We Have Jia!

We went to the orphanage and met Jia about 10:00 this morning.  God has answered so many of our prayers.  She knew who we were and came to us immediately.  She has the sweetest personality.  Lillie Mei got very quiet and withdrawn at first.  We sat on a couch and looked in Jia's backpack and she loved the stickers.  When she opened her animal crackers she gave the first one to Lillie Mei.  Very sweet.  She gave them to everyone.  We then took a short tour of the orphanage.  The orphanage director cried when she hugged her bye, so I cried.  Jia didn't cry.  We've only been in the room a few minutes and the two girls have pulled out every toy, every snack, etc.  I will post more details and pictures later.

We are here!

Its 1 am here. Little to no sleep in 24+ hrs. Cindy and Lillie Mei are snoring. We leave to get Jia at 8am. So tried. Long day tomorrow. Pics, etc then.

Kirk

Waiting in Tokyo

Sitting in Tokyo airport. Rain outside. Read that it was 112 degrees in Beijing on July 5. 24 hrs or less to Jia. Can't wait. VERY tired. But worth it. God is awesome! More later.
Kirk

We Made it to Atlanta!

Our next flight leaves at 1:40 and is 14 hours long! Our next post will be from Tokyo or Beijing!

Tuesday Morning

We finally got to bed around midnight last night. We were done earlier but too excited to sleep. After getting up at 5:30 we dropped the boys off with our dear friends. They did great. We arrived at the airport with no lines anywhere and sailed through security. I accidentally packed hair gel in the carry on and they had to search my bag and throw the gel away. My hair will be even frizzier in the humidity now! Lillie Mei is super excited about all of the airplanes and getting her sister. We love you boys! Will update later.

Our Itinerary

Here is our itenerary while we are in China! We will be very busy while we are there. When we adopted Lillie Mei we opted out of quite a few of the tours just to spend time bonding in the room. We will especially need your prayers on July 19th during the medical exam. The U.S. requires that Jia receive all of her vaccinations prior to leaving China. For some children that is 8 shots and a TB test! We are praying she needs very few shots and that she doesn't have a positive TB test and require the x-ray. Jia will become a U.S. citizen when her feet hit the ground in Detroit!

July 6 Depart from Charlotte (then to Atlanta, then to Tokyo, then to Beijing)
July 7 Arrive in Beijing at 10:30 p.m.
July 8 Meet Jia!!!!!! Registration
July 9 Visit the Summer Palace
July 10 Visit the Great Wall
July 11 Visit the Forbidden City
July 12 Get Registration Certificate/Apply for passport
July 13 Visit the zoo and Olympic Park
July 14 Visit Beihai Park and the Acrobat Show
July 15 Visit the Science Museum
July 16 Get the passport!!
July 17 Fly to Guangzhou, arrive 5 p.m. (where the US Consulate is located)
July 18 Yuntai Garden
July 19 Physical exam; Visit Pedestrian Shopping Street
July 20 Visa Appointment; Visit Six Banyan Temple
July 21 Swearing in Ceremony! Visit Liu Hua Park
July 22 Get the visa!!! Take the train to Hong Kong
July 23 Fly from Hong Kong to Detroit then to Charlotte; arrive at 7 p.m.

The Countdown!

We are so excited that we leave one week from today! We have been very busy getting things ready. Please keep praying for us especially for Jia, that God would prepare her little heart and that she would know that we are coming.  We absolutely cannot wait to hug her!