We made it- Hong Kong Day 1

We had a fairly uneventful flight & made it in safely to Hong Kong last night. We decided to try the 'No Jet Lag Pills' and are amazed that they actually seemed to work! We were joking about them being just sugar pills, but I guess there must be a little more to it them than that.


Today we took the ferry over to Kowloon so we could see the Clock Tower (this is the location where trains used to end coming from Mainland including the Orient Express). We walked to the Walk of the Stars so Matt could see the Bruce Lee statue.







We also visited Kowloon Park which was beautiful. It had a hedge maze, pretty foilage & an elderly exercise area. We tried out the equipment in exercise area & got a little chuckle out of what kind of suggestions were made on the sign.







We have 3 1/2 more days until we head to Wuhan & about 5 1/2 until we meet Zeke.

Only 4 more sleeps

We have been madly preparing for our departure to get Zeke. Part of the prep has been giving Maddy a sense of how long it will be until we leave. In 3 year old speak, the # of sleeps seems to help her understand. Daddy also made a little count down calendar so they can check off the days.

Yesterday we went to our agency & got our final paperwork & schedule. We will meet Zeke on Monday 12/13. We were also given updated info about him:

He weighs 25 pounds
He is 33 inches tall
He has 14 teeth
He loves sweets (the boy takes after Mama), doesn't like sour
He likes to play with stacking cups, dolls (hope he & Maddy don't fight:) & loves wood blocks
His favorite snack is crackers
His care givers know that he is joining his forever family soon & are sad (sounds like he is loved)

Please pray for our safety, good health, transition for Zeke, attachment to his family, favor w/the airlines, guides, hotels officials, etc.

Thankful Thursday

Thanksgiving is the ultimate Thankful Thursday for bloggers. We have so much to be thankful for this year. As we sit at the T-10 days mark from our flight to get our son, we reflect back on the fact that a mere 5 years ago (on 11/23/05) we were officially logged into the CCAA to officially start our wait for Maddy. Never could we imagine that 5 years later we would be waiting for a 2nd child. We are so glad to follow the plans God has for us. Although we plan our own ways, He directs our steps. Proverb 16:9 says A man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps. His plans are so often much better than anything we could've put together on our own.

I am thankful for health, family, friends, a home to live in, having employment, food on my table & clothes on my back. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

We're headed to China - Travel Dates!

It's been a wild week of prep & planning, but I am happy to say that we have travel dates.

• We leave Sunday 12/5 and will spend a few days sightseeing in Hong Kong. We lose a day to the time change so in essence we will be there 12/7-12/11
• 12/11 we will fly to Wuhan and meet Zeke on either 12/12 or 12/13 (still awaiting confirmation).
• We will be there almost a week before heading to Guangzhou via the 'bullet train' 0n 12/17.
• In Guangzhou we have medical appointment 12/18, Consulate appointment 12/21, Swearing In Ceremony (taking the oath of citizenship) 12/22 & received Zeke's visa 12/23.
• We will fly out of Hong Kong 12/24 & gain a day back arriving on US soil the morning of 12/24.

We have a crew of 4 total in our 'travel group' (Matt, Maddy, Linda (Matt's mom) & I). It's a little sad this time not having other families w/us for the journey. We will hopefully meet up w/other families in Guangzhou.

We have our Travel Approval!

Our agency phoned us this afternoon to let us know our Travel Approval had arrived from China. I feel sorry for their DHL guy as the whole place stops & meets him at the door when he comes.

We should be able to book our tickets in the next couple of days once our consulate appointment (CA) is confirmed. The CA is the last appointment of our trip so we have to secure that first & then move back from there to plan the trip.

Additionally, our agency will now make a request for an update of our son so prayerfully we will get new measurements and maybe a new photo. All the info we have is almost 8 months old.

Stay tuned for more info.......

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback - 3 years ago today

In a sweltering hot room in Nanchang, China we held our daughter for the first time 3 years ago today. We are amazed at how fast the time has flown by and can't believe our baby girl will be 4 in just a few short months! We are blessed at how she has blossomed so much and how excited she is at the prospect of becoming a big sister. Her brother is now part of daily conversation and nightly prayers. Here is a photo of her from this past weekend: