One Step Closer

Each day is one step closer to bringing Kara home! God is so Good! She is the most precious thing! I still can't believe she is ours! Every moment we are learning something new about her!

"Gotcha Day" seems like a blur at this point! Thank goodness for video cameras! We are very blessed! The orphanage really seemed to love the children. They gave us a baby book with alot of pictures in it and they also gave us the outfit that she was found in. The last few months, Kara had been in foster care and her foster sister was one of the women who came with the girls. She gave us a memory stick with a bunch of pictures and videos on it. We are so thankful that Kara will have all this for when she gets older.

She seems to be attaching to both Tony and I...she has a little catching up to do developmentally, but I know a few people who can help with that! She has a strong little will, she lets us know what she wants by grabbing our hand and taking it to what she wants. She can have little temper tantrums if she doesn't get her way. She is not too fond of baths, she loves to look at herself in the mirror, and she has the most wonderful laugh.....Tony and I are both head or heels in love with this little girl!

Food has been a challenge, especially for me. I have found some things aren't too bad but once I leave China I don't think that I will be eating Chinese food for a very long time! And trying to figure out what Kara likes to eat has been a challenge too! She definitely lets us know if she doesn't like something. Tony seems to like it all....we ordered some kind of chicken dish the first night we were here in Wuhan. It came out with bones still in it and the chicken head was one the plate. Just one question....Why? LOL!

So, all our paperwork is done and we are just waiting on Kara's visa. Then we will be heading to Ghangzhou for the last leg of our trip. There we will have a medical exam done and will take the adoption oath at the US Consulate. Then we will be homeward bound! Oh, I can't wait to get home! This has been an experience of a lifetime though and am so grateful to our God who planted this adoption in our hearts! To God be the Glory!

Thanks to everyone who has been lifting us up in prayer! 

Gotcha Day

July 29th, 2013....forever imprinted on our hearts!

Day Two... Or is it Three?

Today we woke up around 5:30 am China time, went to breakfast then headed out for some more sightseeing at 8:30! Our first stop was the Jade Factory. It was amazing to see how the jade is cut and to learn about the different types of jade. We then did a little shopping and picked up a pennant to give to Kara when she gets older.

Our next stop was the Great Wall of China. I started to climb, but thought I had better turn around and look to see how high I was (fear of heights here!) and yep! I had went far enough. After clinging to the wall for a little while I decided to make the descent so hanging onto the railing, I made it back down. Tony made it to the second tower where he decided that he had enough. I can't believe that the structure was man made! Our guide, Shirley said that it was called the longest cementary in the world bcause alot of people had died from the hard work and was buried in the wall.

After a delicious traditional Chinese lunch, we headed to the Summer Palace. This is where the Emperor would vacation during the summer. It was very interesting to learn about the Chinese and their culture. Colors and numbers seem to be a very huge part of the Chinese culture. The number 9 is the luckiest number and the color red means good luck.

Tomorrow we head to Wuhan and will be meeting Kara on Monday! It is almost here!!!!!!!!! So ready to see her and to just pour our love onto her!!!!! God had been so good! He has been with us every step of this journey and we are so thankful that He is watching over us!!!! Please continue to pray for Kara, Gracie and Olivia (the other 2 girls that are meeting their forever families!) for an easy transition for all!

Forbidden City

Pics

 

We Are Here!

Well, we made it to China with no complications! The airplane ride from Chicago to Beijing was looonngggg! to say the least! Tony and I didn't have assigned seats so we both ended up with window seats (I was in the row in front of him) which wasn't so much fun bcause we had to ask the people to move to get up. But we made it! Thanks goodness for the little monitors in front of us that we were able to watch movies and tv shows!

Once we got to the airport we made it through customs with no problem (Jim, you wong....no cavity search! LOL!) and was picked up by LInda who got us to our hotel. Went out last night and walked around a little bit, found a McDonalds and had supper. By that time, we was ready for bed having been up since 3 am Wednesday morning. (We have lost all track of days and time!)

Today we toured the Forbidden City, Tienimum Square, went to a tea house and an acrobatic show. Learned some interesting facts about the Emperor and the Chinese culture, drank some wonderful tea and was "Wowed" by the acrobats!

So, tomorrow we will be visiting the Great Wall of China, jade factory, and something else....

On the end note....3 more days and we will see our baby! We still can't believe that we are here in China!

Tony and I just look at each and say "We are in China!" Please continue to pray for us, especially Kara...(which we found out her name is pronounced Wendy)...Love to all!

On our Way!

Here we are sitting at the Chicago airport waiting on our next flight!  So ready to get there!   It is still so hard to believe that we are so close to Kara!  Thanks for all your prayers!

2 Days, 10 Hours

Yep!  That's when we leave the runway for Chicago!  Then next stop Beijing!  So can't believe we are this close!  Flying half way around the world to pick up our daughter, Kara! At this point I feel like we are have contractions! LOL!   Please continue to pray for Kara's transition (and ours!)  So blessed!  So thankful for this adoption and all that Our God has done for us!  HIS PERFECT TIMING!

Counting the Days!

6 days and counting until we leave for China.....11 days until "Gotcha Day" and we can hold our baby for the first time! 

So Close!

Wow!  We leave in ONE week!  OH MY, OH MY!

Cheyenne and Harley

Chey and Harley can hardly contain their excitement to welcome Kara home! So they made me make these signs so Kara would know who they were! Aren't they so cute!

INSIDE CHINA TRAVEL

We received our itinerary for our China travel today! July 29th will be our "Gotcha Day"! We are getting so excited I can hardly stand it! Looks like we will be spending 3 nights in Beijing and the we will fly to Wuhan in the Hubei province to pick up Kara. We will be there for 5 nights and then we will fly to Guangzhou to complete the adoption. 5 more days of fun filled adventures and then we will take a train to Hong Kong to catch a flight home! Wow! Still can't believe we are going to China! Please continue to pray for safe travels and an easy transition for Kara!