Day 1- Tuesday in China

This was our first actual day here that is not just travel. We got in to Harbin at about 9:15 AM.  We were planning to go to the hotel, and then meet Sheng Lian in the afternoon. After we got our luggage, we found our guide Lynn.  She said we had to go to civil affairs office and meet our daughter NOW because they were waiting for us.  I was like, WHAT?  I had on dirty clothes and no make-up.  Didn't have gifts ready as everything was in the luggage.  But we went.  The ride took forever it seemed.  Lots of traffic and honking.  There were men alongside the freeway and roads in many spots cleaning the road with shovels and big twig brooms. We got to civil affairs and went inside.  Within minutes, Sheng Lian was there with us.  She was very quiet but all smiles.  She came right to us and sat on our laps and let Tim pick her up for a photo they wanted to take of us.  We were there for quite some time.  There were two other families there, from Spain, doing paperwork for their children. Sheng Lian's doctor/teacher was there.  She seemed very nice and she has known Sheng Lian her whole life.  She is going to get photos and some other information for us tomorrow.  She gave gifts to Sheng Lian and Abri (Christmas decorations).  We decided to name her Allee.  Her nickname is Leedy, so we will probably call her that for a while.  Maybe forever, who knows. On the long ride to the hotel she was laughing and getting a little hyper.  Poking us gently with the snowman decorations (Abri started it), and then it got a little more rough.  Finally, we arrived at our hotel.  It is very nice and Walmart is accross the street.  We skyped with gramma, poppy, and Bradyn, but Colton was already in bed as it was 10 PM at home.  Hopefully, we can talk to him tomorrow.  Then we went to McDonald's down the block for dinner.  That was interesting to try to order.  Especially while the cashier is talking to Leedy and we have no idea what she is saying.  Let me tell you, Leedy can eat!  Her teacher said she will eat any food, and she wasn't kidding. We are all exhausted.  Except for Leedy.  I am going to try to give her a bath in a few minutes.  Not sure how that will go. She came with lots of layers of clothes, and a coat and hat and boots.  Very clean. She also had been given the photo album we sent, and we got the disposable camera back with pictures they had taken. She has been playing with all the stuff I put in her backpack and seems to be so organized, putting everything away carefully in all the pockets. I hope we can go to bed soon.  Tim is snoring and I am so tired I am dizzy.  Maybe we will take turns sleeping as it is way too early for Leedy to go to bed.

Getting There

Sunday Morning we left on our adventure to China. It was really hard to leave the boys at home and I was REALLY wishing they were coming with us.  Colton came to me with crocodile tears saying he really wanted to come, but didn't want to get any shots.  :(  It ripped my heart out and I don't think I'll get it back until we get back home.  Bradyn just didn't want to say goodbye. The trip over was fairly uneventful.  I was entertained by the cute baby accross from me, and Abri was entertained by a little boy in front of her named Jeffrey. We landed in Tokyo, then flew to Beijing.  On this flight, we got talked about quite a bit by the folks we were sitting by.  The guy sitting by Abri even gave us his business card with his email address.  We got to fly over Korea (South we think, but not for sure).  Korea was lit up so bright!  Very wierd to be looking down at Korea.  It's a good thing WACAP decided to have their guide take us to the hotel that night in Beijing, because I don't know that we would have made it otherwise.  Our flight arrived late, so we wouldn't have been able to use the free hotel shuttle and would have had to take a taxi.  That would have been a little scary in Beijing at night. We only had about 4 hours to sleep at the hotel, which wasn't very restful, but at least the beds were comfy.  The next morning we had to get up early to head to the airport.  Driving through Beijing back to the hotel it was still dark, but starting to get light.  There were bicycles everywhere and people starting to be out and about.  Many men with those big wheelbarrow things. At the airport, we kind of wandered a bit, but eventually got to our gate.  From the gate we had to crowd onto a bus and ride *forever* to our plane to Harbin.  We were nearly the last ones on the plane because we just don't have the crowding skills that the people here seem to have.  :)  I was worried there wouldn't be room for our carry on luggage by the time we got on there, but there was. We flew over some mountains, and then it was flat, and then there was snow, but not a whole lot.  Getting off the plane in Harbin, it was below freezing.  So cold!

12th

So we are actually not leaving until the 12th.  However, I am a mess.  Having some minor panic attacks the last few days.  I knew I would.

I think we have everything we need for the trip.  You would think we were traveling to a different planet the way I feel like I have to bring stuff. 

Food for Abri in case we end up somewhere that she cannot safely eat the food due to her allergies.  Sanitizer.  Hats and gloves and coats.  Toys.  Money.  Papers.  Clothes.  Medicine.  Oh the medicine.  I have a large stash of whatever I think we might need.  Lots of Excedrin included.

We are still packing fairly light, so if we show up at home with dirty clothes, that is why.  It is not likely that I will ever pay for laundry service.  I plan to wash a few items myself the old fashioned way.

Almost ready to go.

The "why"

I have been asked this before.  I never have had an answer, at least not one I wanted to share.  I was asked again today.

My first answer is always, "Because we are crazy."  And part of me does think we actually are crazy.

The answer lies more in the "why not" than in the "why'.

We have room for another kid.  It may not be easy, but most things worth doing aren't.  Our other kids have not always been easy.  Maybe they've never been easy. 

With 150,000,000 orphans in the world we can't help them all.  But we can give a family to one.

Leaving December 10 or 11, Returning December 24!

No dates yet.....

We did not hear about our travel dates yet.  The agency needs to get permission from the orphanage about which Monday we can meet SL.  After that, they will make a consulate appointment.  Then we can plan the trip!

TRAVEL APPROVAL

We will be leaving soon!

$15

$12 more for diapers from Amazon.

$3 to the local AWANA group for a wooden race car for Colton.  Normally this would not fit my donation requirements, but I did not have any other cash with me.

Photo test

Just trying to see if I can post pictures from email.  This is us at the Grand Canyon, April 2010.

Operation Christmas Child, Diapers, Wipes

$23 donation to Operation Christmas Child to send the shoebox gifts

$31 for a HUGE box of diapers and a HUGE box of wipes from Amazon that were on sale (will stash these for the baby gifts at work)