted us approval to be matched with a child to adopt. Then they told us we had to wait even more.

That didn't really happen.  A week later, on April 24th I received the call that they had a match for us. I sat in my office taking in every detail the agency had for me on our soon to be daughter. They emailed me over her complete file and for those of you who know me well, you will be very shocked at the blubbering mess I instantly became. I proved that I really do have tears. I immediately left and drove to Bill.  I was shaking as I walked into his classroom holding up the picture of the perfect little girl that God had put on this earth for Bill and I to become her parents. 

Hebrews 12:1 says "...and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." I believe in my heart that this is our race so very clearly marked out for us. 

After being matched, we had to start another approval process for us to specifically adopt her.  This approval came in August which sent us into the last waiting period. This phase was to apply for a date to go before the Consulate in Guangzhou to take an oath before him. Once this date is granted, the entire trip can be booked to go pick her up.

We received the phone call last Thursday that we have our appointment. We will be leaving on Thursday November 15th.  Our itinerary will be as follows....

11/15 – Depart US

11/16 – Arrive in Beijing

11/18- Fly to Anhui

11/19 - Gotcha Day -

11/23 – Fly to Guangzhou

11/29 - AC appointment – Oath Taking Ceremony

11/30 - Pick up her passport

12/01- Bring Kora home
 

Yang Chun Yan will have the American name of Kora Marie. 

We have decided to take Billy and Karsyn with us on the trip. I can't imagine starting Kora's life as part of our family without the entire family. Bill and I have also chosen to start this blog so that our amazing extended family and friends can follow the trip with us. God has blessed us with an incredible support group who without them, this journey would not have happened.  We have appreciated all the prayers and words of encouragement along this 2 year journey. Please keep them coming.