Gotcha Day

Whew....what a day......Lee and Paul met Hope at 11 AM China time (10 PM last night for us).  Certainly there have been answered prayers.  Hope got very upset when her caretakers left.  She threw a 25 minute tantrum, thrashing about, but when they got her to the hotel room they had all of her new toys, clothes and candy laid out....she calmed down and has been great every since!!!  Praise God! 

Here's what we know about her.  She is very very smart......she imitates easily and smells everything.  If you show her something once, she can do it.  They haven't started signing too much yet.  She is able to sign I love you.  They will start with the flash cards soon.  I have attached a link with some photos.  If you are unable to see them, let me know and I will post them directly to the blog.

Specific prayer requests:  that she will continue to bond, that she will have peace and calm.  The trip home is a prayer need.  She is very active (terms like Tazmanian Devil have been used to describe her!!!)  Please pray that the trip home will go smoothly.

Here is the link for the photos:

Hope Gotcha Day Photos 

36 Hours till HOPE!!!!!

Jill here again.....

Lee and Paul spent the day sightseeing.  They also had their first authentic Chinese meal.  Lee Ann described it as, "dog poop, mixed with cat poop!!!!"  It was actually duck.....but it still had the head attached....blech......She went back to the hotel and ordered a cheeseburger!  They fly to Hunan tomorrow to prepare for her meeting with Hope.

Specific prayer requests:  Safe travels to Hunan, that Hope will have a calmness and peace about her, that she will bond and attach easily.  

Lee is hoping that they will be able to blog when they get to Hunan.  They have been able to Skype with the kids which has helped.  Hopefully Skype will work in Hunan so we can see Hope!!!!

More to come!  Keep praying!!!!!!

No Quarintine!!!!!

This is JIll posting. They are having difficulty accessing the blog while in Beijing. They will try again in Hunan.

Lee and Paul arrived in Beijing this morning (our time) at 2:15 AM......They took the temperatures of every passenger 3 times upon arrival!!!! They were NOT quarantined because of the H1N1 Virus! Praise God!!!!! One hurdle cleared. Today and tomorrow will be sight seeing. Forbidden City, Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square....Then they will fly to the Hunan province to meet Hope on Sunday. They will get Hope on Monday China time....which is late Sunday for us in the states! For those of you keeping track of the time....they are 13 hours ahead of us!

Please continue to pray for bonding for Hope!!!!! Thanks for your continued prayers!!!!!

Almost There!!

Well we are scheduled to fly out at 7:23am Wednesday, June 24th!! What an unbelievable experience the miracle of adoption brings! I have been looking at the pile of "stuff" in the middle of my bedroom floor and wondering how it's all going to fit in the luggage! I have managed to purchase nearly all travel size bottles to help with space...If only I had my sister out here who is known to be the "master packer" of the family! I have been known to over pack a time or two in my life so this will be a challenge.

The kids are doing great! Megan and JT are anxiously awaiting for their sister to arrive! They have been amazing. We have all expanded our ASL to talk with Hope.

I find myself looking at Hope's picture almost hourly during waking hours. I can't describe the emotional feelings that Paul and I are experiencing at this moment. We will have her in our arms June 29th which will be June 28th here. I have posted an itinerary below:

Group Schedule (detailed events are always subject to change)

Date	Itinerary	Hotel
Thurs, June 25	Groups arrive in Beijing	Renaissance Beijing Hotel
Fri, June 26	Free day or optional sightseeing
Sat, June 27	Group Sightseeing: TianAnMen Square & Forbidden City, the Great Wall (Juyongguan), Lunch is included. Orientation
Sun, June 28	Flight to Changsha CA1349 (11:25a-13: 35p)	­­­­Dolton Hotel
Mon, June 29	Meet children
Tues, June 30	Do adoption procedure (registration & notary)
Wed, July 1	Sightseeing: School and YuLu Academy
Thur, July 2	Sightseeing: Hunan Provincial Museum
Fri, July 3	Get paperwork back, Flight to GZ CZ3166 (20:20p-21: 35p)	China Hotel
Sat, July 4	Medical exam for children
Sun, July 5	Free day
Mon, July 6	Free day
Tues, July 7	ACS appointment; Farewell dinner
Wed, July 8	Go to ACS to take oath and get visa late
Thurs, July 9	Departure to US

Hopefully, I will be able to blog each day.....

Paul and I will share an anniversary when we are there on July 8th....14 years!! What a great way to celebrate our marriage with the wonderful miracle of adoption!

Please pray for us specifically in the area of travel and bonding and attachment. Please pray that we arrive in Beijing without any quarantine. Please pray that God prepare her heart and that when she meets us, she knows immediately that we are her mommy and daddy and that she is loved dearly. Please pray that God give her a sense of peace and contentment.....Something only God can give her.

Thank you in advance for all your prayers!!! We feel them each and every day!

June 4, 2009

We finally got the clearance to make travel reservations to go get our girl!! We will be departing on June 24th and coming home on July 9th. We are scheduled to get her June 29th which will be exactly three months from the day we laid eyes on her!! My father has been praying for us to have her in our arms within three months!! Prayers answered! Thanks Dad! I am experiencing a whirlwind of emotion...we feel like we are more than ready to be her mommy and daddy! I need to continue to practice my ASL! This is the first day of summer break and what a wonderful way to start the break with news such as this. Please continue to pray that we go and get her without any issues like being quarantined, etc.

June 3, 2009

Today was an unbelievable day...rather unexpectedly, we received updated information and photos of our daughter!! I can't explain the emotion of seeing her! She is beautiful! About an hour after receiving the photos, we were told that June 25th travel wasn't going to happen with the swine flu, new TB requirements and new I171 requirements! For a moment I was crushed but quickly referred back to her pictures that were taken today!! Nothing could steal my joy today!!!

May 28, 2009

We FINALLY received Travel Approval today! We got a little spoiled with how fast everything was moving up until the final step! The swine flu has impacted our travel dates. We were originally set up to travel June 4th, then it got pushed back to June 25th. Then our government decided to put new stipulations on chinese immigrant children entering our country. Any child ages 2-14 is required to have a negative TB test before leaving China. This throws another monkey wrench into our travel. Now they need to rearrange travel again to give us extra days at the tail end of our trip during the medical exam. This has been an emotional roller coaster!

April 15, 2009

We received our referral today! Much sooner than we expected!! Here we come! The next step is Travel Approval! Could not upload actual referral picture but have two more we received the day we requested more information on her!