Away We Go

Welp, here we go!

The morning after my last blog post our travel approval came, and we got to work right away making plans.

Our agency verified our Family Day (or Gotcha Day) will be May 8 (a week from today!) and our Consulate Appointment will be May 15.

WOOHOOO!!!

May I be honest for a minute?

I'm terrified. Absolutely, positively beside myself with fear. I'm afraid to be somewhere so foreign, I'm afraid to be away from my babies for so long and I'm nervous to adopt someone I don't know (ha, but did I know my bio kids when they were born?! It makes no sense, but it is what it is).

But I'm confident. I'm confident in God's faithfulness. He led us down this path, has guided and provided for each step, and He will sustain us through the difficulties and fear. I'm confident that our boys are in amazing hands, and we will miss them SO much more than they will miss us :) Ha!

Also: I'm thankful for my fear. It's making me more cognoscente of Caroline's feelings- and it's allows me to think of how she will probably be feeling upon arriving in the US. I mean, I'm scared to go somewhere so foreign, but I get to come home in two weeks. I've been thinking of the all scary things that are going on in her little world right now and in the weeks and months to come, and it humbles me and grants me the ability to have more understanding and graciousness towards this little girl.

On Sunday, some of my amazing friends came over to figure out the boys schedules, and I am SO comfortable now, it's almost silly. I prayed for years for "middle of the night friends." You know, the friends who you would leave your kids with if you went to China?! HA! I cannot believe the way we have been surrounded by people who love us, love our kids and love adoption, and it's stinkin' amazing.

So, the first week we're gone my sweet friends will be watching our boys and loving them like they're their own.

The second week, Grammy and Papi are coming out to visit and I'm pretty sure the boys will be in paradise. I know everyone's in great hands, but ugh, I am going to miss those poop-talking, toot-making, loud-screaming boys!

We will be leaving this Saturday morning, and due to the time change, by the time we get to our hotel, we get Caroline Grace about 12 hours later!!!! We'll have a couple of appointments in her province (we will be in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China) and will be leaving to fly south to Guangzhou on the 11th. Her medical appointment is Friday the 12th, and then our Consulate Appointment will be Monday the 15th. We will pick up Caroline's visa on Wednesday the 17th at 11:00AM, and then we leave the next day for Hong Kong. We will spend one night in Hong Kong, and will leave the next morning to fly back to good ol' Denver! Home Sweet Home! Upon landing in the US (we will have a layover in Seattle) Caroline Grace will officially be a US Citizen! We will be landing around 5:15PM Mountain Time. I'm so excited to go and come home :) HA!

Anyway, all our bags are packed, we're ready to go (I mean, my and Caroline's bags are packed... Kris is waiting until the last minute because #hesthedad #hecan), and we're just watching the minutes tick by (slowly) until Saturday morning!

Please keep us in your prayers. Please pray for our boys to be comforted and contented while we are gone, and please pray for Caroline as she's in a state of upheaval right now and in the weeks to come. China typically removes children from their foster homes prior to their Family Days, and places them in the orphanage. I can't imagine the fear and pain she's feeling right now, and then I think of her foster parents who have taken amazing care of her, and I know they have that heartbroken feeling right now. Please pray for them too :)

Thanks for joining us on this journey, friends! I will try to update while we are gone- if I can't do it from the iPad we will post lots of pics, and save notes on each day, and I'll update the trip when we get home... because there's nothing more thrilling than an adoption trip!!!!!