We received word about this time last week that we would probably be traveling on the 6th of November, provided the adoption agency was able to get us an appointment with the US Consulate for Nov 17th.
Toward the end of last week, the agency called to tell us that the appointment is set and they emailed us a flight itinerary to review. We reviewed, we booked, and we leave on the 5th. Our official itinerary starts on the 6th, but we elected to go a day early to rest up from the 24 hours and 50 minutes of travel (19:40 in the air).
There are lots of big dates in this trip, and you can see I've added our full itinerary on the side of this page, but I’ll highlight the 3 big dates:
Wed, Nov 5th – We fly to China
Mon, Nov 10th – We meet Audrey for the first time face-to-face
Wed, Nov 19th – We come home with Audrey
I told Julie that when we meet her, she gets to hold her first, but when she hands her to me I plan to hold her for the rest of her life. I just can’t see ever putting her down. We’ll see how this goes. I can already see problems with this plan, like high-school.
After picking her up we will submit paperwork to the Chinese government & the adoption will be official. At the US Consulate’s office, we will submit the necessary paperwork, take the necessary oaths, and Audrey will be a US Citizen and we can bring her home.
I think it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, we are beside ourselves with excitement. Thankfully there are plenty of things to do in these last days before we leave to keep us busy. Many people have asked what they can do to help. Please pray for our family as we make this journey. This is truly the biggest thing you can do for us.
We may not post much between now and when we leave, but we hope to post daily while we’re in China. We may get some updated nursery pics on now that we have things on the walls.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Dates are set! Flights are booked! We are soon on our way!
China Travel Itinerary
Tues, Nov 4th – Elect a new President; spend the night @ Uncle Craig’s in Knoxville
Wed – Fly Knoxville to Minneapolis, MN, then Minneapolis to Tokyo, Japan
Thur – Arrive in Tokyo and fly to Beijing, China
Fri – Sleep off jetlag on free day in Beijing
Sat – Beijing Tour: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Pearl & Silk factories
Sun – International Church Service, Jade factory, Great Wall of China, & Peking Duck Dinner
Mon – Fly to Nanchang, Jiangxi and meet Audrey!!!!!
Tues-Thur – Civil Affairs, Notary appt’s, sightseeing & shopping
Fri – Fly to Guangzhou
Sat – Audrey’s medical exam, sightseeing & shopping
Sun – Fill out Consulate forms
Mon – Appt with US Consulate
Tues – Pick up Audrey’s Visa
Wed, Nov 19th – Fly to Tokyo, then to Detroit, then to Knoxville - Audrey is home and a U.S. citizen!!!!!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Audrey’s Room is Ready!
We've had lots of fun decorating the nursery for Audrey and think it turned out beautifully. There are still a few finishing touches to make (pictures to hang, etc.), but it is basically done. We hope to head to China in the next 3-4 weeks. When we come home she’ll have a great little girl’s room to sleep and play in. We‘ll let the pictures do the talking. We’re very proud of it and can’t wait for her first night here and rocking her to sleep.
Here's some before pics (formerly an office):
Here's her room now:
Some special childhood stuffed animals from me, Aaron & Alex that we're passing on to her:
Thursday, October 9, 2008
New photos & update on Audrey!
We were very excited to receive updated measurements & 2 new pics of Audrey yesterday from Ann with http://www.redthreadchina.com/. Ann lives in China and has a care package service for adopting families. We ordered a care package with her last week to be sent to Audrey. She has been wonderful to work with and seems to care so much about these children. We hope to meet her in China.
The care package includes a blanket, PJ's, photo pillow, Hello Kitty doll, 3 pics of us, a disposable camera for the foster family to take pics of her for us, a letter, tea and candy for her foster family, and a red bag to put all her things in. We sent some questions in a letter with her care package and hope to hear something back, but we may or may not get a reply back. Ann is going to let us know when Audrey receives the care package. You can see all the items in it here.
Ann was able to get the 2 current pics of her that you can see above and updated measurements for us. According to what she sent, Audrey's converted measurements are:
Height: 28.35 inches (2'4")
Weight: 16.5 pounds
Head: 16.73 inches
Chest: 17.52 inches
Feet: 3.74 inches
Teeth: 2
Audrey is 13 months old now. According to the size charts I have looked at, she is a size 12 months by height and a size 9 months by weight. I guess we will go mostly with 12 months sizes, and they will just be a little big on her. Her shoe size should be a 3 right now. She has grown about 4 inches and gained 2.25 pounds since March 30, 2008. I think she is a little small (especially in weight) right now, but this is what we tend to hear about the other little ones from China before they are adopted. Her color looks good to us in the pictures (no blue lips or blue color to her skin), so we think that is a good sign. Her heart condition can cause the blue color in more severe cases. We think she is just adorable!
Please pray that we receive our Travel Approval soon. This is when we will get our definite travel dates and plans. We can't wait to hold her in our arms and bring her home!
Referral Approval & first pics of Audrey
These are the first pictures we received of Audrey with her referral on August 15th. Now that we have received our referral approval, we can post them here. We fell in love the moment we saw her and knew right away she was our daughter. She is just beautiful, and we are so blessed that she is ours!
It was also a special day because it is my Grandmother's birthday. She turned 83 today (Sept. 25th) and is doing well overall. We all love her so much. She is a very special and unique lady that never fails to put a smile on our face. She and Alex are best friends and have been since he was little. They have a special bond.
I am a bit behind on posting here, but I am going to try to catch up on the things that have been going on lately over the next few days. We have been very busy with cleaning out the house and getting Audrey’s room ready, a yard sale, consignment sale, baby showers, birthdays, work at camp, etc. It is such an exciting time for us, but it can all be a little overwhelming at times, too. There is so much to do and many things that we want to accomplish before we bring her home. It seems like I think of something new to add to the to do list everyday. We have accomplished quite a bit already though, and I am trying not to stress about it too much. Some days I do better about that than others. :)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Road to Adoption: “How did you decide to adopt a little girl from China?”
We’ve been asked this a lot and the short answer is, “God hit us over the head with it.”, but I’ll tell the full story. For those who don’t believe God speaks directly to you, you may think these things are all just one big coincidence, that’s OK. But, read this story and know that we believe in our hearts that God spoke directly to us.
Over the 10 years prior to starting our adoption journey, Julie & I had lots of difficulty having a second child. We always felt incredibly blessed to have Alex, but we also had a strong desire to have more children. Many of you have experienced the incredible pain of a miscarriage. Each time we experienced this, we would question whether or not we should stop trying to have children.
The last time we had a miscarriage, we felt like maybe we weren’t supposed to have anymore children. We prayed every time. This last time our prayer was simple, “Do you want us to stop?”. Adoption was not what we were praying about. We were asking God if it was His will that we have no more children and realize the incredible blessing that we have a wonderful son.
On a Friday shortly after this prayer, we were at work and Rebecca and Jocelyn Marr came to visit us at the camp. Brett Forney was in my office at some point during their visit and saw Julie interacting with Jocelyn and said “Julie really needs a little girl. Have you all ever thought of adopting a little girl from China?”. I told her we hadn’t really thought about it.
Later that day my mom & dad stopped by to see us. My mom had been to physical therapy for her new knee. While talking about her PT, my dad said to Julie and me, “You know what your mom’s physical therapist did? They adopted a little girl from China. You all ought to go over there and get you one.” We just kind of said something like “That’s great.” or “How about that.”
That night Julie & I were flipping through the channels, and saw Steven Curtis Chapman on Fox News with his wife. So we stopped to see why he was on a news channel. He and his wife were promoting their new foundation, Shaohannah's Hope, which helps families financially afford international adoption. He and his wife had adopted 3 girls from China and want to help make adoption possible for more families.
At this point, after hearing “little girl from China” 3 times that day, we began to pray about adoption, not specifically about adopting a little girl from China, but simply “Do you want us to adopt?”
Two days later on Sunday, we went to Fuddruckers for lunch with my parents and our minister and his wife. As soon as we walked in the door, we see Rex Garrison, who my brothers went to school with at Milligan. I hadn’t seen him in 2 or 3 years. Rex was with his wife and his two daughters, both of whom they adopted from China.
So Julie and I took this as enough to say, “Looks like we have our answer.” We went home, got on the internet, and looked up Steven Curtis Chapman’s foundation, Shaohannah’s Hope. There was a link on there for those considering adoption, and we followed it and found a list of adoption agencies they recommend. From that list, we looked at America World, a Christian adoption agency.
On America World’s site we saw that they were hosting an informational seminar in Knoxville just a week or so away. We went to the seminar, heard the information, watched the video from the founders of the agency and heard a couple of testimonies, one from a family in Johnson City, who were just starting the process to adopt their second child from China.
We got in the car to leave, and Julie asked me, “What do you think?”. My response, “I think we’re adopting a little girl from China.” She said “Me too.”
It had only been days since we were asking God if He wanted us to give up, and we got four answers of “adopt a little girl from China.” Now I know it’s easy to say things like, well your friends and family knew about your miscarriages and of course they're going to be talking about your future children. OR you may say “What if you had run into a guy you knew who had a new Chihuahua at Fuddruckers? Would you have taken that as God telling you to get a Chihuahua.?” Or maybe even, “Steven Curtis Chapman is a celebrity, what’s the big deal about seeing him on TV?”
Well here are my answers: first, no one but Julie and I knew we had recently had a miscarriage. For that matter no one has known – family or otherwise - the amount of failed pregnancies we’ve had. It’s something that was very private to us. Also, neither my parents or Brett had ever suggested adoption to us before, but they both did on the same day.
As far as Steven Curtis Chapman, he is a celebrity, but I haven’t seen him on Fox News or any other major news outlet before or since until just recently, just that same night that both my parents and Brett said what they said.
As far as, “What if you had run into a guy you knew who had a new Chihuahua at Fuddruckers?”. That answer is easy, we didn’t run into this chihuahua guy.
We heard from God three times in one day, and we prayed and asked Him to tell us if this is what He wanted for our family. He answered in the exact way He did the first three times on that Sunday – He told us, “a little girl from China.”
Still not convinced, that’s OK too. God was out to convince US, and He did. I’ve always said that God knows me so well and he knows that I can be very dense, and sometimes He has to hit me over the head with His will. He did and we are so blessed for it.
We have a wonderful, almost 16-year-old son, and a wonderful 1-year-old little girl that we can’t wait to hop on a plane to China and bring to the home Her Heavenly Father has prepared. We’re thrilled that it is our home that He chose.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Where is Audrey Today?
My Dad told me today that several people had asked where Audrey is in China. So I told him I could give him the city and the province (which is Fengcheng City, Jiangxi, by the way), but that I would put a map on here to show where her home currently is.
I also highlighted on the map the two other cities we'll definitely be going to. We'll fly into Beijing and spend a few days sightseeing. Then we'll go to Fengcheng City to get her. After spending a few days there, we'll go to Guangzhou ("Gwong Joe" for those us in East TN). This is where we'll meet with the American Consulate and finalize the adoption. From there we'll either fly straight back to the US or back to Beijing, and then back to the US.
In case you're wondering why we would sight see before getting our daughter, this is the order that the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs has chosen for all international adoptions. They want you to taken in the Chinese culture and history as much as possible.
Aaron
