Journey To Luke: December 2008

December Pictures

December 27, 2008

Happy Gotcha Day #4 Sweet Baby Girl!

We Have Our Girl! 12/27/04

We have our girl!

She is absolutely the most beautiful gift we have ever laid eyes on. I'm going to attach some photos of our Gotcha Day as well as some moments in Beijing.

Where should I start................It seems as though we've been gone forever and it's only Tuesday. Our flight over was incredibly long and cramped but the excitement kind of made all that seem not so bad.

We arrived in Beijing Christmas Eve night. We're 16 hours ahead of Pacific time so you do the math. It was below zero when we stepped off the plain. I think the high was 20 degrees the entire weekend. We were greeted by the America World Staff and taken to our hotel. On Christmas Day we endured freezing temps as we toured the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and the Summer Palace. There was a sadness that is hard to explain. Maybe it was the sense of imprisonment of the people, the amount poverty around, or the filth of the air. Or..............maybe it was because we were being forced to walk for 2 hours in 20 degree weather to look at a castle that looked just like the last castle!!

We also toured a pearl factory and silk factory. That too was sad as we watched young girls doing factory work for pennies a day. We had Chinese food for lunch and dinner (imagine) and it appears we'll be having it for breakfast for two weeks also.

On Sunday we went to Beijing Christian International Fellowship Church. The catch is "international". It's only open to foreigners. We felt the Holy Spirit fill that place. Emotions ran high as we anticipated getting our girls and singing praises to the Father as we worshiped in Communist China.

We have met many friends that I have no doubt will be in our lives forever. We have a bond like no other. We brought our families half way around the world for one reason....to get our babies that the Lord has chosen for us. It's quite special being surrounded by people that know exactly how bad you want it to be GOTCHA DAY!!

After church we visited a jade factory and went to lunch. Mmmmmmmmmm more Chinese food!! Next stop........The Great Wall!! It was GREAT but oh so bitter cold. The sun had started to set and the wind picked up. It was like no other chill I had ever experienced. Amy and I climbed enough to say we had done it. Nick and Mark headed up to experience the thrill (and chill). After the Great Wall they took us to a Peking Duck Dinner. By this time the thought of putting another fried noodle to our lips was nauseating. We mostly sat in awe as they brought plate after plate of unidentifiable dishes to our extra large lazy Susan.

At 6:15am Monday morning we boarded a plane to head south to Changsha in the Hunan Province. After a frightening time getting through security, eight Hunan families were on their way to meet their babies. Other AWAA families were flying to other provinces. We will all meet up again in Guangzhou on Friday. It was snowing in Changsha when we got off the plane...........how come I thought it was going to be in the 60's???

Monday morning is a day that my family will treasure for the rest of our lives. We were taken by bus the the Civil Affairs Office and brought into a room with many many babies. I spotted Linsey right away. When they called our name the nanny handed her to me. She arched her back and screamed as loud as she could. She was no different than all the other babies so the room quickly turned into chaos. She quieted down as soon as we brought out the Cheerios. She is so beautiful. A true gift from God. I can't wait for you to meet her. We had a blast at dinner with all the other babies. Linsey ate and ate and enjoyed sitting by Kathryn, her little friend from the orphanage. We had a bath and a bottle and that girl slept for 10 hours straight!! YEEEEEEEEE HAAWWWWW!!

Today we were back at the Civil Affairs office to pay our fees and take an oath. We also had our picture taken. It was very emotional when the nannies hugged her good bye and she reached her arms out for me. My heart melted.

We have not seen a smile yet. Maybe a grin but we know that smile is in there. She loves Nick and Amy and has taken to her daddy amazingly well. She likes to be held and loves to eat Cheerios. She hates to have her diaper changed or to be transfered from one of us to the other. She fits perfectly into 18 month size clothes. She's got beautiful chubby cheeks and gorgeous skin. Her legs are even pudgy and boy is she strong!!!

I don't know when I'll be able to write again. Please know your prayers are felt very deeply. It is a different world here. We have never felt so blessed to live in America as we have these last few days. As I type this, my fingers are frozen. They have shut off the heat for 24 hours due to a severe energy crises. We've probably smoked many packs of cigarettes since our arrival. They do not believe in "non smoking". Yet, the four of us are healthy and feel blessed beyond measure to be here. We long for home and to see your faces.........and oh yeah......some pizza would be great too!!

All my love,
Elizabeth

Happy 4th Gotcha Day Linsey!!

I read this email from my mom that was written 4 years ago today. Wow......where does the time go?

Thank you Lord, for the HUGE blessing of having Linsey in our family.

At a few minutes after midnight on Sunday, the phone rang, it was Elizabeth and she happily announced " We have her Mom, she's right here in Mark's arms!"
Allowing for the 16hrs. difference in time, it was actually 4 p.m. Dec. 27, Monday.

The brief story is, that they were in Changsha in a big room filled with American families waiting for their babies. The babies and their nannies had traveled for 6 hrs. on a bus from the orphanage, they were brought into the room, the adopting families name was called out and then the baby handed to them. Elizabeth said that Linsey arched her back and started to cry as they handed her to Elizabeth, but they pulled out the cheerios and she became their new best friend, fell asleep in Mark's arms in the middle of all this noise.. The room was chaos as crying babies and crying parents came together. Nick and Amy both had cameras and got many pictures of the event. Lib is going to try to e-mail some to us. They were back in their hotel room when Elizabeth called. Linsey only cried briefly each time they handed her to another family member, which I heard as Mark handed the baby to Amy. It will be interesting to see how the night went.

They will be in Changsha for another couple of days filling out more paperwork ,sight-seeing, shopping. They fly to Guangzhou on Friday where the American Consulate is. Linsey will have a medical exam and they will get her Visa.

It has been very cold and snowy in both Beijing and Changsha. Sight-seeing has not been enjoyable. Guangzhou is supposed to be tropical so maybe they will get warmed up. They fly back to Beijing on Wed. the 5th and then home on Thur. the 6th.

Keep praying for all of them, especially that they will stay healthy

Mom

The Sweetest Sound

Does it get any better than this?

Mary Beth's Christmas Letter

There probably isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of Mary Beth and say a prayer for her hurting heart. I watch my kids play, hear their laughter, and stare into those almond eyes, and cant help but think of the Chapman family. They have been in the spotlight for years with Steven's music and advocacy for adoption. After the accident, all eyes watched as they grieved the loss of their youngest daughter. The Chapamans pulled together through the pain, relying on God for strength. They continue to walk through a journey of grief but have shared the hope they have in seeing Maria again.

Please take a moment to read Mary Beth's Christmas Letter.

December is Here!

With our second snow day here......I was able to get some December happenings on the blog. We celebrated my dad's 77th birthday, Nick had an incredible choir concert at APU, we said goodbye to nana and papa as they left for AZ, Linsey had her Music Connection performance, and we had our first SNOW of the season. Enjoy!

Where did November go?

I just realized that December is half way over and I never posted in November! Here are some highlights. We went and saw Nick at APU on Veteran's Day. Luke and Lins both performed in their Thanksgiving celebrations at school. Amy got accepted into The Master's College and APU (but is holding out to hear from Moody in mid January).
I've been hooked on facebook, so sorry I've been a slacker here. Come join facebook and we'll be in touch!