We've arrived!

We made it to Beijing and got checked into our hotel. The flight was smooth and we had no trouble making our connection -- praise the Lord! But can I just say that 13 hours is LONG!!! I dozed off for awhile and woke up thinking that the flight was perhaps half over. Nope. Nine hours left to go. Thankfully both kids slept for around four hours and have been great travelers. Our guide Ling Ling was at the airport to meet us, and all of our luggage made it as well. We are going to try to stay awake for awhile yet so we can sleep all night. At this point, we are so tired that I don't think that will be a problem!

Tomorrow we have our agency orientation at 9:00. Ling Ling said that there are three families here with Holt this week, so we have just a small group. We are looking forward to meeting the other families in the morning. Thank you all so much for your prayers!

And. . . we're off!

Our bags were all packed. . .

and loaded in the van. . .

and we got to the airport two hours early, only to find that our flight to O'Hare is delayed by over an hour! So we're still sitting here. Thankfully, we shouldn't have any problem still making our connection in Chicago. Please pray for that!

Itinerary and Prayer Guide

Here is what we know of our itinerary so far and how you can be praying for us each day. Please know that we will be about twelve hours ahead in China, so what we have listed for each day will actually happen the night before while you are sleeping. We covet your prayers as we travel to bring Amelia home!

June 2 -- Leave for Beijing! We fly from Peoria to Chicago to Beijing.

Pray for smooth flights, no cancellations, and safety. Pray that we would honor the Lord with our attitudes during a long day of travel.

June 3 -- Arrive in Beijing at 3:15 pm.

Pray that our guide would be at the airport to meet us and that all our luggage is there as well!

June 4 -- Agency orientation, sight-seeing at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

Pray that our children would be well-behaved and good travelers. Pray that we would all recover quickly from jet lag.

June 5 -- Great Wall and Summer Palace tour

Pray that we would appreciate the culture and people of China as we learn more about Amelia's birth country.

June 6 -- Fly to Wuhan

Please pray for a safe flight to Wuhan. Pray that we don't have any trouble as we are in transit without a guide.

June 7 -- Amelia day! We are scheduled to meet Amelia around 3:00 this afternoon.

Please pray for God's abundant grace on all of us as we meet our daughter for the first time. Pray that she will bond to us easily and that she will allow us to comfort her as she grieves. Pray especially for Amelia as she is leaving everything she has known today.

June 8 -- Adoption paperwork -- Today our adoption will be official!

Continue to pray for Amelia's transition into our family. Pray for our other kids to be patient and understanding if she is very needy of our attention or doesn't seem to "like us" right away. Pray also for Michelle's mom to have stamina as she helps with all the kids.

June 9 -- Free day. We may visit the Yellow Crane Tower today, depending on how Amelia is doing.

We have read that Day 3 is often the hardest for the children as the realize that the new family is permanent and that they are not going back to their former home. Please continue to pray for Amelia's bonding with our family and for her little heart and body as she works through her grief.

June 10 -- Pick up Amelia's passport and fly to Guangzhou.

We have been given permission to have Amelia's passport ready a day faster than usual, due to the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. Please pray that it would indeed be ready this afternoon so that we can fly to Guangzhou.

June 11 -- Medical exam

Guangzhou is where the US Consulate is located and where we must apply for Amelia's visa to enter the US. The medical exam is one of the requirements to get her visa. Please pray that she will do well in what will likely be a scary situation for her. Pray also for our other kids as they will probably be getting anxious to be home.

June 12 -- Free day

Pray for continued safety and good health, that we would make wise choices with what we eat and drink. Pray also for our new bond with Amelia to be strengthened each day as she learns to trust us to care for her.

June 13 -- Free day

Pray that our family would be a good witness for the Lord while we are in China. Pray also that all the paperwork needs to be completed here would be done accurately.

June 14 -- Consulate appointment

Pray that Amelia's visa would be issued on time, as we don't have much "wiggle room" before we leave Guangzhou. Pray also that the Lord would prepare safe and smooth travels for us as we prepare to come home.

June 15 -- Pick up Amelia's visa and take the train to Hong Kong.

Please pray again that the visa would be issued ON TIME as we are leaving for Hong Kong this evening. Pray for us as we navigate the hotel to train station to van to hotel route this evening. We will likely not reach our hotel in Hong Kong until around 11:00 tonight. Pray again for our children to be wonderful travelers.

June 16 -- Fly from Hong Kong to Chicago to Peoria.

Pray that our flights would be on time, smooth, and uneventful. The first flight is around 14 hours. Please pray that Amelia will travel well and that we would all find ways to make the trip home enjoyable.

THANK YOU so much for lifting our family to the Lord! It would be so encouraging to us if you could leave us comments so we know you are praying for us!

Test Post

This is a test message to see if I can post via e-mail.

The Girls' Room

We gave Elizabeth the option of whether or not she wanted to share her room with Amelia. She did, and we are thankful. Amelia has probably never been alone in her life, so her transition will likely be made easier by sharing a room with her sister. We've had fun getting the room ready for both girls.

Elizabeth has her name above her bed as well, so we did Amelia's the same way.

We're ready! Now we just need her to come home!

The Countdown!

We made a paper chain to count down the days until we leave for China. We started with 17 links, and we are already down to 9!

The kids take turns tearing off one link each night and counting how many are left.
Our chain is definitely getting shorter! The suitcases are about half packed.
It won't be long now!

Sweet friends

I am so blessed with some wonderfully sweet friends. This past week they had a "Mom's Night Out" for me to celebrate Amelia's coming home.

We had a great time visiting and scrapbooking. We each made a couple of pages for a scrapbook of Amelia's first year home. I left with all the beautiful, creative pages in an album. All I have to do is add the pictures! How cool is that!

My friends had gifts for Amelia (and my big kids) too! Some new board books, clothes, a baby doll, even gum for the airplane ride. It was so thoughtful and appreciated!

These ladies are such a blessing to me and have encouraged me all through our adoption journey. I am so thankful for each one of them!