A Family of 4

I will try to describe in words a truly indescribable day. God, the giver of all good gifts, has given us a treasure.

The long story of the day involves some lost luggage (later recovered), only 3 hours of sleep last night for any of us, not enough food, no nap for Sarah Grace, scary traffic and a trip to the Civil Affairs office only to find out that the babies were actually coming to the hotel.

The short story is that none of that mattered after we met Caroline. A staff member from the orphanage, along with our guide, brought her to our hotel room door about a half hour before we expected her. After waiting for months, it seems funny that we were unprepared when the moment finally came. She walked in carrying the doll that we sent her in her last care package.

For months, we have prayed that Caroline would have joy. This prayer has been answered. This baby is joyful! She is charismatic and loves to laugh. Sarah Grace welcomed her into our family immediately and they took to each other quickly. Caroline is absolutely precious. She has been content all evening, except that the bottle I made her did not meet her standards. Hopefully I can figure out that problem soon. Andy & I are blown away by what a great kid she is. We are blessed beyond our wildest dreams with 2 amazing girls.

So far, she isn't talking much. She seemed to have a word for bottle though. She laughs and laughs. She will go to both Andy & I. Since we have just had a few hectic hours with her, we don't know many of her likes and dislikes yet. We had the chance to ask her nanny lots of questions. When I asked what Caroline likes, she said, "Everything." She explained that she is a happy baby and only gets upset if someone takes her toys. Her nanny said that she is extroverted.

She did get fearful at bedtime when she couldn't see us so Andy rearranged the hotel room and created a bed for her that allows her to see us. She wanted us right next to her as she fell asleep.

Tomorrow, we have some official appointments and the chance to go to Wal-Mart. We have lots to buy. The diapers I brought are too big. The weather is too cool for the clothes I brought. Our 12-months clothes looks like they will fit her well. I didn't bring enough toys either.

I want to write more but I am beyond exhausted and I'm not even sure the sentences I'm writing make sense. It's been a big day.

God is good all the time.

Great Wall of China

What a wonderful day! We started out at Beijing International Christian Fellowship for church. We had to show our passport to get in since only foreigners are allowed. From there, we went to the jade factory, a delicious lunch and a bit of shopping. The highlight of the day came next when we went to the Great Wall. Sarah Grace loved it! She would have climbed to the top if we would have let her. As it was, she climbed pretty high. She made snowballs and ran around laughing out loud. She’s making friends with all kinds of people on the bus. Not very shy at all on this trip. I’d write more but we are exhausted from the long day and we have to leave for the airport tomorrow at 5:30 am. We will fly 3 hours to Guangzhou and then meet Caroline in the afternoon.

Our next blog entry should include pictures of Caroline!

Thank you for all your prayers. We are marveling everyday at how much we can feel the prayer support behind us. The trip is so smooth and we feel God’s presence. Please keep up you prayers!

China, Day 1 - Rest, rest, rest

It is Saturday evening here. We've had a LONG day, waking up at 1:45 this morning, bright-eyed. Sarah Grace took a brief nap this morning and we all took one this afternoon. Waking her up after her afternoon nap proved very difficult since her body thought it was the middle of the night. We took her outside in the cold, cold air to try to invigorate her. She got a second wind and now we are hoping she will wind down soon and we will all sleep through the night!

Today was a low-key day. We spent most of the day at the hotel and did a bit of shopping. We went to Carre-Four (similar to Wal-Mart) twice today. Some of our interesting discoveries there were: Shrimp-flavored pretzels, Mexican Chicken Tomato Potato Chips and Chinese New Year socks for me.

China is gearing up for Chinese New Year in a couple weeks so the stores are all decorated with special holiday displays. Beijing is also gearing up for the 2008 Olympics so we see the Olympic mascots, The Friendlies, everywhere we go (http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/beijing2008/graphic/n214068254.shtml). They are very cute.

Sarah Grace is having a great time so far. We are so glad she is with us on this trip. Today, while I was playing a game with her, she said, "I love it that you're my Mommy." We are having so many precious moments with her.

Tomorrow, we'll start the day with church then go to the Great Wall of China. We hope to go to bed early so we can leave for the airport early Monday morning.

We are here

We are here. Exhausted but here. It's 2:30 am on Saturday and we are wide awake. Sarah Grace has already had her bath this morning and keeps asking when we can go to breakfast! The jet lag may last awhile! We got to our hotel yesterday evening, went out for a little while (but it was too cold to walk far) and came back and crashed. We went to bed way too early, knowing we would then wake up early but we were too tired to stay awake any longer. We slept about 4-5 hours in the night.

The flight was great. No delays or complications. Sarah Grace did a fabulous job on the plane. She slept about 4 hours. She played and read and played with her Aunt Karen for most of the flight. She's excited to be in China.

We haven't taken a single picture on our camera yet but when I do, I'll upload some pictures.

We're going to relax this morning after breakfast and then maybe join our group for sightseeing this afternoon.

God is good. We are just 2 days away from Caroline now!

Thank you for all of your prayers. We have had countless answers to prayer already!

We're packed and ready to go

We got everything into 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks
and 1 carry-on bag. Combine that with 1 preschooler and 1 toddler and let's hope we have enough hands to carry all of it!

We leave bright and early Thursday morning and will arrive in Beijing on Friday evening.

If you'd like to pray for us while we are gone, here are some requests that we have been bringing before God:

1) For safe travels with no delays

2) That we will have no anxiety about the trip but that we will trust God with every detail of it

3) That Caroline will know who we are when we meet and that she will bond with us quickly. Also, that we will know how to comfort her in this big transition for her

4) That Caroline & Sarah Grace will become fast friends

5) That we will enjoy ourselves and create memories to treasure

Our next post should be from China!

Where we're going

Lots of people have been asking us where we are going in China and if it's close to Sarah Grace's orphanage. Here's a map of China to give you an idea.

China is roughly the size of the United States. We will start in Beijing (arriving on Jan 18) in the northeastern part of China. We will be there for the weekend sightseeing and trying to adjust to the 13-hour time difference.

Monday morning the 21st, we will go to Guangzhou in the far south (Guangzhou was formerly known as Canton. It's a port city). The weather is lush and tropical. We are hoping for mid-upper 70s! We will stay there until we head home on the 30th. When we adopted Sarah Grace, we ended our trip in Guangzhou so we've been before and we're looking forward to seeing it again. It was the favorite city of both Andy & Aunt Karen last time. Being in Guangzhou for 9 days, we hope to have a nice leisurely visit with lots of time to explore the city. I'm hoping to get brave and try the subway this time. My other goals are to see the Toy Market (a 6-story mall filled with nothing but toys) and the Pearl Market. Caroline's orphanage is about 45 minutes west of Guangzhou in Foshan and we hope to visit the orphanage.

Sarah Grace was in Chongqing, closer to central China on the Yangtze River (This is where China recently built the 3 Gorges Dam).

9 days and counting!

Definite Travel Plans

We're going to China!!!

We have airline tickets. We are leaving in 12 days to meet our precious daughter. Here is our itinerary:

Jan 17 - Leave at 8:45 am. We will fly to Chicago and direct to Beijing.
Jan 18- Arrive in Beijing at 4 pm (China time). Total flight time: 14 hours, 45 minutes.
Jan 19-20 Tour in Beijing
Jan 21 - Fly to Guangdong and meet Caroline. We will have custody of her that day.
Jan 22-29 - Sightseeing, official meetings, etc.
Jan 30- Fly home and land in Indianapolis at 8:06 pm on Wednesday evening!

Our hearts are full of joy as we count down the days!