It's almost time...

Tomorrow is countdown day 4. 

FOUR DAYS!

How did we get here? 

I made a final shopping list and packing list.  Tomorrow is shopping day rain or shine. 

All the nifty baby supplies at my house have to stay at my house because my babies will still be there.  It will be good to have a back up pack of all our stuff for when we get home.
I've packed clothing and a few supplies but Saturday is get-down-to-business day! We will be in China for 17 days and I've got to get busy!



 I'm praying the Lord will guide my thoughts and direct my heart these next few days to draw especially close to my kids in these days before we leave. I made this (so not Pinterest-worthy) paper chain with the dates we will be gone and daily scriptures for my kids.  They can tear off one link each day until we are home. 

 

Our fabulous homeschool mom's group "Mom's Rest Stop" had a shower for me today.  The décor was so sweet and really, really, REALLY made me ready to go get these babies!!! Isaac and Isabella are coming home.  ISAAC AND ISABELLA ARE COMING HOME!

 

 

 

Another group of friends is having a shower on Sunday for us... (I know, I have the BEST friends, EVER!) If you would like to come and did not get an invite, please, please message Fiona or message me and get her info I'd LOVE to see you there before we go!

 

Please pray for God to prepare the hearts of our children. Pray for God to be glorified through this whole trip. Pray for our light to shine and His will to be done.  Pray for our other children at home and my Dad as he leads this crew in our absence. 

 

Thank you to all who have come along side of us.  We are so blessed to have The Church all around us!

 

 

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!

The last approval we needed has been granted!

We are going to China!  WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!

When we got the email I started laughing, then crying, then sobbing.

Earlier this week I was so down.  On Good Friday I started missing my mom something fierce. I've cried and prayed and talked to her all week.  A few days ago we put up a hummingbird feeder, one of Mom's favorite things.  My mom loved hummingbirds and cardinals, red birds she called them. One morning a "red bird" landed on the hook and sat there for the longest time.  It was like God was reminding me that He hasn't forgotten me.

So after the Travel Approval was granted, the Consulate appointment was set and it was time to buy plane tickets! 

Yesterday they were purchased along with a few other plans made. 

If you'd like to follow along on our journey an outline of our itinerary is below. 

My Dad comes to Houston 4/19 to stay with the kids.  Doug and I leave Houston 4/22 and travel to Beijing where we will meet up with our group and tour the city.
 On 4/26 we leave Beijing and head to Zhengzhou in the Henan Province where we will meet up with our children on Monday 4/27. We will be in the province that week until we travel to Guangzhou for our Consulate appointment on 5/7.  At that appointment our adoption will be final.  We will leave Guangzhou for Hong Kong on 5/8 and then on 5/9 we will tour Hong Kong Disney. Finally on Mother's Day 5/10 we will do a little time travel and leave Asia at 5:25am and arrive home 14 hours later at 9:20am. 

 Here's a map of China if you want to follow along. (Beijing, Zhengzhou, and Guangzhou are pretty much in a line from North to South)

China is 14 hours ahead of CST.  So pretty much if we are awake, ya'll are sleeping and vice versa!  We will try to be available on Facetime or WeChat.  We will be updating our family and hopefully they can keep ya'll updated throughout our trip.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for all who are praying... we still need it!  We still have some in-country plans to make and we need to pack! Wow... my head is spinning! Thank you for joining us on our journey!