A pleasant surprise

Today started out early for us. We both woke up at 4 am and could not go back to sleep. We used that time to Skype with our kids. They enjoyed seeing us, but we were trilled to see them even more so. Technology is truly amazing. I also got the chance to talk with my parents this morning. They reminding me that when they lived overseas in the Philippines, they used a reel-to-reel audio tape recorder to tape one way conversations with their family back in the states. After taping it, they would have to package it up, send it by snail mail and wait weeks for a response. Occasionally, they would be able to use short wave radio, but the conversation would be very limited.

After breakfast we got a pleasant surprise when we attended the orientation for our next phase of the trip. Our guides gave us an update on Sophie complete with pictures. How cute is that smile?

After lunch with our travel group, we headed out to Tiananmen square and the forbidden city. Lots of people all around, but nothing compared to the 1 million people they say it can hold. It also boggles my mind of how much labor went into constructing the emperor’s palace.

After walking what seemed like 2 miles, we boarded the bus and headed to a silk factory. Pretty neat stuff. I had no idea how a silk worm cocoon could be used.

This evening, we took a subway and traveled to a theater to watch a show. Again, on the way over we hit it during rush hour. Never a dual moment. The show was a production based on a boy growing up in a monetary and learning the art of Kung Fu. It had a good display of martial arts and even had the English lip dubs that reminded me of Saturday morning Kung Fu theater when I was a child. For some reason even through half the study was Chinese, the performance was in pre recorded English with the actors mouthing the parts. Some of the actors looked to be only 10 years of age but had phenomenal skills.

So now its back to the hotel and getting ready to pack for our flight to Changsha.

Friday
Scorpions anyone?

A view from our room

Walking through a market at night

Saturday

When in Rome.....

Local girl wanting a picture with Tamra

Chris ready to head back down

Tamra pointing to how far she got.

A visit to a jade factory and showroom

Cut from one piece of Jade

Amazing

Birds Nest

Enjoying a ride through a Hutong on a rickshaw

Read the small print ALWAYS. Especially when it is really important.

So, I was wondering before we left home what we would do in Seoul, South Korea for our 3.5 hour layover. Turns out we did not have any time to spare between flights. And no, our flight actually arrived in Incheon International Airport on time. The problem started when we dropped off our rental car and checked in at the LAX ticket counter. The lady asked us where
we wanted our baggage to go. Well, I thought it would be obvious and responded,

“Beijing of course.”

She informed me that was not possible. She said that we would have to pick up the luggage when we arrived in Seoul, go through customs and then go back to the check in counter, have the baggage checked back in, go through security before ultimately boarding our next flight to Beijing.

“That does not make any sense” I said.

Well that’s what you will have to do since your flight to Beijing departs from another airport. “What?”

She proceeded to explain, “You see you fly into Incheon International Airport but you depart from Gimpo International airport to fly to Beijing.”

I looked back at my itinerary and the airports and sure enough - two different airports. Thus, read the small print. So I steal Tamra’s Iphone and start searching for ways to transit from one airport to another.

She turns to me and says, “Did you just google how to transfer between Incheon and Gimpo?”

Maybe I did, but I did find that there was a commuter train running between the two airports. It was the train or a 45 minute taxi ride. Well let’s give it a shot, by Planes, Trains and Automobiles we will get to Beijing. After landing at Seoul, collecting our baggage and going through customs (about an hour) we raced frantically trying to find this train. At last we find it after a quarter mile of walking through endless corridors. We go to the ticket counter and of course they only take cash. That would be Korean Won mind you. No currency exchange around, except back at the airport terminal. So I leave my wife in a foreign country for a second time (she never really forgave me for the first time I did that 2.5 years ago) and race back to the currency exchange and get 10,000 won. Finally, we boarded the train. Did I happen to mention it was a commuter train. Every stop, more and more people poured on. Here we were with suitcases and carry ons and wall to wall people on board headed off to work. Additionally, there does not appear to be any personal space in Asian countries. We did eventually make our flight but were rushed the entire time. The upside to the entire thing was a chance to see parts of Seoul from the train that we would not have been able to see otherwise.

Chris upon boarding the Train, pointing at the stop we have to get of at.

A few veiws from the train

And we are off

Hello friends and family,
We are getting ready to drive down to Los Angeles to catch
our 13 hour international flight. We
depart just after midnight and have a 3.5 hour layover in Seoul, South Korea. Then on to Beijing for the last two
hours. I thought I would just send a
quick note of our schedule. We would also
appreciate your prayers as we go on this journey and for our children that
remain behind.
Apr 04 Lose
a day crossing the International Date Line
Apr 05 Thursday
Arrive in Beijing at 9:50AM
We will be staying at the Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel which
is a stone’s throw away from the Forbidden City
Apr 06 Friday Explore Great Wall and Hutong Lane
Apr 07 Saturday Adoption Orientation and Half day
tour of Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City.
Apr 08 Sunday
Fly to Changsha in the Hunan province
Apr 09 Monday
(Your Easter Sunday) Meet Sophie at the Civil Affairs Office
Apr 10 Tuesday Go through the adoption
registration and notarization procedures at the Civil Affairs Office
Apr 11 &12 Wednesday Free day
Apr 13 Friday
Pick up Sophie’s Chinese passport and fly to Guangzhou in the Guangdong
province
Apr 14 Saturday Visa paperwork check and Medical
check
Apr 15 Sunday Free day
Apr 16 Monday medical clinic follow up for TB test
results
Apr 17 Tuesday US Consulate visa appointment and
Oath taking ceremony
Apr 18 Wednesday Pick up Sophie’s Visa
Apr 19 Thursday
Fly back Home. If all goes
well then we will be arriving at the Fresno Airport on Apr 19 on American Airlines
flight 3045 at about 6:45 PM

SOPHIE UPDATE

We are getting a lot closer to bringing our sweet Sophie home. As Chris would put it I am starting to nest. I have put up the crib in the girls room, made lists of things to get and things to do, and have even hung clothes in the closet. I am having to force myself to not get the suitcases down and start packing. I think Chris would put his foot down at that.

Where We Are In Our Journey

Our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) came 2 weeks ago and we have now applied for the 2ND half of our immigration. Our agency is telling us we will be traveling in April. I am hoping we can travel the first part of April. When we received word from our agency we had our LOA I asked if we would be getting an update on Sophie. They told us that they would contact the orphanage and see about getting us one. She said the update would have her latest measurements, milestones and development in the update. One week later we received an email containing our update. Sophie is now 18 lbs. and is 27 in. tall. She can now walk on her own. Plus there was information about what she is eating, and her daily routine. In the update they also included recent pictures. They have let her hair grow, YEA!!!!

I find myself staring at this sweet face and thinking about the day when she will be in my arms. Plus I want to pinch those cheeks!!!!!

I'm Baaaaack!!!!!!

Oh my, has it really been 2 years since my last blog post. Where has the time gone? To much has happened to try and blog about all of it.Quickly though, our family now has a teenager(Trent). I am in denial that I am old enough to have a Jr. Higher! the others all growing up to fast as well. Elsie has been home with us for just over 2 years and has changed so much. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family. I will try to post more often with updates on her and the rest of our growing family.

As you just read I mentioned "growing" family. As many of you already know we are in the middle of our second adoption. Our journey began in December 2010 when Chris and I discussed adopting again. We were both feeling that tug on our hearts. So as a leap of faith we took our first steps in the process in January of this year. After 6 months of compiling all of the documents needed they were sent to China in July. Over the next few months we were waiting for a match of a little girl aged 0-36 mo. with a special need that we were open to. On November 1st we received a call from our social worker saying she had a little girl for us. After reading her file and seeing her beautiful face we new she was our daughter. We sent off out Letter of Intent (letter asking permission to adopt) on November 2ND. 5 Days later we had Pre Approval to adopt her. Now we wait for our LOA =Letter of Acceptance, the official approval to be able to adopt. Our hope is to travel next April to bring our daughter home.

Here in our sweet "Sophie" She is almost 1 year old!

Elsie Christmas day decided we should all be watching her instead of the movie. She pulled a small stool to the center of the room and started to entertain us. She is definatley not camera shy. This is what Elsie is like when she is in a comfortable environment.

(sorry it is so dark I was using my snapshot camera)