We are Kelly's forever family
Kelly Elise - Song Jia He - Yangxi SWI
A music video on adoption- watch to the end!
Friday, May 30, 2008
China Itinerary!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
We're going to China!!!
We got confirmation of our Consulate Appointment for June 18th, so we were able to book our airline tickets!
We're going to China to get our baby girl... in 8 days!!!
We're flying United Airlines, leaving from LAX at 12:56pm on June 5th- arriving in Hong Kong on June 6th at 6:45pm. We'll fly home on June 20th, arriving to LAX at 10:19am. Our agency is still working out the details of our trip and what each day will hold- most importantly, GOTCHA DAY, so when we get that itinerary in the next day or two, we'll post it here.
We were able to get our airline tickets for $1168 per ticket, round trip, so that's not too shabby, all things considered. Kelly's lap ticket for the flight home was only $113, so that's good too!
Thanks for your prayers. They're being answered!
Proverbs 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
YAY for TA!!!!!
Friday...
May 23rd, 2008...
We received what we've been waiting for!
"TA" stands for Travel Approval, (for those of you who are "acronymically-challenged" like me), and Travel Approval is what you need when you want to go to China to bring your baby home!
So now we know for sure we will be leaving for China on or around June 5th!
All we wait for now is confirmation from our agency of our Consulate Appointment (CA) in China, which is an appointment they must schedule with the CCAA to finalize everything for Kelly to get her Visa, right before we leave China to come home. Since your CA is at the very end of your trip, you plan everything else backwards from that date.
Our agency requested three different dates for our CA- first choice: June 18th, second choice: June 19th, or third choice: June 23rd. They say you usually get your first choice, but we have to wait for the CCAA to let us know before we can book our tickets, so the wait isn't quite over yet! EEK! Our agency says it can take up to 6 business days for the Consulate to get back to us- YIKES! BUT- they tell us they expect to hear back on Tuesday, so let's hope that's the case so we don't have to book our tickets with less than a 7-day advance notice. Whew- It's getting down to the wire!
As far as how everything works once we get to China- we will have a Rep from our agency (who speaks fluent Chinese and English) meet us at the airport. He or she will be available to us everywhere we go from the time we arrive to the time we depart. They usually give you two to four days from the time you arrive in China before "Gotcha Day." They try to schedule some fun touring and sight-seeing of the area during that time. This also allows you to adjust to the new time zone before you receive your child. I've had a lot of questions and people confused about how this all works, so let me try to explain "Gotcha Day. "
"Gotcha Day" is that blessed day when we will meet with the Adoption Officials at the Civil Affairs Office in Guangzhou, and they will place Kelly Elise in our arms for the first and last time! Once Kelly is placed in our arms that day, she will stay with us forever! Many people thought we might go to the orphanage to get her, or that we might only be able to see her and visit her, but have to leave her in the orphanage until everything is finalized. No, no, no! Once she is with us, she is ours! It becomes "official" a few days later, but she will stay with us from "Gotcha Day" forward, and she will never have to go back to the orphanage again.
Now, we do have an opportunity to go to the orphanage several days after "Gotcha Day", and it is a voluntary visit, so we can choose whether or not to go. Unless we're sick or having a really hard time with Kelly's adjustment, we do plan to visit the orphanage. I anticipate it to be the most difficult part of the trip, but we owe it to Kelly to see where she spent the first year of her life, and I'd like to personally thank the nannies for taking care of our baby girl.
I hope that helps you better understand how things go... feel free to post comments or ask questions, because I'm sure I'm forgetting some things!
I'll let you all know once we receive our CA and get a travel itinerary set in stone. I am going to start a Yahoo travel group so we can post to that from China and you all can follow along! I'll post pictures and keep you updated on how things are progressing via that group, since I've heard it's often difficult to access Blogger from China.
I'll keep you posted!
Prayer Requests:
1) That we get our Consulate Appointment confirmation on Tuesday, May 27th, so we can book our tickets asap
2) That we are able to get affordable airline tickets - around $1,000 per ticket would be grand
3) That we can get the rest of the "near-new" $100 bills we need for the orphanage child-rearing fee next week
THANKS!!!!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Packing!
This is a section of Kelly's room- I tend to spread everything out as I'm going through it, so it's been a mess more than not. (I'm not done decorating either-- still need a window treatment and I'm still deciding on what to do with the walls! Thanks Nanna, for the suggestions! I like them!!!)
Here is phase one of packing her suitcase with her clothes.
Here's a spread of the majority of the medicines we're taking for Kelly, so that whatever may be ailing her, we can doctor her right up! I still haven't filled her RX for her antibiotics- I won't do that 'til right before we leave.Phase two of packing Kelly's suitcase- I'm adding in some toys and her bathing suit.Some of the travel necessities I'm packing for all of us- mostly Clint and I though... there's cold meds, anti-diarrheal meds, gas meds, antibiotics, sleep-aids, throat lozenges, Kleenex, bug repellent, electric plug converters, and a WHOLE LOTTA ANTI-BACTERIAL HAND SANITIZER, plus Wet Wipes and Clorox wipes too! Can anyone say, "Germophobe!"?
Friday, May 16, 2008
Earthquake in China
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Straggler birthday balloon picture for Kelly!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Travel Approval???
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Silly me!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Busy Times!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Mother's Day Video
It painted such a beautiful picture of a mother's love as I watched what happened at Calvary through Mary's eyes. She loved Jesus so much. He was her son. She was willing to die with him if she could have. You realize how a mother's heart breaks, when her child is suffering, like no-one elses. Jesus' love for his mother is so very evident as well.
This song communicates such a wonderful message: through Jesus, all things are made new.
As hard as it is to watch, it's worth remembering all that he endured because of his great love for us.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
LOA TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE FINALLY RECEIVED OUR LETTER OF APPROVAL (LOA) TODAY!!!
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
Celebrate!!!
We actually received an email from our agency today saying that they received our LOA- so now they will FedEx the hard copy to us, and we should receive it tomorrow... we have to sign it and FedEx it back to them- then, when they receive it from us, they send it off to the CCAA! When they receive news from the CCAA that it's been received, that will be our OFFICIAL LOA DATE.
I got another e-mail from my agency saying Travel Packet II will be available tonight from my agency's website, so I will begin working on that tonight! (It's a packet we download that our agency provides- it gives us steps to follow to prepare for our travel to China!)
Our agency says they estimate our travel to be within 5-8 weeks!
I'm soooooooo excited!!!!!!
NOT LONG NOW!
Hold on baby girl- we're coming to get you soon!!!!
A Tree For Kelly
Camryn and I planted a tree for Kelly on her birthday. I chose a lemon tree. What better way to symbolize her first birthday but with a tree that bears fruit that is sweet and sour?
I also like that this lemon tree is symbolic of Kelly's life. It's so little right now, and bears no fruit. But we will water it and nurture it, and the sun will shine down on it, and it will grow, and grow, and grow- and one day, it will flourish and be a beautiful, lush tree that bears hundreds of bright, sunny, lemons- and we will all make lots of yummy, homemade lemonade from it!
Grow little lemon tree- grow!