We found out today that there will be 25 families in our Holt travel group. There may be a few more who didn't want their names or info shared. I'm not sure how many will be with us in Beijing. We are still the only family going to the Guizhou province, but we will all meet up again in Guangzhou. I had no idea there would be so many people.
Getting closer to travel time. 5 more days!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
1 Week From Today
One week from today we will be heading to the airport to fly to China. Am I excited? Yes. Am I nervous? Yes. This isn't just a trip, it's a life changing event. Our family of 4 will become a family of 5.
A few prayer requests:
Our VERY long flight with our children. Pray for the people in the row in front of us and the row behind us that my children won't drive them crazy.
Joshua and Jayden as we add a new one to our family.
Jayden as he becomes a big brother to a toddler.
What is exciting for us - adopting a daughter - will be terrifying for Grace. She will grieve the loss of her foster family and be given to people who look strange and sound strange.
Pray that Grace will make a strong bond with us.
The nervousness I feel about traveling to China - jet lag, illness, food, the terrible water, language barrier, etc.
Please pray for sleep. I have not been sleeping well with the stress of getting ready to go.
I'm getting nervous about having a girl again. We're almost picking up where we left off. Our daughter Rachel died when she was 17 months old. Grace will be 19 months old when we get her. I've spent the last 11 1/2 years avoiding little girls because of the loss of my first born daughter. Now I will become the mother of a little girl again and I'm a bit nervous. What do I know about girls? All I know are cars and Spiderman. Grace is a wonderful addition to our family and by no means a replacement for Rachel. Rachel is irreplaceable.
Time to start packing.
On a side note.
Happy Birthday Joshua. 9 years old today.
A few prayer requests:
Our VERY long flight with our children. Pray for the people in the row in front of us and the row behind us that my children won't drive them crazy.
Joshua and Jayden as we add a new one to our family.
Jayden as he becomes a big brother to a toddler.
What is exciting for us - adopting a daughter - will be terrifying for Grace. She will grieve the loss of her foster family and be given to people who look strange and sound strange.
Pray that Grace will make a strong bond with us.
The nervousness I feel about traveling to China - jet lag, illness, food, the terrible water, language barrier, etc.
Please pray for sleep. I have not been sleeping well with the stress of getting ready to go.
I'm getting nervous about having a girl again. We're almost picking up where we left off. Our daughter Rachel died when she was 17 months old. Grace will be 19 months old when we get her. I've spent the last 11 1/2 years avoiding little girls because of the loss of my first born daughter. Now I will become the mother of a little girl again and I'm a bit nervous. What do I know about girls? All I know are cars and Spiderman. Grace is a wonderful addition to our family and by no means a replacement for Rachel. Rachel is irreplaceable.
Time to start packing.
On a side note.
Happy Birthday Joshua. 9 years old today.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Shopping
I've been doing a lot of shopping buying all the things we need to take with us to China. Medications like Imodium, Tums, Tylenol, sinus medication, activity books for the boys. Conveniently Joshua's birthday is in a little over a week. He'll be getting some great things he can use on our trip. My shopping list is getting shorter and we really only need to buy a few more things before we go.
We got the bill for our in country travel (we bought the airline tickets on our own). Not as high as we thought it would be, so that was good. We will all be squeezing into one room. The hotel rooms in China are very small and rooms have either 1 king bed or 2 twin beds. We thought we might have to buy 2 adjoining rooms which would have meant paying for 2 rooms. The travel agency checked it out and we were told we will be allowed to have 1 room even though we exceed the maximum number of occupants for the room. We have requested a King bed with a roll away in Beijing. We'll either sleep 3 of us in the king bed and one in the roll away ( I told Jon I would let him sleep in the big bed with the boys :) or we'll pile up some blankets in the corner for Jayden. In Guizhou and Guangzhou we will have to add a crib for Grace and have also requested a king size bed with a roll away. Looks like it will be a crowded 17 days, but we'll make due if it cuts our hotel bill in half.
We leave in 17 days!
We got the bill for our in country travel (we bought the airline tickets on our own). Not as high as we thought it would be, so that was good. We will all be squeezing into one room. The hotel rooms in China are very small and rooms have either 1 king bed or 2 twin beds. We thought we might have to buy 2 adjoining rooms which would have meant paying for 2 rooms. The travel agency checked it out and we were told we will be allowed to have 1 room even though we exceed the maximum number of occupants for the room. We have requested a King bed with a roll away in Beijing. We'll either sleep 3 of us in the king bed and one in the roll away ( I told Jon I would let him sleep in the big bed with the boys :) or we'll pile up some blankets in the corner for Jayden. In Guizhou and Guangzhou we will have to add a crib for Grace and have also requested a king size bed with a roll away. Looks like it will be a crowded 17 days, but we'll make due if it cuts our hotel bill in half.
We leave in 17 days!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
More Details
We received a few more details about our trip and we now get Grace on Monday, October 11 instead of the 10th.
Update 9/17: We now have a morning flight from Beijing to Guizhou so now we will be getting Grace on Sunday, October 10th again and the Civil Affairs Office registration and notarization has been moved up a day to Oct. 11.
Oct. 7 arrive in Beijing and stay at the Novotel Peace Hotel.
Oct. 8 Great Wall of China Tour
Oct. 9 Holt Orientation
Tour Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City
Oct. 10 Fly to Guizhou and stay the Sheraton Hotel Guiyang.
Oct. 11 Go to Civil Affairs office for Child Hand-Off.
Oct. 12 Go to Civil Affairs Office for registration and notarization
Optional trip to Wal-Mart. Yes, they have Wal-Mart in China.
Oct. 13 Visit Qian Ling Park (optional)
Oct. 14 Visit Jiaxiu Pavilion (optional)
Oct. 15 Fly to Guangzhou and stay at the White Swan Hotel
Oct. 16 Medical Check
Oct. 17 Free Day
Oct. 18 TB test results (I'm not sure if she needs one or not because she's under 2 years old)
Oct. 19 Visa appointment
Oct. 20 Oath taking ceremony
Oct. 21 Pick up Visa
Oct. 22 Fly Home!!
On a fun note: My sister's friend Patti and her family will be in Guangzhou adopting a daughter at the same time we are. Patti is a former neighbor of Laura and Mico's when they lived in Hong Kong. Patti's sister lives not to far from us in Cypress, CA very near our church. It's a small world.
Update 9/17: We now have a morning flight from Beijing to Guizhou so now we will be getting Grace on Sunday, October 10th again and the Civil Affairs Office registration and notarization has been moved up a day to Oct. 11.
Oct. 7 arrive in Beijing and stay at the Novotel Peace Hotel.
Oct. 8 Great Wall of China Tour
Oct. 9 Holt Orientation
Tour Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City
Oct. 10 Fly to Guizhou and stay the Sheraton Hotel Guiyang.
Oct. 11 Go to Civil Affairs office for Child Hand-Off.
Oct. 12 Go to Civil Affairs Office for registration and notarization
Optional trip to Wal-Mart. Yes, they have Wal-Mart in China.
Oct. 13 Visit Qian Ling Park (optional)
Oct. 14 Visit Jiaxiu Pavilion (optional)
Oct. 15 Fly to Guangzhou and stay at the White Swan Hotel
Oct. 16 Medical Check
Oct. 17 Free Day
Oct. 18 TB test results (I'm not sure if she needs one or not because she's under 2 years old)
Oct. 19 Visa appointment
Oct. 20 Oath taking ceremony
Oct. 21 Pick up Visa
Oct. 22 Fly Home!!
On a fun note: My sister's friend Patti and her family will be in Guangzhou adopting a daughter at the same time we are. Patti is a former neighbor of Laura and Mico's when they lived in Hong Kong. Patti's sister lives not to far from us in Cypress, CA very near our church. It's a small world.
Friday, September 10, 2010
October
Why are we traveling in October when we were told that it would be too expensive or impossible because of the Trade Fair? Well, we were told that the travel agency that our adoption agency uses was able to secure rooms in Guangzhou at the normal rate instead of the inflated rate during the trade show. So we don't have to wait until December!!!!
We were also able to get a very good price on our airfare too. Never been so happy to see such a large charge on my credit card, but it was a lot less then we had anticipated.
We are still waiting on the bill for in country travel which should be here in the next week. Please pray that the bill will be lower than expected too. I actually have no clue how much this one will be. It will include in country airfare, hotels, some transportation, some food, etc.
We were also able to get a very good price on our airfare too. Never been so happy to see such a large charge on my credit card, but it was a lot less then we had anticipated.
We are still waiting on the bill for in country travel which should be here in the next week. Please pray that the bill will be lower than expected too. I actually have no clue how much this one will be. It will include in country airfare, hotels, some transportation, some food, etc.
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