I will be making our blog private today. Feel free to give the address to people you know want to follow our story.
Finally, the day arrived when we got the golden ticket. Or, email. It said: We received your Travel Approval today! Dick will contact you soon with some dates...start packing!
Sure enough, a few days later we had some dates and I quickly got on the phone with Delta's frequent flyer mile desk. I had tried a few weeks earlier for almost the exact same dates, as they were my guess of when we would go (I have had MANY guesses, starting last October). Nothing. But, this time, a miracle. The flight is not great, but doable. And we got FOUR frequent flier tickets. David, Sarah and I will travel to get our son/ her new brother, 8 year old Lian Yun Peng.
We start in Atlanta at our friends Laura and Brian and Max's home on May 9th. They will take us to the Atlanta airport on May 10th early in the morning. Very early. They are nice friends. Laura has found some Chinese kids music for me on line that I will order today, along with some Bible stories in Chinese.
We arrive in Hong Kong on the 11th. I haven't made arrangements for HK yet, but we want to stay somewhere overlooking the harbor at night, then hopefully see a friend I met last year at one of my dad's seminars.
On May 13th in Nanjing, we will recieve our son. We are "foster parents" for a day, then the paperwork becomes official on the 14th. I wonder if he knows yet? I hope he tells the official he wants to be our son. I wonder how that works? hmm. In Ethiopia, the children have to agree to go with the new parents if they are older.
We have no idea how big he is, so my friends have been giving me ideas for what to pack, and arguing over what team should be on his baseball cap. Of course, David would have nothing but the Utah Jazz, so I'll probably stick with some film hat we have here since I don't have a Jazz hat, which would probably not be too popular in China now anyway.
I hope we can go to Peng's home town the day after we adopt him. It is on the Yellow Sea and is called Lianyungang. Here is their site: http://www.lyg.gov.cn/template/lyggoven/3/04.htm. Yes, that is where his last name derives. Sarah's last name was Guo - Guo Cha Ze, now Sarah Cha Ze Sneath. Zion's and her adoption stories are in our archives on this blog site - I think in November. I think I will print it for her to read on the plane. Must do that.
My mom is going to keep Zion. It will be really, really hard to be away from her until May 30th, when Mom can bring her back.
I have been wanting to post his photo for so long!
In the meantime, please pray with us that:
1. Peng will not be afraid
2. That his foster parents and foster sister will have a good-bye time with him that is meaningful and (ok, I am going to cry now) precious and that we get to meet them and keep in touch with them
3. Peng will want to attach to our family and eventually realize we are his "forever" family
4. That Sarah will experience good things in China and begin to understand possible reasons for her own abandonment
5. That Sarah and Peng will begin to bond
6. That Zion won't think we abandoned her while we are gone, but will have a lovely time with her grandparents
7. That our home will be safe while we are away
8. That travel will go smoothly for us and no one will get sick
9. I can get off these CRUTCHES and walk soon
Thank you for following our new journey!!! Sarah and her friend Lydia are on line now finding places to visit in Hong Kong. "Hey mom, I found a museum we can visit!!!!"
"What is it, honey?"
"The museum of Costal Defense."
hmmmm.
