We're READY!

All batteries are charged, everything is packed and we're ready to go meet our daughter!

Our flight leaves at 8 a.m. tomorrow and we'll return on April 17 at 7:06 pm on a United flight from Chicago.

Our house and cats will be well-taken-care-of while we're gone.

While we're gone, probably the best way to communicate with us is to leave a comment on the blog. Please keep in mind that any comment you make will be seen by everybody. If you do need to email us privately, let us know that you emailed us via a comment on the blog. See the previous post for How to Leave a Comment on the Blog.

Keep watching the blog. We'll post when we can but will be keeping a written account in a notebook so we don't forget anything and you don't miss anything! I may post several days at once.

We'll see you on the 17th!

How to Leave a Comment on the Blog

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We Leave in 3 DAYS!

Today was kind of an emotional day for me but not many people I encountered knew it.

As we were walking into church today, Tony said, "Three days!" And then he said, "We meet her a week from Tuesday!" Oh, my! That got me going! I started thinking that a week from today we will be at the Great Wall! Later this week we will get to see the Olympic venues and the Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven! They are on the OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD! Tony also said that two weeks from this Friday, we will be home! WOW! A little over 4 years after we started the domestic adoption process, we will have a little girl from CHINA!

We had our parents up for dinner today and had a good, very filling meal of hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and cherry and/or lemon pie for dessert. Tony then continued working on the garage getting it ready for more insulation. He wanted to get it done before we left but that probably won't happen. There's just no time. I continued the last of the packing and did the ironing so I didn't have to do it when I got home from Bible Study.

I went to Bible Study as normal and for some reason got emotional on the way there. I just need something ELSE to think about! Bible Study helped. Then they prayed for us for a safe trip and smooth process. That was very helpful! THEN one of my small group friends brought in a gift bag of items for Beibei! Wow! I lost it again!

So, I hope we can get through the next two work days quickly and smoothly. I'll post again on Tuesday night right before we go!

One Week To Go!

We are so ready to go except for last-minute stuff! I got myself a better backpack today (it has more than 2 pockets!).

We were talking last night about the fact that only people who have been through this (the paperwork, the waiting, the uncontrollable-ness) would understand the feelings and emotions we are having right now. We know there is a little person on the other side of the world just waiting for us and we are still waiting to go! Soon we will meet her and then soon after that you all will get to meet her! We are tired from the stress of planning and making sure we get everything packed that we need, and getting everything done that needs to get done before we go.

I think about the meeting -- it could be in the lobby of the hotel as we walk in, or it could be in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. We might have our camcorder and camera ready and we might not! I think about arriving back at Omaha and our family and friends being there to greet us and meet our new daughter of less than 2 weeks! What will it be like? What will the food be like in China? What will the smells be like? What will it be like to be so close to sooo many people? I hear it's noisy ... and crowded. I guess we'll start finding the answers to these questions in a little over a week!

We have a busy weekend planned and hope we can enjoy it and relax a bit. And we get to have massages on Monday night! That will help the stress a lot!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we finish up packing and last minute stuff. We're SO stressed!

12 Days and Counting...

Well, not much really to say today but I hope to get pretty much done packing this weekend except for the last-minute stuff.

Thought you might be interested in seeing pictures of the hotels we will be staying at. Just click on the name of the hotel to go to their respective web sites.

While in Beijing, we will be at the Novotel Peace Hotel.

While in Guangzhou, we will be at the White Swan Hotel.

They look like pretty nice hotels!

Made In China ... A Pondering

Have you ever looked around and realized how many things we use here in the US are "made in China"? I knew a lot of things were but when we started this process, we started noticing it even more!

Our shoes, most of our clothes, toys, calculators, suitcases, purses, and even some CHINA itself, among other things, is all "made in China". After we got the referral and felt a little safer in buying things, we found some clothes at JC Penney for her that were "made in China". The couple of outfits we bought at Kohl's as a donation to the orphanage were "made in China" so they will be going back to China to be worn by little Chinese girls! The stuffed panda that Tony's parents gave us for Beibei was "made in China". The little doll I bought at Target and the doll a co-worker brought from EPCOT's China pavillion were "made in China". And our car seat..."made in China".

Many other things these days are made in China including computers, cameras, etc. Years ago things "made in China" were considered "cheap," of "inferior quality." That thought has apparently changed over the years and is probably why we have SO MANY things in our lives that were "made in China".

(By the way, we found a couple things in our house that were NOT "made in China". My little china tea set that I played with when I was little...Tony noticed recently that it was "made in Japan"! And our china set (Noritake Brookhollow) was also "made in Japan".)

So...in two weeks, we will be taking our "made in China" suitcases filled with "made in China" clothes and toys TO China and bring home our "made in China" daughter! How cool is that?!? Not everything "made in China" is bad!

In-China Travel

Today I received a call from the travel agency verifying what tours we wanted to take while in Beijing. Then later on we received an email from them with the invoice for all of the "in-China" travel -- hotels, air, transfers to/from airports, tours, travel insurance information. I will fax our completed forms to them tomorrow to get it all paid for.

Wow! I'll tell ya! NO ONE EVER ADOPTS BY ACCIDENT!

17 Days to Go!

Last night we took a poll of Tony's family. We had a list of several names and told them to mark their favorite. Looks like "Lydia" received the most votes. "Mathilda" and "Hillary" tied with 2 votes and "Adeline", "Penelope", "Bernice", "Lucille", and "Leta" each received 1 vote. Hmmm....

We were at the CPA's office yesterday trying to help him finish up our taxes before we go. After I got done answering his questions for me and Tony was answering questions about the business, my mind wandered. It wandered to China and I thought, "I can't wait to buy her some shoes!"

Sitting in church today, listening to the music, my mind wandered again to China (it does that a lot right now!). I started thinking about WHAT things in our lives will change. We'll have a child who will be depending on us to feed and clothe and bathe her. She'll need comfort, education, medical attention, play. Today at church there were many children with their families in the service involved with the "Upwards" basketball program. Maybe she will want to play basketball or be a cheerleader! We'll take her to Sunday School and Bible School. Will she want to take dance lessons, piano lessons (I hope!), be in theatre, drag race? Only God knows what she will like and do with her life. Our job will be to love her, guide her and support her along the way -- whatever she ends up doing -- which is, I'm sure, what all parents plan for their children.

Travel Packet

Today we received our Travel Packet which has the "Notice of Travelling to China for Adoption" document from the CCAA in it. It was issued on February 27, 2009. It also has more information and a check-list of things to make sure to take (paperwork). We also received Beibei's paper ticket from Hong Kong to Omaha.

We also received an email from Holt today letting us know that the hotel in Guangzhou has agreed to NOT double our rates for the last 3 nights which are the first 3 nights of the trade fair! This will save us about $500! Wow! That IS good news!

It's becoming reality! We'll be home 5 weeks from this Friday!

It's Official!

We have our TICKETS! We will receive Beibei's paper tickets tomorrow. Later this week we will receive our travel packet and soon after that we will know what our schedule will be inside China. I've asked about various tours so we'll be booking those soon. We plan on seeing the Great Wall (for sure!), Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven, TianAnMen Square and Forbidden City (I think this is what Holt will take us to after the orientation), and I've asked about a tour to see the Olympic venues. There are tours for that but we can't purchase tickets ahead of time so we'll make sure to get those there. I want to TOUCH the Water Cube!

We leave 3 weeks from tomorrow! We can't believe it's finally happening!

Maude. Another of my great grandmothers was Maude. And another one was Magdalena (Dad, that's what you were trying to think of today). So, maybe.... we haven't really settled on a name quite yet!

Travel Dates and God's Timing

Today we received our travel dates! We have to be in Beijing by April 5. There will be an orientation with other Holt families on April 6 and an afternoon tour of Beijing. On April 7, we will go to our respective provinces and meet our child! April 7 will be "Gotcha Day"!

So, we will be flying out on April 1 to Beijing so that we can do some touring before the orientation. Then, once we are in our province, we will get to plant ourselves there until we leave. Other families going to other provinces will eventually get to Guangdong province, where we are, to finalize their adoptions along with us. We will probably be able to celebrate Easter together with our new children!

The adoptions will be finalized on April 16 (the day Beibei turns 16 months old!) and we will fly out on the morning of April 17 to Hong Kong and then on to Chicago and arrive in Omaha in the early evening!

So that, in a nutshell, is our trip. And the countdown begins.......


All along I've been saying that whenever we go to China, it will be the "right time". Well, this is definitely the RIGHT time for us to be going to China. We are going just in time to meet Beibei before she turns 16 months old. We will be able to see some of the chaos that is part of the International Trade Fair. It starts April 14th and we will leave on April 17th. (I believe it runs through the rest of April.) So we will have to pay the higher hotel prices for only about 3 nights. We have both been sick with colds so hopefully we won't be sick IN China. We should be over our colds before we go. We will get to celebrate our first major holiday with our new daughter and our new friends (the other families completing their adoptions at the same time). And going at the time we're going allows us to get in on some things here before we go (a meeting at Nebraska Children's Home on the 16th, a Christian comedian at our church [COME SEE JEFF ALLEN, March 19th at 7 pm, ONLY $10 to get in! BRING FRIENDS! @ St. Andrew's United Methodist Church, 15050 Maple], Tony's ETI for racing, a Matco sales meeting on the 28th...) and also allows time for Tony to work with his customers and give them plenty of notice of when we'll be gone. Granted, we would have gladly missed some of these things to go sooner but God knows what He's doing! We were meant to go to China at this time.

I know! Flossie! Flossie Pearl was my great grandmother's name! Isn't that a great name? Any comments?

A Little Closer!

Today we received word that we will probably be going to China late March. Currently we have an appointment at the US Consulate for April 15. That will be where the adoption is finalized. We will receive confirmed dates probably on Monday so we aren't supposed to make any travel arrangements until we receive that word.

Or.... Hortense?

Welcome Home from Columbia! AND Travel Approval!

We were privileged last night to be at the airport when our friends, Brad and Tammy, came home from Columbia with their three new sons! They had several family and friends there to meet them and the boys and Mia. They were all very tired but glad to be home.

Then, today, we received TA (Travel Approval)! Yeah! We don't have dates yet, though. Holt will get us an appointment at the US Consulate in Guangzhou which will then determine our travel dates. If everything works out like we want it to, we COULD be leaving in less than 2 weeks!

Keep watching the blog!

How about Gertrude? Does she look like a Gertrude?

Finding Ad

Soon after I posted yesterday the mail came and in it was something I had sent for earlier in February. A while back I had found a web site that has access to "finding ads" in China. Once we received the LOA, I felt safe in checking to see if they had Beibei's finding ad. A Finding Ad is a little ad in the newspaper with a picture and a description of where and when a child was found. The purpose is to allow the birth parent(s) to come forward and claim the child. The picture is earlier than the pictures received in the referral so is a good reference for parents and physicians especially in the case of cleft lip/palate to see how severe it was before surgery. The officials are required to place these finding ads as part of the process of making a child available for adoption.

Anyway, they had Beibei's finding ad and I also paid to receive the ACTUAL paper that it was in. Her finding ad was in the April 17, 2008, edition of the "Southern Farmer's Daily" paper. That was about 2 months before her surgery. Luckily, her cleft lip was not very severe at all and based on that picture and the 2 pictures we have she may not need anymore surgery but that will all be determined once we get her home and have her examined by an expert in the field.

Once we got looking at the paper and read the certification that came with it, we realized the extent of the children being left to be found. Hers was the 428th picture ad of 2008 -- and this was only April 17th! AND, this is only one paper in all of China! We were able also to see the other picture ads that appeared along with hers and her lip was a piece of cake compared to some of the other little children's lips/palates. Wow!

Well, we continue to wait for TA. Hopefully we will be able to hold her in our arms very soon and try to get a smile out of her!