"Everybody should birth a 2 year old"

This is Karis’ comment as Olivia taught her mommy how to help her get dressed.
It’s been an incredible day! It began with a van ride through rush hour in Beijing, continued with a 2 hour train ride through the country side to Shijiazhuang, then we moved on with several hours in government officials’ offices and finally about 4:30 this afternoon Karis and Olivia Tian Yi Day became mother and daughter.
Amazingly enough, the transition went quite smoothly. For the most part Olivia was calm, even when the Nanny handed her to Karis. It wasn’t until a little later that she began to cry. This lasted only a few minutes and then she got quiet again. She was this way all the way back to the hotel and through her dinner. It was a joy to watch Karis feed Olivia for the first time. (Yes, she loves carrots and apple sauce.)


Then she changed her clothes and an amazing thing happened…Olivia began to laugh. We think it is because her mommy is so inept at changing her clothes, but we can’t be sure and Olivia didn’t mind helping her one bit. No matter what the reason she opened up and became a smiley, happy little girl within just a few short hours.
Even when Karis introduced Olivia to her grandma and grandpa via the webcam she was still giggling and talking and mimicking her uncle John. It was a pretty incredible sight.
She is a healthy, beautiful, little girl who has nearly outgrown those 24 month clothes she’s received. The nanny from the Orphanage says she sure loves to eat and we think by the looks of her and how she ate this evening she is correct.
It is an amazing thing to watch God fulfill a dream he laid in Karis’ heart. A verse he has given to her is, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thess 5:24) God surely has done it and to describe it is beyond words.
As I close for today, uncle John is sleeping in the chair, mommy Karis is sleeping in the bed and baby Olivia is sleeping in her crib. It is an incredibly peaceful moment. I would say the Lord has been faithful as we’ve prayed for years about this moment. It truly couldn’t have gone much better. I would remind you though to continue to pray. This is only the beginning, Karis and Olivia both have much to learn about each other; how to trust, how to love and how to bond. I know the Lord is in their midst and it truly is an amazing thing to watch.
Blessings,
Auntie Teen

A great climb!

Sunday was another event-filled day! We started off the day with a church service, then went a jade factory, lunch, climbed the Great Wall, and finally attended an acrobat show. By they time we made it back to the hotel we were once again exhausted.

The highlight of the day for me was the Great Wall. The portion of the 4,500 mile wall that we visited was on a hillside… so in order to “walk” along it, we climbed, and climbed, and climbed. Karis is not so comfortable with heights, so Christine and I pushed her up. Well, not literally… but a little encouragement went a long way. My comment as we were climbing was that I didn’t think those steps were built to code. Of course waaaay back when they were built there were no building codes! Some steps were little, some steps were BIG… and some steps were just right. (But most were BIG!)


We finally made it to the top of one section. It was a great sight to see, and a fun accomplishment. As you can see from the group shot of us… there was still more wall to climb, but we were on a schedule (and perhaps a bit wobbly knee’d), so we headed back down. The trip down was perhaps more challenging than the climb!

As I write this it is Monday morning, and we are boarding a train that leaves at 9:47 am for Shijiazhuang, the city near where Olivia lives! We were excited to hear that our next leg of the journey would be via high-speed train. After getting to the hotel and unpacking, this afternoon we will meet little Olivia at last! I’ll let Karis talk more about that if she has time this morning. It’s an exciting day!!

Signing off for now,

(soon to be) Uncle John

They wouldn't let us sleep.......

Our day started at 8:30 am in the lobby of the hotel. We, along with 10 other AWAA families, were escorted around town by the most wonderful guide named Sherry. We started at Tienanman Square (along with 250,000 other people….it was quite crowded!), entered the Forbidden City (with the same 250,000 other people….), shopped at a pearl market and silk factory, visited the Summer Palace and ate Chinese food….twice. We arrived back at the hotel at 8pm, very happy to be back and ready to relax!

It’s been fun getting to know the other families in our group. Two of them are adopting their second child from China. The families are from all over the country, we are the only ones from Mpls.
We received some fun news this afternoon! We found out we will be taking a train on Monday morning to the city where we will get Olivia. John is very excited to take a train in China….my first question was, “is there a bathroom, and if so how many stars?” (Our guide rated the bathrooms for us today…I wasn’t able to use anything less than 4 star, Christine braved a 3 star). We also found out Olivia will be the first to be adopted out of this particular orphanage in two years and we’ll get to visit the orphanage. That will most likely happen on Tuesday (the day after we pick her up).
One more day of sightseeing….and then Olivia. As we sat on the bus on the way back to the hotel tonight it seemed kind of surreal to me to imagine that all of these families would soon have one more. Soon there will be 11 added to our group. Each family in our group is adopting a special needs child. 10 girls and 1 boy.
Two more sleeps until we get to meet you Olivia. We can’t wait.

Goodnight!
Karis

Safely in Beijing!!

We made it! After about 26 hours of travel we finally made it to our hotel rooms around 11 pm, Friday, November 7th. I left my house in San Diego just before 5 am on Thursday morning. I flew from San Diego to Portland, while Karis and Christine flew from Minneapolis to Portland. Together we then boarded an Airbus 330 to Tokyo, and finally another A330 to Beijing. AWAA, Karis’ adoption agency, had someone at the airport waiting for us. It could not have been any easier! We had no troubles at all during travel.

I was hoping to send this update last night… but boy were we tired! It’s now 5:30 am on Saturday morning and I can’t sleep! I’m exhausted from barely sleeping on the plane… but that internal clock of mine won’t let me sleep. Time for my first blog entry.

Today our guide is meeting us at 8:30 am in the hotel lobby and we’ll be off to tour Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. It’s likely to be a grand day! The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a high of 53 degrees.

Signing off for now,

John

p.s. The first thing out of Karis's mouth this morning was "do you remember where we packed the toilet paper?"

When we meet....

Only one week until I meet the little girl I've been waiting more than three years for, and one week until she meets the mom she knows nothing about. She's lived for two years in an orphanage, two years in the same place, with the same people, and it's all she knows. In a travel meeting today, they stressed the importance of having no preconceived expectations about "gotcha day". Each union with each child is so different they said. Some children cry for days, some become "almost catatonic" and some seem ok. But each one grieves. The only material things that will come with her on "gotcha day" are the clothes on her back. And they told us today to let them wear those clothes for awhile. "Even though your first instinct will be to put on those cute new clothes you brought, let them keep what they know for a little while". Even though in my heart I've been her mom from the moment I saw her sparkling eyes in those pictures, I'm going to look different, smell different, and sound different than anything she's ever seen or experienced before. She won't know at that moment we meet that I'm mom (or maybe she will....that's what I've been praying for anyway).

So dear family and friends, thank you for continuing to pray as our journey together as mom and daughter begins....in only one week. Please pray that all of us will stay safe and healthy as we travel. Please pray that they allow all of our luggage on each plane we board in china (we've tried to stay within restrictions but it's really hard!!). Please pray that all of my paperwork will be complete and that we won't run into any red tape. And most of all, please pray that I will know how to be mom and that Olivia and I will get to know each other on her terms, and in her timing in those first few days together. Please pray that even though we will all be so new to her, that she will feel safe and loved with us. Yes, safe and very much LOVED!

And thank you John and Christine for making this trip with me. And THANK YOU all my family and friends for following us in this adventure.....WHOOOOOWHEEEEEEEE, we're going to CHINA to bring Olivia HOME!!

p.s....I bought pink duct tape to hold her diapers together in case the size I bought are too big :)

Travel Itinerary

This is really happening! We got our travel itinerary today....5 days until we leave for China.

• Thursday, Nov 6 - Leave for Beijing
• Friday, Nov 7 - Arrive in Beijing (REALLY tired....:)
• Saturday, Nov 8 - Beijing sightseeing (Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace)
• Sunday, Nov 9 - Beijing sightseeing (Church service, Great Wall)
• Monday, Nov 10 (Kata's Birthday!) - GOTCHA DAY! Morning flight to Shijiazhuang, afternoon meet Olivia Tian Yi Day, Civil Affairs Appointment
• Tuesday - Thursday, Nov 11 - 13 - Paperwork, sightseeing and shopping
• Friday, Nov 14 - Flight to Guangzhou
• Saturday, Nov 15 - Sightseeing and shopping
• Sunday, Nov 16 - Medical exam and consulate paperwork
• Monday, Nov 17 - Consulate appointment
• Tuesday, Nov 18 - Pick up Olivia's visa
• Wednesday, Nov 19 - Depart for HOME!!

Travel Approval came today!

It looks like we will be traveling to China on November 6th with a tentative return date of November 19th or 20th. My adoption agency said they would like to get us to China and home before Thanksgiving.

Olivia...you will get your first taste of Turkey! And mashed potatoes...and gravy....and stuffing....mmmmm!