Family Travel Meeting!

This is getting more and more REAL!  Tonight, I had to drive to Charles' office for a 5:15 phone conference/family travel meeting with Josh from our adoption agency.  (Small World...and they are amazing!)  Mia took a nap in the car on the way, and we stopped to pick up dinner.  We had a fine dining experience with Taco Bell on Daddy's desk in his office!  ;)

The meeting lasted an hour and a half and went over our travel in detail.  The biggest stand-out piece of information we received was that we are NOT staying at The White Swan Hotel like we did with Mia.  At first, I was a little sad about it...until I asked Josh about The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou!  (We will be in Guangzhou for the last half of our trip.)  He told us that in the beginning of 2010, Small World stopped using The White Swan because they have been saying for awhile now that they are going to close.  (I think to renovate.  It is nice, but very dated.)  They started sending their families to The Garden Hotel which is SUPER gorgeous, new and fancy...and costs $30 less per night.  We looked it up online during our phone conference and it was really breathtaking!  Get this...it costs less, and we will get a suite instead of the very small room we had at The White Swan!  We loved our stay there because it was so meaningful; but, we are looking forward to the extra space and the luxury!  We will go over to Shamian Island several times though, because we know our way around and just like it!!!

I am not sure our notes are complete, but I am pretty sure he broke our days down like this:

Nov 26 arrive in Guiyang

Nov 27 pass out from travel exhaustion  ;)

Nov 28 "Gotcha Day"!!!  We meet Kennedy and she comes with us!

Nov 29 Adoption Day!!  Return to finalize adoption paperwork...Kennedy becomes a Manning!

Nov 30-Dec 2 Tours in her province and bonding time

Dec 3 Fly from Guiyang to Guangzhou to the Garden Hotel

Dec 4 Medical exam

Dec 5 Tour/down time...Charles gets to do LOTS of paperwork...his turn!

Dec 6 Return to medical clinic for TB test reading

Dec 7 Consulate appointment, we don't actually go...our guide takes our paperwork for us

Dec 8 Swearing In Ceremony at the consulate, this time we go!

December 9 Receive Kennedy's passport with visa to enter USA!

December 10 Relax and/or last minute shopping, then fly from Guangzhou to Los Angeles at 9 p.m.  We will have to spend the night in LA, can not make last flight to Houston

December 11  Arrive HOME with BOTH of our precious daughters as a family of 4!

Have I mentioned how EXCITED we are????????????  This has been a long journey, and it is finally leading us to the daughter God planned for us before WE were even born!  We can not WAIT to HUG her!!  Mia keeps asking every day, "How many more days until I meet my big sister???"  Not much longer now, sweetie!

The details...

OK, I finally have a few minutes to post!  It has been a very exciting but BUSY day!  We will meet Kennedy on Sunday, November 28!  Since we can only fly in on a Friday or a Sunday, we are opting to arrive in her province on Friday, November 26 so we will have Saturday to SLEEP and recover from the LONG journey.  Charles and I are NOT great with travel, but Mia is down right awful with it!  She can barely handle the 50 minute drive to the zoo!  We figured it would not be ideal to get off the plane on Sunday all tired, dirty and grumpy, then meet our precious daughter/big sister right away!

We depart on Wednesday, November 24...the day before Thanksgiving!  (It will actually already be Thursday in China when we leave, though!)  You may recall that we left on Christmas day to meet Mia!  We have a thing for holiday travel, I guess!  We will arrive in Guiyang on Friday, November 26 and meet Kennedy on the 28th.  Our consulate appointment is on December 7 at 9:30 a.m.  We are free to leave the country the evening of December 9, but there are no flights.  So...we can not fly out until 9 p.m. on December 10.  The good news is that it will be about bed time, so hopefully we will sleep through most of the flight.  We will gain a day back and arrive in Los Angeles on December 10, but we will be too late to catch the last flight home.  Therefore, we will spend the night in LA and fly home on December 11.

We are overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation!  What a mountain God has moved, and what a miracle to be thankful for!!!!

For any of you that have been following our blog that are aware of our "Sun Stand Still" prayer for a miracle to allow us to travel in November rather than December as we were told, God has answered our prayer!  This has been a real-life miracle for all to see.  It is our prayer that watching this miracle unfold into reality will draw at least some of you closer to God.  He loves us and truly hears our very specific prayers.  If you have giants in your path right now, have audacious faith!  Pray and ask God specifically for the miracle you need and take a baby step forward.  Thank Him in advance and BELIEVE that He will answer your prayer.  He is mighty and will knock your giants right out of the way.  If you are reading this and you have not yet asked God to come into your heart, you can do it right now.  You don't need any fancy words or a pastor to help you.  Just talk to Him like He's right in the room with you.  Tell him you know you have messed up in the past, and probably will again, but ask Him to come into your heart to stay.  He will, and He will never leave.

Big news!

Working on flights now!  Receiving Kennedy Nov 28!  Consulate appointment December 7!!  Stay tuned!

No specific plans yet...

I know many of you are on pins and needles with us wondering exactly when we are leaving!  We got news on Friday that our Travel Approval was on the way from China to the USA.  That was already Saturday in China, though.  Our agency has to physically receive it before they can fax it to the consulate to schedule our consulate appointment.  It can take a few business days to get appointments set.  That is the last appointment while we are in China, so when we know that date, we can count backwards to figure out the day we need to arrive.  Make sense??  I know, it is a bit complicated.  Now that we will know in a matter of days, the wait can seem even harder!

We spent the whole weekend getting some clothing items for Kennedy and the necessary travel items for the whole family...especially the over the counter medicine we may need if we get sick there.  I did 15 loads of laundry in preparation for packing, and started airing out the suitcases and packing the carry on items.  Gotta say, I am exhausted!

Let's all pray for a fast consulate appointment so we can leave soon!  I will keep you posted!

Sending one last care package!

Charles and Mia are on the way to the post office right now to send a package to our favorite care package company's representative in China.  She will receive it, then re-package it the way it needs to be to make it safely to Kennedy at the orphanage.  (Gifts to China With Love)

We sent a backpack, some fun socks to keep her feet warm in the cold weather she has there now, some batteries for the translator we sent last time, a photo album of her family, home, neighborhood and school, and a name bracelet that says "Kennedy".  We are super excited to send this last package to her with a translated letter as well.  Hopefully, they will get another picture of her receiving her gifts like last time!  We are thinking she will have it not too long before we arrive in China to bring her home!!!!  The care package company calls the orphanage to let them know it is coming and request a picture of her receiving it, then calls to confirm receipt.  They email us any pictures that result!  We LOVE having this kind of contact with Kennedy as we wait to be together at last!

The physical TA will arrive at our agency early next week, then our consulate appointment will be scheduled.  Once that is set up, we will know our exact travel dates and we can make flight reservations!!!!  Praying to travel no later than Thanksgiving week!

I will attempt to post all of the pictures that Kennedy emailed us yesterday below!  Isn't she beautiful!?!  We love the one where she actually smiles and shows her teeth! This is a first!

I know I posted this one yesterday, but her smile is SO beautiful, that I had to post it again! 
Do I sound like her Mom, or what??!!

Another blessing today!

Not only did God literally move the Travel Approval mountain for us today, but we also got an email from Kennedy with about 5 pictures of our princess in purple.  Here is one for now!

Miracle Granted! TA is on the way!!

No time for details, but we got an email early this morning from our agency stating that our TA is on the way!!  You read that correctly, and YES!!! Our Article 5 was just turned in one week ago today!!!!!  More to come.  Working on docs required immediately to schedule our consulate appointment so we can book our flights!!  THANK YOU JESUS!

We sure need help!

Well, not much to post that would interest the general public!  But, we are now one week into the wait for our Travel Approval (a.k.a. TA)  The faster average is 2-3 weeks to receive that, and we need to be in the 2 weeks...preferably LESS...category!  Let me urge you all again to PRAY for God to intervene on Kennedy's behalf!  She needs to come home as quickly as possible.  As difficult as the wait is for us, it is MUCH harder for her given her circumstances.  We need that travel approval by at least this time next week!

Also, time for a little shameless begging here.  You may have noticed that our chip-in bar to the left to help pay for Kennedy's orphanage fee is at a big 0%.  That is only one of the smaller fees we are facing in the next short weeks.  Along with that fee, we have thousands in plane fares, lodging and food for 2 weeks while in China, in-country travel, our guide/translator, exit documents...the list goes on.  We have had 2 wonderful families contribute directly to us to avoid having any of their donation go to Paypal fees.  If you feel led to help us financially in any way...and believe me...EVERY dollar counts...and if you prefer to send it directly to us instead of through Paypal on the chip-in bar, send us a comment and we will give you the address.

If you know ANYONE with a heart for the orphan, PLEASE pass this along to them.  I know this is an uncomfortable post, but we NEED help.  Maybe you can share it with your church, your small group or a business looking for a good cause to donate to.  We would appreciate it greatly!



Here are 2 totally unrelated pictures of our little gymnast.  Any post is better with some pictures!

Officially awaiting TA

Our Article 5 was indeed picked up on Thursday, October 28 and delivered to the CCAA for Travel Approval processing on Friday, October 29!  So...since Friday, we have been officially awaiting TA!  Let's join together in prayer for TA in record, unheard of time!

Please be sure to scroll down to the post I composed earlier today including lots of pictures of Mia!

At home with a sick little one!

Mia's 6th birthday was Saturday!!  Unfortunately, she came home from softball with Charles on Friday night with lots of pain.  We were up most of the night, then spent her birthday morning in an ER clinic.  She has a bladder infection.  BUMMER!  Doc says no more baths, showers only.  She MOSTLY takes showers, but still enjoys playing in the tub a few times a week.  That was also a favorite time of mine to hang out by the tub and talk to my girl about her day.  Well, not so much anymore.  Doc said after the age of 4 or 5, baths can be a recipe for disaster concerning bladder/urinary tract infections for girls.  Advice taken!  I want to avoid seeing her in that kind of pain ever again if I can!  It was heartbreaking!

Discomfort and all, she had a blast at her birthday skate party.  I will try to post some pictures below!

Anyway, as we were driving to school this morning, I heard a terrible sound in the back and looked to find Mia throwing up all over!  Awesome.  We turned around and headed home where we will be for the day.  She has a doctor's appointment at 10.  I want to make sure this is the nasty tummy virus going around at school and not an allergic reaction to the antibiotic she got at our ER visit.  Fun times.  Fun times.

Now she can practice doing hair before we meet Kennedy!  She can't wait to braid her sister's LONG locks!

I love that face!

This posted out of order, but look how excited she was when she opened her Moxie Girl!!

Me and my girl!

Skating Queen!  This girl is FAST!

"Happy Birthday to YOU!!"

Mia got her "Twinkle Toes" (shoes) from Aunt Sarah!!

Finishing off the night sharing ice cream with Daddy!