Saturday, March 29, 2008

We are safe in Hong Kong!

Hi Everyone,

Bet you are glad to hear from us. We are safe in Hing Kong. We arrived last night around 8 pm HK time. Subtract 15 hours to get USA time...you can do the math :)

Today we had a tour of HK. We went to many places that I can not remember the names of but it was fun.
We had tour of a jewelery factory. We almost purchased a ring for Grace to give to her when she turns 18, but it had a "birth mark" on it as the called it. Phuong spotted the defect , as we call it, so we did not buy it.

Lots of sight seeing and Dim Sum too. We also went past Jackie Chan's home and place of Business. Pretty cool huh?

Tonight we are going to a laser show with others in our adoption group.

Tomorrow we go to Nanning. We won't arrive until about 7:00 pm China time (again, you in the USA, can do your own math)

There is a rumor that we might get Grace tomorrow night...we don't think so however because it will already be late.

That's all for now. We are safe and healthy. Keep praying for us.

We miss you all.

God Bless,

Phuong and Tim :)

Sunday, March 23, 2008

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Yesterday we bought a car seat...we finally found one we liked. This will go in our friend's car who is driving us to and from the airport. They will be watching our house while we are away...they might even stay here for a little "vacation" of their own!

We have so many wonderful friends that offered to help. We feel truly blessed to have so many close, kind, thoughtful and loving friends!

May God bless you all!

Tim

Thursday, March 20, 2008

The shots.

Today I went to the travel clinic to get my shots for the trip. I thought it was a bit late to get some of them, but the doctor said it's better to be 50% covered then not at all.

The shots a pretty expensive, especially since I went to the travel clinic, but completely painless.

By the way...Thanks Scott and Linda!

The doctor was great. He explained about all the shots that I could get for China and then told me the ones he suggested. Tetanus, Hep A and Hep B. It took a while to decide what to get, mainly because I had many questions.

I finally decided to get the Tetanus and Hep B. Then, as the doctor got the shots ready, he decided to give me the Hep A shot for FREE! That totally rocks! I will have to go back to complete the Hep A and Hep B as these are a series of shots, but then I will be protected for life.

Still, all things considered, we have been really blessed.

God is great!

Updated Photos!

Here are some updated photos of our Grace that we just received today. They were taken 3/04/08.



It's official

OK...it's official.

We leave in 1 week. Did I say that loud enough? I said, we leave in...

1 WEEK!

There is still so much to do. We purchased our plane tickets so that's one item marked off the list. Now for the other hundred things...:)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone, guess what?

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!!!!!!
We will need to be in China by 3/28, which means we will be leaving on 3/27. For those doing the math, that's 8 days from now!

We will have a tour of Hong Kong and then travel to Nanning on 3/30, which means we will have our little Grace on 3/31. I still can not believe it!

So much to do before we travel.

More updates as we get them or as I think of something else :)

Here we come Grace :)!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Another travel update...

We just received an email from CCAI saying that they have received our travel approvals today! They contacted the US Consulate in Guangzhou requesting appointments to travel earlier then expected.

As long as the Consulate appointments concur, this will confirm us traveling NEXT WEEK!

I see no reason why this cannot happen.

I still cannot believe that we will be going to China in 10 days!

Begin the count down :)

Friday, March 14, 2008

Travel update...maybe

Before I continue with what I am going to type please know that this
is still a totally unconfirmed possibility , meaning it is still very
questionable.

OK...here goes...Phuong just got a call from CCAI asking if we had any updates (ie
homestudy, etc)which we have completed a while ago.

Then the person she spoke to said that we might, again MIGHT be
traveling by 3/27.

I still need to get my shots...buy video camera tapes...buy film...oh list goes on.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


nuf said :O :)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Just a quick update

Here is where things are right now:

We sent of our applications for our visas.

The "waiting" part now is for our travel approval from China. Once we have that we will get the travel date from CCAI and we can begin planning the trip.

Once we get the TA we will need to be ready to travel in 7 to 14 days! That's pretty quick. It is projected that we will be going around the 10th. Currently we are going through the packing lists and getting things together.

I should be going to get vaccinated next week...still need to make the appointment. Phuong is optioning out of getting shots. I, on the other hand, am a bit more paranoid.

More later :)

God Bless

Friday, March 7, 2008

Care Package

This is the label I made for the items inside the care package. This is important, especially for the cameras so that we can identify the cameras as ours. The nannies at the orphanage will take photos of Grace at the orphanage, then give us the cameras to develop. These should be exciting photos!



Here is a photo of the care package contents we are sending to Grace. This all needs to fit inside a shoe box...of course Phuong is an excellent packer!

It includes:
- 2 boxes of See's Candies - for the nannies
- 1 baby Einstein music toy (this is a great toy...it plays classical music, easy for a baby to grab and it is not annoying for parents)
- 2 Fuji disposable cameras
- colorful frame with a photo of the proud parents (that would be us!)
- socks
- "cutie" shirt"
- matching pants and shorts
- sweater to keep her warm.



...and here is the package ready to go out Saturday morning!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

New photos of our Grace

This is the baby picture of Grace when she was found.



Two new photos of Grace...taken approx. 10/31/07



Tuesday, March 4, 2008

THE CALL!

Where in China is Grace?

You might be wondering where Grace is in China?



Above is a map of China. Grace is in Nanning, Guangxi. This is in southern China near Vietnam.

Here is a more up-close map of the Province:



And here is a composite of where Grace is right now showing Nanning (the provincial capitol city).




And to be more accurate:
Here is a map of the Guangxi province showing where the SWIs are located. The approximate location of the Beiliu SWI is by Yulin about 150 miles east of Nanning (the provincial capitol city).

OUR AMAZING GRACE!!!!!!!!!!

We got the call...we got the call!!!!!!

Here is the info we have:

- Chinese Name: Guo, Jiang Yu
- Born 6/17/07
- Beiliu, Guangxi
- Height: 24" tall (as taken in Oct)
- Nov. 18 medical exam
- Travel group: 1332...we are expected to travel in 4 to 6 weeks

She's a moderate sleeper.
Eats milk with rice cereal
Quiet and ready to smile :)
Likes music

We have a daughter!!!!!!!!



THE DAY OF "THE CALL"

Today's the day!

In just about 2 hours we will get the call from CCAI with Grace's picture and information.

Phuong only slept about 2 hours last night. I on the other hand had a big headache and decided to try and sleep. I slept the whole night!

This morning we have been getting ready for work as normal. Well...almost as normal.

I have been busy setting up the computer, web cam, updating and reading the yahoo groups and of course updating the blog.

Almost time...almost time...:)

Now we play the waiting game!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Waiting for the "the call"

A little change of plans. Phuong and I will be going to work late tomorrow as I found out that there is a good possibility that we could get "the call" in the morning around 9 AM.

I have a splitting headache right now so I should probably try to sleep.

I have never been so anxious for the morning to arrive :)

REFERRALS ARE IN!!!!!!

OK...the referrals have arrived at CCAI today. They said that the calls are going to go out tomorrow! I will probably go home right after work tomorrow and not go to class. It's game day tomorrow for the kids so not too much is happening.

We are going to see our Grace for the very first time tomorrow! It's so hard to comprehend. I can hardly concentrate right now.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Anticipation !

Anticipation...that's the title of the week!
Too many rumors...not enough facts. We are hoping for a Wednesday call from our adoption agency but they are saying that nothing has been mailed to them yet...that they know of. The rumor web site is saying the same thing.

We have almost made it through the weekend keeping busy with cleaning the house and such but now with the first week of March starting, I can feel myself getting more excited and nervous.

This is a photo of Phuong on Valentines day with her flowers. The pink flower in the middle is for Grace.