Gotchya!

This is it, the big day - with joy and thanks in our hearts we announce the arrival of Emily Grace Jiao! We've waited many years for this day and throughout it all we've know the love, prayers and support of many people. If we can return 1/10th the love we have received, Grace will be a very lucky girl. For all the love and support we have received from all of you over the years, thank you from all three of us!

We arrived in Nanning last night where we were greeted by our agency representatives, Michael and Hanna. They will be our guides, facilitators, and translators while we are here in Nanning. They spent some time with us this morning assisting with the various official Chinese documents that we need to conclude the adoption. This afternoon they took us to the Lottery Hotel where we and Grace were united.

There are 10 families in our group and 10 babies... interestingly, there was not a lot of crying. The babies all looked a little confused, they seemed more curious than frightened. We know that's already changed; Grace just woke from her nap and realized she's in a strange place with strange people. That too will change, though, she's ours now and in time she'll be more comfortable around us. In the mean time, we're prepared for the transition.

Tomorrow is more paperwork - the finalizing of the adoption. Then we wait here for a week or so while Grace receive a passport before heading off to Guangzhuo to apply for her immigrant visa.

In the mean time, I think we all just need a nap.

One more step

Our visit to Hong Kong is over. We had fun, but it was mostly a rest stop. We did meet up with family for dinner though; Karen's sister's step son, David, lives and works in Hong Kong and he came to meet us. As nice as it was to stop and catch our breath, though, we're eager to get Grace in our arms... which will happen tomorrow!

We're in the Hong Kong airport now waiting to board our flight to Nanning in just a few minutes. It's a short flight - about an hour. We'll get in around 7:00 and then to the hotel. Hopefully we'll be able to sleep tonight; despite the two days of rest in Hong Kong we are still exhausted. I think our bodies are still in the eastern time zone.

Our luggage situation was resolved without any problems, but unfortunately one other couple in our group hasn't been so lucky. As we were checking in, their bags were still not confirmed to be coming in. We certainly hope this gets resolved tonight, but if not there are 8 other families and we all have some spare baby supplies.

They are starting the boarding process so there isn't much time to write... it may be a few days before we get to post again - our priorities are about to change! However, our next post, whenever that might be, will have very good news!

In Country

Well, we're here - in China, finally!

We arrived last night around 7:00pm local time. Everything on the flight was near perfect, though when we arrived we found that our checked bags had not. Given everything we had experience from Cathay Pacific, though, I was not worried. It's always a pain to arrive without your luggage, but the airport staff was already aware of the problem and knew our bags were delayed rather than lost. Sure enough, they were delivered to our hotel just a few minutes ago.

There are 9 families all ultimately going to Nanning to be united with their children, and another 4 going to Nanchang. Our agency arranged two excellent tour guides; Matthew and Joann, and they took us all on an organized tour of Hong Kong, doing some sight seeing and shopping and finally ending with very delicious Dim Sum lunch. Despite the jet lag and exhaustion, I think we all appreciated the chance to see a bit of this place and spend time meeting our fellow travelers.

However, while it's nice to see the city and meet our travel companions, I don't think there is one of us who wouldn't gladly pass this up for the opportunity to get right on a plane to Nanning. It's good to meet, relax and adjust - but the anticipation about the next step in our journey is THICK.

Tomorrow it's off to Nanning - there to meet little Grace for the first time!

In the Air, pt. 2

In the Air!

Well, on the ground actually - in New York! We left for the Atlanta air port at 6:00 this morning and arrived at JFK where we'll pick up the flight to Hong Kong in about 30 mintues.

It's been a busy week - making sure all the loose ends at work were tied up, getting last minute items, packing and cleaning the house. There hasn't been much time for blogging. Finally a bit of a break!

Our friend Eric picked us up this morning at 6:00am - we're probably being a bit conservative, getting to the airport about 2 hours before our flight to JFK. Good thing, though, since Delta and many other airlines grounded their MD88s yesterday, canceled a bunch of flights and generally created a mess in the airports this morning.... but, we got off.

ATL to NY was a good flight, small plane but not uncomfortable. We met a couple of nice people on the way, including a nice woman from Florida who is also on our flight to Hong Kong (she is headed from there to meet her husband Brunei)... so we're all having a quick lunch before hopping on a 777 for Hong Kong...

Grace, we're on our way!

What's in a Name?

When little Guo Jiang Jiao comes home with us in a few weeks, she'll be known to us as Emily Grace Jiao - but we'll call her Grace. Whenever you name a child, people always want to know where the name came from. People have many reasons for choosing the names they do. Some choose it to make a statement about their hopes for the child's individuality, some choose it in honor of a beloved family member, still others pull out a baby name book and randomly turn to a page. There are as many different reasons as names.

In our case, it was family. The name Emily appears may times in both our families. My wife's mother is Emily, my cousin is Emily, our niece is Emily. My dad's mother, who passed before I was born, was Emylou.

Grace, on the other hand, was chosen for my dad's step mother - the person I knew all my life as Grandmother. She helped merge two families (3 kids on each side) into one and all through my life I knew her as Grandmother... not as "dad's step mom", but simply Grandmother. The unity she and my Grandfather created in their extended family has been a powerful, comforting and inspirational influence on my life.

So, our daughter will be Emily Grace. We also want to keep part of her Chinese identity in her name, will also use Jiao - which means lovable or tender.

Travel Worries.

Well, I have a new found respect for travel agents. I've never really used one for personal travel, at least not in the last 20 years, and definitely not since the rise of the Internet.

Earlier this week we were told that our agency was trying to get our travel group locked in to an early appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. That appointment date is what determines when adoptive families get to travel and no firm plans can be made until that date is known.

On Monday our adoption agency informed us that the Travel Notices (the official approval to travel from the Chinese) had gone out and that they were requesting appointments for a date which would require us to travel as early as next week. By Wednesday morning they had those appointments and by Wednesday night we had a sample itinerary from the travel agent.

That's where we hit the snag. Many families purchase a lap ticket for their child on the return trip, but some purchase a regular seat. The extra room in coach adds comfort to the final leg of a very exhausting journey. In our case we wanted to do this, and also get a 3rd seat on the way out. We're bigger folks and 17 hours crammed in a coach seat is not our idea of comfortable.

When we mentioned this to the travel agent, she went back and worked out a couple of scenarios. However, for reasons I still don't understand, the airline could not confirm that any of the 3 seats, coming or going, would be together. Now the whole purpose of this was to have more room between the two of us so possibly not getting them together was unacceptable. So, as of last night, no tickets. Keep in mind, we're supposed to fly out next week.

The agent went back and started working a few other options, but I went most of the day without hearing from her. In the mean time I am going out of my head and really not able to focus at work. I got stuff done, but spent much of my time agonizing over whether or not we would be able to find a flight. All of my own personal searching on airline and travel websites had been fruitless. I was starting to worry that, after 26 months of waiting, I was putting us in danger of even more delay because of my desire for personal comfort.

Finally, though, late this afternoon, we heard from the travel agent. She had found us seats on a different airline. There had still been some difficulty getting seats confirmed, but she had been successful in convincing the airline to assign the seats. The only gap is the first leg from Atlanta to New York - it's on a Canadair jet and only has a 2-2 configuration.

So now, thanks to the hard work of our travel agent, we have seats. One more thing off the checklist and one more step on the journey.

Welcome

Well, it's been a long road. To those who have supported us over the years, THANK YOU!

After over two years of waiting, things are now happening very fast! Two weeks ago we received our news that our daughter is waiting in Guangxi, PRC. Guo Jiang Jiao is a beautiful 9 month old girl and we just can't wait to meet her! We're naming her Emily Grace, but calling her Grace.

We received pictures, medical reports, and more pictures - and we began the process of getting ready to travel. Usually, this process takes several weeks - 4 to 8 weeks. Visa's have to be obtained, travel authorizations granted and consular appointments have to be made. Then, and only then, we make travel plans.

Yesterday, however, we heard from our agency - travel authorizations had been received and the consular appointments had been requested. We could be traveling as early as next week - just three weeks after receiving our referral!

So, now begins the mad dash of getting everything in order. We have to get our money together, we have to get our travel kits together and we have to get our flight plans on very short notice... It's a real pain in the tail... and absolutely, without a doubt, 150% worth it!

One of the many things now being done in haste is the establishment of this blog. We're hoping to use this to keep our friends and family informed of how our trip is progressing. Bare with us, though, we are novices to blogging and there are going to be some rough patches. There will be days when we post many times, there will be days when we're just wiped out and won't post anything at all. We hope, though, that we can use this to share in our wonderful experience.