4.05.2010

Travel Dates - Leaving Tomorrow!!!

It's official...we're heading to China. TOMORROW!!! 

We fly out at 5:55 pm. Our route is Birmingham to Houston to San Francisco to Hong Kong. We'll arrive in Hong Kong at 6:25 am on Thursday morning, and we'll actually spend the night there. Then, we'll fly to Kunming (where Grace is) on Friday at noon. It will be nice to have a day and a half in Hong Kong to explore, rest up, and enjoy some couple time before our lifestyle changes for many months.  (ie. no date nights for quite awhile because I won't be able to leave Grace until she's fully bonded to me) When we get to Kunming, we'll get to see one of my college friends, Joy, who is in China with her family for a year, on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. We can't wait to spend the weekend with her!!

We should have "Gotcha Day" (an adoption term for the day you meet your child and they become yours forever) on Monday, April 12th.  It gives me chills just thinking about what an emotional day that will be! We will spend the rest of the week in Kunming.  While we'll tour the orphanage and the city of Kunming, we'll also have lots of down time when we can just play and bond with Virginia Grace.  We have no idea how she'll respond to us. She may grieve and be unresponsive at first.

Over the weekend, we'll travel to Guangzhou. This is where the US Consulate is located. Grace will have a mandated medical exam and required immunizations, and we'll have a court date where the adoption is finalized. This will happen on Tuesday, April 20th. We then have to wait until Thursday to receive Grace's visa. We'll take a train to Hong Kong that evening and fly out at 12:30 am Thursday night/Friday morning.  We're set to land in Birmingham at 10:04 am on Friday.

It's going to be a long 18 days without our son, Carter. Please pray that he will do well during our absence. My mom is coming in town tomorrow, and she'll be the primary caretaker. Primarily, we want to keep Carter's schedule as normal and routine as possible.  On certain days and for one of the weekends, Scott's parents will keep Carter.  He'll be having so much fun and attention, he probably won't miss us! We do plan to Skype with him daily, so at least we'll get to see each other's faces.

I'll be posting daily to the blog once we get to China. While blogger, Facebook, and many sites are blocked there, we downloaded a software (mainly for Scott's work) that will allow us to go around those firewalls. 

I'll post some more specific prayer needs and requests as we go. But for now, would you please pray that God would begin preparing Virginia Grace's heart? She is going to be scared and sad and lonely when she is brought from her foster home back to the orphanage on Friday.  And I can't go into much detail (at least until we have her safely in our arms), but let's just say that her orphanage is not a safe place.  It is very atypical among most Chinese orphanages.  Please pray against physical, emotional, and psychological damage during the few days she will be at the orphanage. In just a week, she'll be safely in our arms.  A moment I've dreamt about for years. It's very surreal. 

Thank you for walking through this with us. Your sweet comments and emails have been so uplifting and touching. I hate that I can't respond to all comments, but know how much they mean to me.  I also love that Grace will see how many people were praying for her during this journey when we turn this blog into a keepsake book for her. We are eternally grateful for your support and love!

 More to come soon!!!

18 comments:

Gina Harris said...

So exciting!! Can't wait to meet her! We will be praying for you and VG! :)

Jennifer said...

Praise the Lord!! How exciting!! I will be in prayer for you guys...and will be keeping up with you daily...what is the best way?? blog, fb?? I would call but I have no voice at all from all of my sinus stuff. Cannot wait to hear all of the details. This gives me hope that it WILL happen!!! Congratulations:)

Sara Scheu said...

Kelley I'm SO excited for y'all!! I'll be thinking about you and praying over these next few weeks- can't wait for updates!

Kim said...

Praying for your trip, your time away, and your precious baby girl.
Love & Blessings from Hong Kong,
Kim
P.S. Feel free to call or email me if you need some sight seeing or date night tips during your time in Hong Kong!

OsbornOriginals said...

YEA! Praying for ya'll!

Anonymous said...

God Speed!! Praying for you and Carter and the grandparents!!
Grandmarna

Jeremy and Michelle said...

Congratulations! I've been checking your blog daily to see when you would get to go and get your Grace! Praying for all you've asked - can't wait to follow your journey! Tell the Jonas' I said hello and we miss them :)

Rick H. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Such wonderful news! So happy for all of you!

Shelley said...

I'm so excited for you!!! I will be praying for you guys to have safe travel and for sweet Virginia Grace's heart. I can't wait to see her in her mama's arms!

If These Walls Could Talk... said...

Wow! Leaving tomorrow!!! I have to tell you I am so jealous right now...:) So excited for you and your wait is almost over. Enjoy this trip... I'll be praying for Virginia Grace for sure. Safe travels.

Ashley Fairley
Gadsden, AL

Ericka B. Jackson said...

YES YES YES YES YES!!!! I AM SO THRILLED! I hope you get this message before you get to Hong Kong, as I have friends over there from the campus ministry I was a part of in college. They are WONDERFUL and I'm sure they'd be glad to help you if you guys have any problems! Matt & April are the leaders, and they are in the process of adopting a little girl from China too! You would love them! Their blog is here: http://mattdean.blogspot.com/

Zach is a good friend who is there too: http://www.zebsweb.com/

I'll try to get you their phone #s too if you'd like - just send me a message and let me know! erickabennett@gmail.com

I'll be praying and will post a blog asking my network to pray too!

Melissa said...

praying!!!!!!!!!!

i'm so happy for you all. i love you, friend. can't wait to meet sweet grace!

Ericka B. Jackson said...

Here's the blog I wrote about you guys - we will all be praying!

http://erickabennett.myadventures.org/?filename=journey-to-china-the-browns-adoption-story

GLS said...

So excited for you, Kelley! I can't wait to see pictures of Grace! I keep showing Anna her pics to see if she might recognize her...would so love to know if they played together. We'll be praying for you!!

Susan said...

How wonderful that this day is finally here! Love you!!!

catherine said...

will be praying!!

Elaina M. said...

I am SO HAPPY for you all Kelley! I pray that you have safe (and comfortable) travels! Please give JJ hugs for me. I know that this journey is just the beginning for your family:-)