Last day in Beijing

Well, we woke up again at 2:30 a.m. It is wild how this time change effects you. Marty and I tried to lay in bed but started watching TV and I got on Facebook. Finally 6:30 rolled around and went to the breakfast bar. There was so much food. I ate way too much. While we there we met a gentleman who was from Tennessee. We talked for a few mintues about why we were here and he mentioned that he attended church with Steven Curtis Chapman and is in Steve Green's Sunday School Class. He is very familiar with the adoption process. He is in China on Business.

After breakfast we met up with Wynona. We rode a taxi for an hour to the Great Wall. It was the most scary ride in my life. There are no rules here when it comes to driving. There are 6 lanes all going the same direction but never mind the lines. If you need to get over you just go. I was so sick after this ride. I could not wait to get out of the car.

It was so cold at the Great Wall. We all had on gloves but could not feel our hands. Our faces were frozen so we could not talk. It was hilarious. We would try to say something but nothing came out. The Wall is an incredible site to see. It was worth the pain and suffering. When you look out over the wall it just goes on forever. It is hard to believe the age of this structure.

After the walk on the Wall we finally got to the bottom and found the Starbucks. YAY!!! I was so excited. We each got a Latte and enjoyed the relaxation. Walking that Wall was extremely hard in this cold weather.

We had to get back to the hotel and pack up our things to head to Taiyuan. Wynona was an Angel. She helped us get to the airport, get our tickets and escorted us to security. Without her we would still be there. Once we got thru security we met two more gentlemen. One has two adopted children and the other is on his way to pick up his second. The wives stayed behind with the other children. One of the gentlemen owned Christian Books Stores and began his own foundation for adoptions. It is called the Abba Foundation. We enjoyed talking with them and got their numbers. We are going to meet up with them in Guangzhou. He is also good friends with Steven Curtis Chapman.

We arrived in Taiyuan around 6:30 and this is where we met our guide Emma. She is very young and seems to be sweet. She escorted us to our hotel and plans to meet us this morning to go shopping.

Marty and I had a full 6 hours of sleep which is awesome. We just ate breakfast and are now waiting on Emma. I just noticed that Marty is asleep on the bed. I will have to wake him.

2 more days until we meet Kaegan. Please pray for my nerves and that we get some more sleep. Thankfully we have nothing planned today or tomorrow so we should be fine come Tuesday.

Thanks for all your prayers. Keep them coming.

Our busy day in Beijing

Beijing is an incredibly large and beautiful city. It is amazing how clean it is. This morning Marty and I decided to catch a taxi to the Olympic square. We saw the Birds Nest, Water cube and other neat sites.



After we finished the Olympic Villa we met Wynona's friend Jenna who toured us around the city for the rest of the day. We went to The Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, McDonald's, The Silk Market and several things in between. The sites are unbelievable. I did my best to capture the beauty of this place. Here are only a few of the pics I took.

The next pictures are of Jenna and Me and then Marty and Me in The Forbidden City.

There were three things that I wanted to purchase for Kaegan while I was in China. One was a pearl necklace from China to give to Kaegan (when the time comes) for him to give to his future wife. Second, was a Chinese Bible, preferably bilingual and third, I wanted to find information about China and its heritage so I could have it for Kaegan. The Pearls I purchased at the Silk Market so I have that checked off of the list. Jenna mentioned that she will stop by her church and purchase a Bible for us. You cannot purchase one in stores. Bibles must be purchased from the Church. Another check of the list. After lunch Jenna mentioned that she had friend that had just published his first book about the Chinese culture and its heritage. She called him and he was kind enough to meet us at a coffee shop and sold us a signed copy of his new book. It took him ten years to write the book. The pictures are incredible. What is also unique is that it tells of the history of Datong. The city where Kaegan was born. The book is absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait to show it to you guys. The picture below is of Marty, Guohua Yang and Me. The last one is of Guohua with his book. I am so excited about this book. It is over 500 pages of China and its history.

By the way, Wynona, Jenna and Guohua are all christians and attend the same church here in Beijing. God is so good! I love how He puts people in certain places at the right time. His hands have been in every move we have made. I guess that is what happens when you are flying on Faith.

Thanks for the comments. We enjoy reading them. We love you all!

We are here!! FINALLY!

That has got to be the longest trip I have ever taken. Marty and I have arrived safely and so did all of our luggage. I am so sorry that I am blogging a little late but we had to try to get some sleep. It is now 5:15 a.m. in Beijing and we are wide awake. We were scheduled to go to the Great Wall this morning at 8:00 a.m. but called and had it changed to 10:00. We did not know that we would be awake. It will take a few days for us to get adjusted to the time change.

I do not have much to blog at the moment. I did take of view pics throughout the day.

This is Marty and Me trying to keep our eyes open in Tokyo.

Our long awaited flight to Beijing was on time!

Yep!! That is the women's toilet. Needless to say I waited in line for the American toilet.

When we arrived in Beijing a beautiful young lady met us named Wynona. She is planning to attend ETBU next semester. She escorted us to our hotel and has arranged our tours for tomorrow and Saturday. She has been a blessing. We look forward to the next two days with her.

I am going to try to get a little more sleep now. I will take plenty of pics today for you so be looking for an update soon.

We love you and thank you for all your prayers and support.

CHINA!!! Here we come!

We are leaving in the morning as Marty and Me and coming back as a family of three! YAY!!

I will post as often as I can. We love you guys and want to thank you each for your love and prayers.

China Angel

I received a message today from an Angel. Well, actually she is an individual I met on the internet thru another adoptive family. We will call her "Angel" for now. She saw my baby today!! She messaged me and said that he is adorable. Of course, we already new that. She said he is very shy and stand offish to her and her friend. Most likely because they are American and he has not seen anyone that looks like them. He also has been in a foster home since he was much younger so he is quite confused and I am sure scared being in a new environment, especially at the orphanage. The angel said that she gave him a big hug and kiss and told him that his mommy and daddy are coming next week to get him. She asked me to send her some pics of us so she can show him who we are. I sent them to her so he should see us next Sunday if not sooner. The foster family also received our pics but I am sure they did not show him. If they did that would be great but now I know he will for sure see us. I am so glad that he received a hug today. I pray it wasn't his first. Of course, tears came to my eyes as I read her words. Only 3 more days until we leave and soon I will receive my first hug from him.

New "Gotcha Day"

The agency called and said that we cannot meet Kaegan until the 3rd!!! Crazy!! I guess it is not meant for us to meet any sooner. I will not question this and accept it as it is. Just thought I'd let you guys know.

New Pictures of Kaegan

Here are some new pictures we received of Kaegan! YAY!!!!!

Kaegan's Back Pack

I have packed Kaegan's back pack. I have filled it with cars, candy, bubbles, playdoe, crayons, water gun, football and plenty of other stuff. I also put the stuffed animal that Vanessa (exchange student from Germany) sent us for Christmas 2 years ago. It is the German mascot for the soccer team. He is so cute so Marty and decided to pack it for Kaegan.

Kaegan's Measurements

I found a website that will track down your adopted child and find out more information for you. I just received Kaegan's updated measurements. She also received 2 pictures of him. I should receive them in the next 24 hours.

His measurements are:

Height: 89 cm = 35 inches
Weight: 12.5 kg = 27.5 lbs.
Head cir: 47 cm
Chest: 50 cm
Length of Foot: 14 cm
He has 20 teeth.

He is a healthy boy!

We Leave on February 25th!!!

YAY!! We leave on the 25th! Our agency just called and our appointment is scheduled for March 9th. Our "Gotcha Day" (the day we get Kaegan) is Sunday, March 1. We are now booking flights and confirming hotels. As soon as we get this complete I will post our itinerary!!

TA RECEIVED!!!!!!

Our TA was received today! The agency is waiting on a call back from China in regards to our consulate appointment. We will have a definite date, flights booked and hotels reserved by the end of the week. YAY!! Because of the Chinese New Year there was one complete week that everything closed. Because of this our appointments may be pushed back to March. Possibly the first week. That will put us flying out the last week of February. Our prayer is that we leave much sooner. We will let you know as soon as we find out.

Travel Approval has been mailed!!

Our agency emailed yesterday and said that they were concerned because they did not receive any TA's last week. The agency contacted China and were told that ours was mailed out and should be received Monday or Tuesday. This means that we should have our itinerary later next week if not sooner. The date that we leave on will be determined by the US Embassy and Chinese Consulate appointments. These appointments are the critical ones and are also our exit appointments. YAY!!! I hope to tell everyone next week our confirmed dates.

If you can recall, when we originally began the adoption process we were adopting a girl or twins girls. Well, our homestudy was approved for girls, not boys or a boy. Crazy!!!! I freaked when I heard that we had to redo this paperwork process. It originally took approximately 6 months to do this part the first time. The agency told me that it should not be problem that all we needed to do was an addendum to the original homestudy. No problem, so I thought. Then she followed up by saying that if we did not get it corrected on State side than we may have to stay longer in China to have this completed. I contacted our local agency and she got right on it. We re-wrote the homestudy to say that we were adopting a boy and somehow she managed to get it sent out rather quickly. Believe it or not, the form that took originally 6 months to receive was received in 6 days!!!! I have it to take with us so everything in China should be correct and there should not be any delays. Even if there was a delay it would not have mattered because we would have already had Kaegan in our arms. Once I get him in my hands they can have all the time they need.


Lastly, I had to tell the agency his full name for the paperwork. That means we are very close to seeing him. In case you are new to the blog our son's chinese name is Dang He Liang. We will rename him Kaegan (Kay-gan) Michiah He Liang Kent. I know that it is long but we wanted to keep a part of his chinese name. In China the first name listed is actually the last name. So we are dropping the last name of Dang and keeping his first name He Liang.

Thanks to everyone who has followed us on this journey. I can't wait to share more with you soon!

I hope to blog the itinerary next week. Talk to you then!

VISA's Received!

YAY! We got our VISA's today. Now it is official!! All paperwork is complete on this end of the adoption. The rest is to be done while Kaegan is in my arms!!!! We are still waiting on the travel dates. Please pray that we receive them this week.