Nanning Day 2: "Gotcha Night"

Patience was definitely the name of the game today! We knew that today would be our "Gotcha Day", but our guide said that she didn't know when, but it would be later in the afternoon. So, ok. We had just come off an excruciatingly long plane ride and we were exhausted, so we were thinking, good we can sleep late , go eat breakfast, check out the area, and then we will get her.

We woke up early.... like at 7:00 this morning. Our time clocks just haven't shifted over to China time yet. Anyway, we got to Skype with the kids before they went to school, so that was great! Then we headed to breakfast. I was going to take a picture of it, but I guess I was so hungry that I started eating and forgot all about the picture! Those who told me breakfast was "THE" meal of the day, you were right! Tomorrow, I shall stuff myself full at breakfast since I don't tend to eat much else during the day.

We took a stroll down the street from our hotel and checked out Super Walmart:) It was SUPER big, but just not quite what we envision Walmart as being! THen Michael found a HUGE mall. Like a 7 story, humongo mall. We walked around looking at everything. He even picked out a pair of shoes he liked, but guess what.... they don't go into sizes that big!! So, after shopping, and purchasing nothing, we went out for lunch which was a little sketchy. Michael says were like celebrities with everyone pointing and staring at us:)

I am just too tired to get into much detail about her arrivial, so I will add a few pics and then update this part soon. More details about Gotcha Night tomorrow! She is beautiful and we are incredibly blessed!!!

 

 

Nanning Day 1

Wow!! Yesterday was a LONG day. We started our journey at about 7 am and headed with my mom, dad and kids to the airport. Our flight left Charlotte at 9:50 am. We had a great flight to Chicago and got one last American meal while we were there:) We left Chicago for Hong Kong at 1:30, and tried to settle in for the LONG, 15 hour flight! We were able to sleep off and on, just not great as the flight was full and we were pretty cramped! My curiousity REALLY wanted to know how much it would cost for one of those nice, roomy, comfy chairs up front.... you know the ones I'm talking about:) Well, the nice man at the counter told me we could upgrade our economy class tickets to first class tickets for oh, about $5000.00 each!!! For real?!? That is insane, but I guess if it were cheap, everyone would be going first class!

Once to HK, we thought we would have plenty of time to eat and walk, before our flight to Nanning. Well, we had to check -in again to get our boarding passes (that took forever), then we had to take a train, 15 different escalators, and a shuttle bus to get to our gate! That airport is HUGE. Oh well for the meal... glad I had packed us some snacks in our carry on:)) We finally got to Nanning about 10:00 pm, after 23 hours of travel. We went through immigration very smoothly and it was a beautiful site when our bags came out first at the baggage claim!! All I wanted to see at that point was our guide waiting for us.... but, I didn't. Oh my! I thought this might be my breaking point that some had warned me about, I thought I might lose it. We were in a foreign airport, nobody spoke English, I couldn't pull up my email..... but then, there she was! Thank you Lord!! We only waited on her maybe 15 minutes, but after that many hours of travel, in a foreign country, that seemed like a REALLY long time.

Our guide Cindy is really nice. Her and our driver got us to our hotel. We are staying at the Nanning Marriott Hotel. For any of my adoption friends, if you are coming to Nanning, this is a great place to be. It took me a while to get the internet connection working and the VPN, but everything worked out and I was able to Skype and FB and email, etc. It is so great to be able to stay in touch with my family back home!!

Tulah day will be tomorrow!!! We don't know what time yet, but it will be tomorrow afternoon or evening!! We are so excited, but it still feels surreal!

Please keep the prayers coming!!

It's About That Time......

All arrangements have been made, last minute do to things complete, Bags are finally packed, many good-byes have been said to family and friends near and far..... it is almost go time!! And as much as I have been dreading the long flight, I am at this moment quite looking forward to it. The stress of packing, worrying if I have everything, wondering if it is too heavy, did I do this, did I do that.....has WORE ME OUT!!!! I am just ready to go... ready to finally meet our daughter.... ready to do this thing and get back so that all our loved ones can meet her too!

 

 

Though the packing, planning, errands and arrangements were tough... the toughest time I fear will be in the morning when we kiss our babies goodbye for 12 days. We have never been away from them for that amount of time before. They couldn't be in any better hands as my mom, dad, sisters, and in laws will be caring for them, but we are gonna miss them like CRAZY. Thank goodness for the invention of Skype, as I really think it will help ease the homesickness by being able to see them! And, of course, for them to get to see their new baby sister!! I made them this countdown calendar to count down the days until we return. Each day has a special note from us!

I can't say thank you enough for all the kind words, sweet thoughts and most of all, the prayers that our family and friends have encouraged us with along this journey. You all have made us feel so loved, so special and so cared for. Thank you to each of you who have helped us reach this point, we could NOT have done it without you. And we are so grateful to serve a God who not only called us to do His work, but has remained faithfully by our side the whole time. We have surely felt His presence throughout this process .

I promise to blog as much as I can while we are in China! I can't wait for you all to see Tulah.... with her mama and daddy!!

God is good all the time!!!!!!!!!!

 

Crazy Busy & China Bound!!!

Over the last week, since we received TA, we have been busy booking our airline tickets, working on packing lists, and nesting like CRAZY!!!! We also celebrated my Zoee girl's 8th birthday!! I can.not.believe. that she is 8! Wow. Time flies! She will always be my baby though, I don't care how old or sassy she gets:)) Grayden has been busy too. T-ball is in full swing and he is loving it! On game days, he puts on his uniform HOURS before the game starts! Michael is helping coach and loving it just as much as Grayden! He just has a few days left until he graduates from preschool... my baby boy is going to Kindergarten. I can't believe it. I have also been crazy busy at work as our semester is winding down. With all this crazy "busy ness" going on, it has been really easy to get overwhelmed at the fact that:

We leave for China in 8 days!!!!!

Yes, my friends, 8 days!! CRAZY!! We leave for China on May 12th. And while we are so excited, we are also anxious about leaving our precious babies for 12 long days, and just a little anxious about those 20+ hours of flying we will have to do. But, all of these things will take us to our baby girl, and that makes it all WORTH it. We will fly all day on the 12th and arrive in China very late at night on the 13th (China time.... they are 12 hours ahead of us). Then, just a few hours later on Monday morning, we will meet Tulah!!!! Wow, it is still hard to believe that we are this close and it is really happening. Wanna know something really neat ??? When we meet Tulah on May 14th, it will still be Sunday May 13th here at home, so technically we are meeting our girl on Mother's Day. What a sweet, precious, and priceless gift!!!

We received our detailed trip itinerary today and it looks like we will be kept very busy! We are excited to see some of China and Tulah's culture. I am especially excited to get to meet some of the people who cared for Tulah during the past year, as well as visit her finding place... the place where she was found, abandoned, at 2 days old. We will also get to visit several parks and a zoo, as well as go shopping:) I am definitely planning to blog while we are there (as long as internet service cooperates), so plan to follow along on this incredible journey, orchestrated beautifully by our incredible God!! To Him be all the glory!!

Have a blessed week! I will try to update once more before we leave!!!

 

Travel Approval!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am SO excited to share with y'all that today..... we FINALLY got.... TA!!!!!!!!! This is our travel approval... China's official invitation for us to come and get our baby!!!!! We have waited so long for this day and it is finally here. And the funny thing is, after all this waiting, now I feel rushed!!!! I still don't know what day we will leave, or what day GOTCHA day will be, but I do know this..... it will be SOON!!!

We were also thrilled today to get an update on Tulah. We were able to get some updated measurements, and to find out that she is now only in her braces at night and at nap time!! This is HUGE!! Her little feet have come such a long way! She has also started walking with a walker and, apparently, LOVES this new freedom!!!

We also got a new picture!! This picture was taken just 3 days ago!!!

Have you ever seen such a precious little girl?!? Look at her hair!!! I know... I'm just a little bias!!! I showed this picture to Zoee and Grayden and they just can't wait to get her here either!!!

As excited as we are, I also carry a heavy heart for her in the next few days as she prepares to leave all that she has ever known. Her world is fixing to be turned upside down. Please join us in praying that God has already been preparing her heart for our family. Pray that He will provide peace and comfort for her until we can get to her, and that she will allow Michael and I to comfort her as she grieves for those who have loved and cared for her.

I am still in amazement that just a year ago, my heart was HEAVILY burdened for a child I did not know. And that Michael's heart was HEAVILY burdened by not sharing those feelings alongside me. There were some hard days when I questioned why I couldn't turn away from this burden. Why would God place those feelings on my heart when my husband, my soul mate, far from felt the same? In those hard days, I clung to God's word for comfort and peace.... specifically Hebrews 10:23.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful"

Hebrews 10:23

Indeed, He is faithful!! While God gently nudged, guided, and whispered to me.... He had to ROAR to my husband. And whether He whispers to our family, or roars (!), we will be faithful and follow Him.

God is good, all the time!!!!!!!! I will keep you posted on our travel dates as soon as we know something!!

A few more pics.....

Here are a few more pics from our day at Brookgreen Gardens.......

Grayden loves "gators"....

 And so does his Daddy!! He thinks he's so funny!!

 Me and my buddy!!

 In the Butterfly Pavilion, the butterflies were fluttering everywhere, and they would happily land on us!

 My beautiful Zoee girl!!

I SO loved the huge oak trees covered with Spanish Moss.... BEAUTIFUL!!

We decided that this would be a new Easter weekend family tradition.... and next Easter... we will have this little girl to experience this with us!! It won't be much longer!!!!

A Day at Brookgreen Gardens

It has been a family tradition since I was in elementary school....every year at Easter, my family heads to the beach. Though most every year, it is too cool to hang out on the beach, I really thought that this year that would NOT be the case. You see, here where we live, it was in the high 70's and even 80's the whole month of March! But, once again Easter brought its' cold chill to the beach!

On Saturday, the high was only supposed to get to about 70, and with the wind on the beach, that feels really cool. So, in an effort to find some activity to occupy our day, I finally got my husband to take us somewhere that I have wanted to go to FOREVER.... Brookgreen Gardens. I have driven past this place for years, and it looked so beautiful, but that was nothing compared to the beauty that was found inside.

The property is HUGE. I'm not sure just exactly how many acres this place covers, but you could spend an entire day, or more, exploring everything they have to offer. We visited the zoo there, an indoor butterfly pavilion, immaculate gardens with beautiful flowers, fountains, sculptures and quaint paths. I haven't been that relaxed in a long time. And it was such a good, family time! If you ever visit near Murrell's Inlet, SC, it is worth your time to pay this beautiful place a visit.

Enjoy some of our pictures from the day!!!

After these 3 pictures, Blogger has decided not to let me upload any more pics tonight:(( I will add in some more pics tomorrow!!