On our way to get her now!!

We are leaving right now to get Finley. The driver will be here in about 5 min and we just heard Finley is about 30 min away from the Civil Affairs building in Shenyang. I will post when we return. Not much luck with the video yet. Ive been working all morning trying to get it to work but not yet.

Kids, I will call you as soon as we are back to the room. It might be late but I'm sure you want to see your sister so we will Skype then. I love you very much!!!!

Im so sorry :(

***UPDATE (by Lai) - Pics added below!! Christy said she will explain the pics when they get online again:):) Yippeeee!!!! Finley is so cute!! I can't believe they got to spend the day with her!!!!***

I'm so sorry but I cant get anything to upload here. It is not working right now and I am about as exhausted and pissed off as I can be-- ugggg!! The Internet connection is so slow that it wont allow any of the video to upload or even the pictures for that matter. I have emailed the pictures to Laila and hopefully she can get them posted soon, but the great stuff was all in the videos.

I will give you a few highlights and I will figure out a way to make this work tomorrow but I have to go to bed for now because I can hardly keep my eyes open while typing. We walked in to the orphanage and made our way to the kids room and there was Finley with a nanny and she sees us and the nanny says something and Finley says mamma and reaches out to come into my arms. I grab her and she plants a big kiss on my lips. It was adorable-- yet I am sure it was coached-- it was still darling and she was as sweet as can be. The love fest lasted for a few minutes until she realized we were not leaving and then she just went about her merry way without a thought of us. She let us be with her here and there but not too much. She was a little leery of us and did not want a ton to do with us but everyone said she must know something was up because she was acting a bit strange. When I say strange, I don't mean weird, just a bit quiet and maybe a little clingy with the nannies.

Anyway, the day progressed and we gave the older kids their gifts and they loved them. They really did love them and they all were so appreciative. At that poine Finley had to take a 2 hour nap so we just walked around and visited the little ones upstairs. They were adorable and then Finley came up as soon as she was awake. It is very interesting seeing her in her natural environment. She is a bit of a leader and all the kids gravitate towards her. She is very orderly and likes to help. One thing that became very clear is that she is very bright. Her language is great and speaks very well and understands everything. She is obviously bright and her motor both fine and gross seem to be great!! Believe it or not, we actually have video of her going potty which she does very independently and will let you know as soon as she needs to. She is just a great little one and I cant believe how lucky we are to have her as our daughter.

I think tomorrow will bring some tears on her end but today really helped get her more use to us. She is very well attached to the nannies and the kids so no matter what, I think we will have tears tomorrow but we are cool with that and expect it so we will be fine.

I'm sorry I don't have the video but I will totally work hard tomorrow to try to figure what the heck is up with this online connection and work to get the video up ASAP. It is priceless footage I want you all to see so stay tuned for the video-- I will make it work. And hopefully Laila will get the email and post the pictures sometime soon. I will get more into detail on the pictures soon but right now without them in front of me-- my mind is blank and I can hardly think and type since I am so tired. I will post more tomorrow. Please pray for Finley as tomorrow is going to be a very traumatic day for our little girl.

Kids, we love you and miss you. Tomorrow is the day we get your sister so stay tuned and we will call you in the evening when we have Finley. We love you so very much!!!

Some Sight Seeing and Prep

UPDATE-- thanks so much lai for adding the pictures-- always can count on you!!!

It is now 7am (we are 16 hours ahead of west coast time) and we are getting ready and heading down to breakfast soon. I am so nervous-- my stomach is in knots. Our driver will pick us up and we will head to Fushun. I will post pictures and video as soon as I get back to our hotel. Pray that today goes smooth and that Finley will be open to our love and affection. I just cant wait!!! Thanks again for everyone at home who is making this process possible-- you guys rock!!!


***EDIT (by Lai) - added pictures below!!****

OK, we are having issues with posting pics on the blog because the Internet is so slow that the VPN we have to use here in China is timing us out. I'm not sure the issue but the Internet has been spotty all day and we have been told it is because it is the weekend and of the high use. Hopefully tomorrow we wont have this issue but if we do I will make sure I can post the video and pictures because I know you all are waiting for them. I am emailing the pics from today to my BFF Laila and hopefully in a few hours she will have them on the blog so check back if they are not up when you look.

Today was great!!! We love the breakfast buffet and the coffee was great and we sat there forever just talking. We also saw a bunch of other euro/American people and were able to talk to a lot of them. Come to find out, Michelin Tires is opening a big new plant here and they are relocating a bunch of the executives from all over the world here in Shenyang for a 3 to 5 year stay. Many of them have apartments in our hotel so we get to see them at breakfast. There were folks from Germany, Poland, France and a wonderful family we ended up spending the day with from South Carolina. They are sooooo cool and we just fell in love with them. They have an 8 year old son and a 10 year old daughter and they are relocating for the 3 to 5 years. They have been in our hotel for 3 weeks and will be moving into their apartment on Tuesday. They love it here so far. They have a driver at their beck and call and their apartment will be over 2000 SQ Ft. Their kids get an amazing education and it is a great opportunity for their whole family. Anyway they were about as gracious as can be and we took a really long walk with them around town in the single digit temperature by the way!! I did a great job in the cold and stayed pretty warm-- I was very proud of myself as many of you know I am a weather wimp. Anyway, it was a great walk and then they called their driver to take us to an awesome restaurant tonight which was a cultural event in itself. The restaurant was obviously a hang out for many. It is a 4 story restaurant and you choose your food on the bottom floor then they seat you and they bring you the food. This area of China is known for their dumplings and they had amazing ones to sample. We again had a ton of food and Kev had a beer and our total bill was 50 yuan which is about $7.50 total. It is soooo cheap!! We are loving the food and loving the price even more. We will for sure go back to that restaurant!!

After dinner the driver picked us up and we came back to the hotel to prepare the gifts for tomorrow. They are all ready and we are heading to Fushun at 8:30am. I guess Fushun is about an hour and a half away but the orphanage is on the outskirts so it is actually a 2.5 hour drive so on our way though the city we are picking up Ms. Wang-- the nanny we love-- and get to drive the next hour with her. I am so looking forward to getting to spend time with this wonderful woman!!! We get to stay as late as we want at the orphanage so I would guess we will be there till after dinner then go to dinner with Ms. Wang and then head home.

On Monday we are supposed to get Finley around 9am. Anyway, we are tired so I will head to bed. Hopefully LAila can get the pictures posted soon but tomorrow I will for sure get the video and pics posted in a timely manner.

Big hugs and please pray for us-- tomorrow is an important day!!

Loading bags at the airport

Airport

In lobby of hotel in Shenyang

Food!

Around Shenyang - very metropolitan!

Around Shenyang

Getting gifts ready for orphanage kids

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!

First things first, we made it!!!! Second thing-- our VPN works and I can blog-- YAAAAAA!!!! So darn happy about that.

We arrived on time and were met by our wonderful guide Maggie!! She is just as wonderful as Bob and Pat had said and I cant say enough about her. Any of you out there who know me know that I am ummmmmm...... not necessarily the easiest person with food and ordering etc. Maggie is so darn patient and walked us around to all the local restaurants by our hotel just to show us things on the menu that we would like. She is really awesome!! Anyway, we rode from the airport and to our hotel and got situated in our room for a few minutes and then Maggie took us on a walking tour and BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!!! Myra, you were right. Dress warm. Yes, the buildings are very warm but it is very chilly outside and you do need to dress for it.

Shenyang is a big city and we noticed it seems to be much more well to do than many of the other cities we have visited in China. There are tons of malls and they have crazy expensive shops like Burbury, Feregamo, Rolex, and many other shops you would only see in very expensive areas. The strange part was that they were full of people buying things. There are very nice cars and people dress very well in very expensive clothing-- man I feel like a thug in my sweats and uggs. Anyway, it is very different here and it's very metropolitan.

Of course I needed my diet coke which (Ethan you will be so happy) is Coke Zero here. So we went to Walmart which is a short walk and that alone is an experience and now we are in our room unpacking and then we are going to get a quick bite, force ourselves to stay awake a few more hours then crash out!!! Tomorrow we have a day to do whatever and actually we have no idea what we are going to do with the exception of getting the orphanage gifts ready in the evening. We are leaving for the orphanage at 8:30am on Sunday morning and that time can not come soon enough. I will get some pictures of the city and post tomorrow.

Hope all is well with you guys and Kids, we miss you soooooo much!!! Already I get teary when I think of you guys. Have fun at Brad and Amy's this weekend and we will skype with you tomorrow-- too early for you to now plus you have to go to school. We love you soooooo much!!!!

We made it to Seoul

We left last night or sometime like that because currently I have no idea what day it is. We headed to my parents house for a quick pizza dinner and then my parents took us to LAX and my sister took the kids home to be with them for the next 15 days. It was hard saying goodbye to the kids and I was for sure emotional but knowing they are sleeping in their own beds and my sister (2nd mom) is with them, it is all ok! We had this last picture of a family of 5 taken before we left for the airport.

Next time we are all together we will be a family of 6-- wow!! That sounds so strange!

After 13 hours of flying we made it to Seoul at 5am. We tried to lay on the couches and sleep a bit but never really slept because we were so cold. So we waited till 7am when everything opened and had some breakfast-- no not ham and eggs-- Korean breakfast which is not what you would expect for breakfast.

Please excuse the nasty hair and oil laden face-- at this point we've been traveling for about 19 hours. I ate some noodle soup thing with a bunch of funky nondescript things in it. Was super spicy and I loved it!!!!

A picture of the "food court" in the Seoul airport

Kevin also had a funky rice thing with a bunch of other funky things in it and he loved it as well! We love this kind of food so even though it is funky, we still like it!

So now we wait for our plane to Shenyang. It is only an hour and 30 minute flight over to Shenyang and we have about an hour and a half left till we leave. So, in about 3 hours, we will be in the city we will get Finley-- yaaa!!! We arrive Friday (today for us here) at 11:20am and our guide Maggie will meet us at the airport and take us around and to our hotel. Tomorrow is sightseeing around Shenyang and then Sunday is the orphanage visit which we can hardly wait for. Anyway, I will check back in later once we arrive in Shenyang but I wanted everyone to know we made it safe to Korea.

Ethan, Owen and Mia-- we love and already miss you!! We will call you tonight on Skype. Only 2 more days till we finally have your little sister. Be good for Cassie and we love you so very much. Love Mommy and Daddy!!

On our way!!!!

Today is the day. It seems surreal that we actually board a plane to our little girl tonight, but we do--- the day is here!!!

I'm a bundle of nerves. I hardly slept last night with my mind swirling with excitement and worry. Luckily Kevin got the boys off to school so I could sleep a bit this morning, but that did not go too well either. I am nervous right now. Its a combination of worry about leaving the kids for so long and how they will do without us and a combination of worry about the unknown. I know the boys will be fine with my sister staying here and taking care of them and I know Mia will too, but she has been asking all kinds of questions that bring tears to my eyes. Since Sadie died on New Years Day, Mia has been concerned with death and going to heaven forever and that we will never see that person or animal ever again. She keeps asking if we are going to be gone forever and needing reassurance that we will come back and we are not going to heaven. Of course we have had some tender moments snuggling and talking through all this and I think she is fine, but I know she is internalizing this and is worried. It breaks my heart to see her worry so please pray for our little Mia. Pray the Lord gives her peace that we will be fine and that He prepares her heart for the arrival of her sister. Pray for the boys that they will be obedient to my sister and that they too will have their hearts prepared for Finley's arrival. I also ask for prayer for Finley and that her heart will also be prepared for our arrival. Her life is about to be changed like never before and I pray that she is open to our love and affection and that she will feel comfort in our arms. Also pray for Kevin and I that we too will be ready for whatever comes out way- that we will be flexible with any changes in plans. Finally, please pray for my sister Cassie as she is taking on a monumental task of taking care of my 3 kids with all their activities. She is a pro at this and is like second mom to them but please pray that things run smoothly and that she does not get overwhelmed with the chaos of our lives. I know she will do great but please keep Cass in your prayers and if you live close, give her a call to check in :)

So that is it. To give you a bit of a rundown, we leave tonight at 10:50pm from LAX. We get into Seoul Korea tomorrow sometime and then we take a hop over to Shenyang Liaoning (where we will get Finley) and arrive at 11:20am on Friday January 21. Saturday we have a free day and then Sunday we get to go to the orphanage at Fushun (Finley's orphanage) all day Sunday where we get to present all the gifts to the staff and kids that my BFF Laila bought. The next day, Monday morning, we get Finley at the Civil Affairs Office in Shenyang. So that is the itinerary for our first number of days. I will be blogging the whole time so you can follow along here. I will be uploading pictures and VIDEO!!!

I want to thank all of you for your support on this journey to bring Finley home. I am humbled by the love and support so many of you have shown our family over the years and I want to thank all of you.

Stay tuned. Our adventure is about to begin!!!!!!!

Ummmm... It's January???

Ya, it's January 17 and it is not feeling like January here in Southern California. It's not comfy nice 60 to 70 degree weather like some of our January days can be. NO, it's HOT!!!!! We are talking about 90 degrees HOT!!!! Even for us this weather is unusual and kind of random. So, what do the kids do on MLK day off school-- they SWIM! Yes, the boys and their friends decided to pull out their wetsuits and swim. They decided wetsuits were in order because the water is in the 50's but Mia braved the cold water and did a great job-- didn't last too long, but she did swim a bit!

The first one in!!!

Getting ready to take the plunge!

Going down the slide

Wimps :)

Many of you followed our blog when we adopted Mia from China. I wore this amazing necklace with Mia's picture in it when we adopted her and she was fascinated with the necklace and played with it often. I loved having her picture around my neck and close to my heart. So now we are about to leave on Wednesday to adopt Finley and as with Mia, I want to keep Finley close to my heart. Here is the necklace- ready for our next amazing adventure!!!

Going Crazy Packing and Preparing

I'm so sorry I have been gone from blogging for so long but we have so much going on here. Besides our regular crazy busy life, trying to pack, prepare and arrange child care for 15 days has been taking all my extra time.

We are set to leave this Wednesday for China. I can hardly wait. There has been one change. We are now staying one extra day and coming home on Chinese New Year Day- February 3. We made the change because the busiest travel day of the year in China is Chinese New Years Eve which is the day we had planned on leaving-- BUT-- we could not get train tickets to Hong Kong (we got cheaper tickets to fly out of Hong Kong which is a 2 hour train ride from Guangzhou) because they were sold out because of the high travel demand of that day. So, we decided to leave one day later- which means we get to celebrate CNY in Guangzhou which is a once in a lifetime experience which we are thrilled about-- and we now get to fly our of Guangzhou instead. It's a much better plan than the Hong Kong thing and it was less than $100 total to make the change.

Finley at about 2 years old-- so cute

Oh yes, and if you are wondering if I actually have other children since you have not seen pictures of them forever-- yes I do but I just have not had time to take pictures but I will try to post some new pics of the kids very soon so you all can remember what they look like -- lol!!!

Tickets Bought-- T minus 13 days!!!!

So airline tickets have been bought-- hotels booked-- and we are in full packing mode!!!!

So here is our schedule:

1-19-11- LAX to Seoul Korea-- couple hours in Seoul airport then to Shenyang Liaoning

1-21-11- Arrive in Shenyang at 11:20AM

1-22-11- Free day

1-23-11- Orphanage Visit BEFORE we get Finley!!!! Can you believe it but they are making an exception for us because our travel is kind of funky because of Chinese New Year so we had to fly in early to Shenyang and leave early-- sooooooo, they are letting us spend the whole day at Finley's orphanage playing with Finley and the other kids and totally getting to know her for a full day BEFORE she has to be taken to a strange place and given over to complete strangers!!!! We are thrilled that Finley will get to know us before we take her. Plus, we are bringing gifts for all the kids in the orphanage (there are only 37) and will get to have quality time with Finley and the other kids!! The only reason they allowed us to visit is because of our relationship with Bob and Pat the retired couple who they adore. They only allowed us because of them so we thank they so much for helping us through this.

1-24-11- GOTCHA DAY WITH FINLEY!!!

1-25-11- Paperwork and a possible half day at the orphanage

1-26-11- Fly out at 1pm to Guangzhou-- arrive at 5pm in Guangzhou

1-27-11- Finley's Medical Exam and TB shot

1-28-11- Free Day

1-29-11- TB Test read

1-30-11- Free day

1-31-11- Consulate Appointment

2-1-11- Swearing in ceremony and pick up visas

2-2-10- Train to Hong Kong- Fly to Seoul- Seoul to LAX

That is our schedule as of now. We are flying Korean Air and I am thrilled with our hotels. I just cant wait to get her in our arms especially when I woke up this morning to these new pictures sent by Ms. Wang. She has been sending me baby pictures and I am thrilled to have these little pieces of Finley's life before us!!

I think this is the youngest picture of Finley that we have-- Look at those eyes!!!

Holy cow-- she is stinkin cute-- plain and simple!!

Love it!!!

We got our TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE GOT IT!!!! WE HAVE OUR TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!! We got it!! I cant believe it and I am sooooooo darn excited!! We should be leaving on January 13 which is next Thursday!! I cant believe it is here now and that we will be leaving so soon!! This is amazing!!

Anyway, as the details come in, I will let you know the exact details of our travel and of course, I will be blogging the whole time so you can follow our journey here.

Ms. Wang has begun to send me baby pictures of Finley and is going to burn a DVD and get all her development stats for me-- yaaa!! This info is invaluable!! Here are some of them.

Oh my goodness-- I just want to squeeze her!!!

Could not love this picture more!! She is so squishy and sweet!!!

I think this was this past summer. Finley with Ms. Wang

Beautiful Betty with Finley!! Betty was adopted back in June to a wonderful family in Florida. Her grandparents who volunteer at Fushun regularly have been pivotal in creating the contacts with our Guide as well as Ms. Wang!!

Too cute!!

Awwwww!!!!!

Love this one. Ever noticed she always has something in her hand that she is eating. Guess we know what she likes to do--- eat!!!!

Another food picture. She is so adorable!!! They dress her so cute!