We leave in 5 days!!!

We are officially counting down....well I have been counting for a few weeks now, but now we are actually really close!!

This will probably be my last post before we travel.  

Please continue to pray for us.  Everyone who is traveling has been healthy so far.  Gracie has a bit of a cold and Casey sounds like he is getting one too.  Pray that it does not get to the rest of us.  Doug, Hannah, Aaron and I will be traveling.  Casey and Grace are being taken care of by our wonderful family and friends.We are so blessed to have a wonderful network of people to depend on.

Please pray the little ones we are leaving behind. As we get closer to leaving, my heart starts to feel the sadness of being seperated from my kiddos.  It is hard, I want to spend quality time with them, yet I have so much to do to get ready.  On top of it all, I haven't been feeling very good.  I am not sick, but my neck has been extremely tense and I have been having heart burn.  I am hoping these are all due to the stress of the holidays and getting ready to travel to a foreign country.  I hope that once we sit down on the airplane, it will all subside.  Sooner would be better though.

Below is our itinerary if you would like to know where we will be during our journey to Jack.

11/30   Leave U.S. for Beijing. 

12/1     Arrive in Beijing 

12/2     Tour Beijing. 

            Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong Tour, and optional acrobatics show

12/3     Tour Beijing. 

            Great Wall

12/4     Depart Beijing for Zhengzhou

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12/5     Today you will receive your child!  Congratulations! Please make sure to take plenty of pictures as these photos are a requirement for the one month post-adoption report!

12/6     All families will take a bus to the registration office to complete the Adoption Registration in the morning.

12/7     Free time or rest.

12/8     Free time or rest.  Optional tours maybe available please ask Yisha for details.

12/9     Receive your child’s passport.

Leave Zhengzhou for Guangzhou on China Southern flight CZ 3619 (18:10-20:25).

12/10   Take bus to Shamian Island to complete your child’s visa physical and visa photo taken this morning. Bring supplies (water, snack, etc.).

12/11   Free day in Guangzhou.

 12/12   Today is your Consulate appointment. 

12/13   A CCAI representative will go to the U.S. Consulate to receive your child’s visa packet

Prepare to leave for home.

12/14   Depart Hong Kong for the USA. 

            LaCroix – Depart Guangzhou for Hong Kong on Dragon Airlines flight KA 783 @ 09:50. Booked by you.

  
Leave China for the U.S.  Please check in 2 hours prior to departure for the US.

We have TA!!!

The most important email in our journey so far, arrived on Wednesday, November 9th.  Again, I was not home for this very important and exciting email.  We were at CC for the day.  I checked my friends phone around 9:15, and nothing.  Then at 9:36, Doug called from New York, he was there on business.  I have a special ring when he calls.  It startled me, and I knew we got TA!!  I was at our co-op, which had just dismissed from the group opening, and I yelled we got TA!!  I was so excited. 


According to our agency the soonest we could travel will be November 30th.  I still asked if we could leave this Wednesday, but they said no.  I figure it doesn't hurt to ask. :)  Our tickets have been purchased.  Now we wait and prepare to leave.  We will meet Jack on December 5th and he will be with us from that point on.  I can't wait to go.  Only 22 days until I hold my baby boy!!

God has been so good throughout this process.  Although I wanted to leave sooner, I trust in His perfect plan.  I know that His timing is perfect in everything. 

I will post again before we leave with our itinerary posted.  In the meantime, please pray for the health of our family, especially those of us traveling(Doug, me, Hannah and Aaron). And also for Jack, that his heart will be ready to be part of a family. "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." John 14:18