Midnight in Nanchang

Check out the room service menu- cheese and pineapple burger- YUMMY

we opted for the tomato, ham pizza. It was prett good!

The view from our room......

It's 1:00 am and we've been up for about 2 hours. Mom and Dad, we've tried to call home but could not get through. We have Skype and have been able to talk to friends, thanks to Monica for getting us set up, I'm SO glad we did.

Today was cold and rainy so we only took one short trip out to the market. What an adventure that was! We are in the 'old' part of town and the streets are pretty narrow. There is a lot of construction so in places you have to walk in the road to get by. The cars and motorcycles do not slow down for pedestrians so you have to move quick! The market was very big- 3 stories. There was shoes and clothes on the main floor and the 2 upper levels are groceries. We bought bottled water, 2 bottles of coke, 2 bottles of OJ, a belt (I forgot mine!) and one box of formula (forgot all about the diapers until we got back to the room!) I think we paid about $20.

So, we went back to the room and slept most of the day. At 3:00 today Helen (our guide) will come to our room and help with the paperwork and we will meet Reed at 3:30!!

Right now we're making oatmeal for breakfast/dinner; whatever you want to call it. Hope our bodies catch up with the time difference today and we can work out a better routine.

Ni Hao from China !

How much longer ???

very tired...............

lunch, yum!

The bathroom is huge in our room. Yes, they gave us double beds- must be all $86 USD a night will get you :) Oh Connie, how do you turn the heat off, the room is hot like you said it would be !!

We have arrived at our hotel after two very long flights. We tried to get some sleep on the flight to Shanghai, but neither of us could sleep at all. Tim watched about 4 movies and I paced the floor. We've flown for 23 hours including the layover in Shanghai so we're trying to wind down enough to call it a night. Oh, the driver that picked us up in Shanghai was so nice- he took us into the Hongqiao airport and showed us where the check-in couter was. Helen is our guide in Nanchang, and she is wonderful. She is letting us sleep in tomorrow and we're meeting at 2pm to go to the local market. Will post pictures tomorrow, time to get some sleep :)

(it's 1 am on the 28th in Nanchang, I haven't figured out how to make the time change on my laptop yet)

We're in Atlanta !

Ready to go.....

Whew, I'm SO glad we're finally here and in the hotel room. We were held for about 45 min before leaving for Atlanta because of a delay at the ATL airport. I sat beside the sweetest lady with her BABY BOY, oh he was so precious!! She let me hold him while she was getting settled in and he was just precious. His name was Devin, so cute! Tim sat in the row in front of me and I could hear him bragging like a proud papa about our son we are finally going to meet.

It's finally starting to feel real.....................

Yes, my face is still red from the skin rash but we're having a ball (ok, Tim is scared and I'm trying not to let him know that I'm not so sure about how we're going to find our way through the airports tomorrow but....) we're so excited that we are only FOUR days away from seeing our son's sweet face~!!

ONE

Well, this is it!! Tomorrow begins our trip to China.
I wish I could personally thank each and every one of you who have prayed for us these last few days. Yes, they have been trying. I have been to the hospital twice after having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics I've been taking for a week. The skin rash does not look as bad as it did last night and my Dr wrote us a letter saying I'm NOT contagious, so we're on our way TOMORROW.

So, thank you so much for everything. We are truly touched by the advice, gifts, prayers, money and support you have all given to us. We know without a doubt that Reed will love each of you as much as we do!!

FIVE

days until we leave. Long story short- I had a tooth ache last week and went to the dentist. I ended up getting a crown and now I'm suffering with a horrible tooth ache so I hope it's not going to require any more work.
Anyway, FIVE days until we leave. Go away tooth ache!!

SIX DAYS!!!

(I believe this is the first picture ever taken of Reed, isn't he gorgeous?!)

In SIX days we will be boarding a plane! I am so excited, we have waited so long to start a family and I would not change a thing, not one single day! These last 10 years we have been through the loss of Tim's mom and the stress and heartache of not being able to get pregnant. Our love has grown stronger and I know that we can get through anything together, I love you honey and I can't wait for our lives as a family of THREE to begin.

God is so good! If there's something you desire and you believe in your heart that it's the right thing; take to to the Lord and pray without ceasing.

You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Psalm 30:11-12

Finally a complete itinerary !!!

Feb 25th- fly to Atlanta(depart at 6:00pm)
Feb 26- depart Atlanta for Shanghai
Feb 27- arrive in Shanghai, change airports and fly from Shanghai to Nanchang
Feb 28- rest and sleep and rest and sleep (ok Monica, I promise to get out in the sunshine)
March 1- FAMILY DAY, what a nice surprise- Reed will join us a day earlier than expected. Oh I can't wait to see his precious face!!!
March 2- Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Reed. Registration, notarization and passport application
March 3- Rest
March 4- Sightseeing, visit TengWang Pavilion
March 5- Pick up notarized papers
March 6- pick up passport for Reed and fly to Guangzhou
March 7- Medical exam, fill out forms for consulate
March 8- Safari Park
March 9- Consulate Appointment
March 10- Yuntai Park, oath taking ceremony
March 11- fly home- THANK YOU JESUS

Travel arrangements

Here's all we know so far,
We leave Wednesday, Feb 25th at 6 pm and arrive in Shanghai on Friday, Feb 27th at 2:45pm
Monday, March 2nd - Yu Jun's 2nd birthday, he will join our family forever. Praise Jesus, He has done great things!!!
Our return flight leaves from Guangzhou at 9:30 am on March 11th and arrives at our local airport at 8:15pm.

We have so many thoughts and feelings running through our minds;
we pray he is healthy and free from emotional distress. We understand that although we are joyful and full of love for him, he will be scared, sad and possibly angry for losing the life and surroundings that he is used to. Please pray for a safe trip and for our sweet boy's transition.

It's here !!

Our travel approval arrived today!! This makes the end of our journey to Reed and the BEGINNING to our LIFE with Reed.

I'll post the details as soon as we get our dates set.



Must go pack !!

Please take a moment to pray for this family

Please stop whatever you're doing at this very moment and pray for Abby and her family.