Our Itinerary!

I am sure you are all dying to know what we will be doing every moment for the two weeks while we are in China.  ;)  Well maybe not every moment but here is a basic run down of our time there.  Hopefully, it will help you know how to more specifically pray for us during that time.  We are certainly going to need plenty of prayers.  Based on the amount of spiritual warfare we have been experiencing the past two weeks, we know God is up to some big things in our family.  (Don't get too freaked out about that.  It might seem strange or cooky to some but I assure you that if you believe in the power of God, you should very much believe in the resistance of the one who made himself God's enemy. And because we are God's beloved, that makes us a perfect target for satan.)  Just as God takes us who Are Not and makes us into his adopted children through salvation through Jesus, we are about to make a little one who belongs to no one our very own.  Just as the Lord promises us a hope and a future as His children, we are part of the redeeming story of a little girl in China who had lost all hope of a future.  We are about to step on holy ground and experience a taste of what God has done for us and for that, we covet your prayers of protection and blessing and grace!

So here is what our two weeks are going to look like:

December 19- Flight leaves from Grand Rapids at 9:41 am.  Fly to Chicago and then a direct flight to Beijing.  

December 20, 2013 - Arrive in Beijing.  Follow the crowd to the immigration area for a passport check.  Then go downstairs to your luggage claim area (as you go down the escalator, you will see a digital screen in front of you giving the # of your flights luggage claim area).  Get a luggage cart, free of charge and load your luggage.  Then go to the exit gate.  Your guide will be there to meet you with your name.  Hotel check in.

December 21,  2013 - Sightseeing in Beijing, which may include Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City (front gate) and the Great Wall.  

December 22, 2013 – Train to Province. Your guide will have your train tickets and take you to the train station.  Afternoon express train to Taiyuan. (leave:11:32am, arrive Taiyuan 2:17pm.

Your local guide will meet you on the railway platform with your name. On your way to the hotel, your guide will inform you as to when you will see your child.  It may be that same evening or the following morning!!!

December 23-27, 2013 - Processing paperwork in Taiyuan.  Your guide will arrange your daily itinerary while in this city.  Simply follow their instructions regarding the civil affairs appointment, notary office and checking your adoption paperwork.  Your guide is an expert in processing these adoption documents so you can trust them completely.  NOTE: Please carefully proofread your adoption documents from the civil affairs.  A tiny mistake (wrong spelling of child's name, wrong birth date or even zip code) will delay your process and incur more expense, extra stay in hotel, missed flights and rescheduling of your Embassy appointment.  So take the paperwork seriously!

December 27, 2013 - Flight to Guangzhou. Your guide will have your flight info and take you to the airport to fly to Guangzhou. Get a cart and your luggage before moving to the gate.  Your guide, Judy, or her associate, will meet you there with your name.  Your child will need to have her medical exam done in Guangzhou prior to the Embassy appointment.  Your guide will schedule the exam for you.

Also in Guangzhou you will be able to do a lot of shopping in the Sha Mian Island where the White Swan Hotel is located.  You will find children's books, music, art, clothes, and jewelry.  Other cuisine such as Thai, and Western style restaurants are within walking distance.  Check with guide.  

December 28, 2013 – Medical exam today.

December 29, 2013 - Guangzhou city tour.

December 30, 2013 – Your appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Guangzhou is today at 8:30am.  You do not have to appear at this appointment.  Our guide will carry in all your papers at the time of the appointment.

December 31, 2013 - Pick up your child’s visa to enter the United States. 

January 1, 2014 - Your guide will take you to the airport for your flight to Beijing in the afternoon. 

When you get to Beijing Airport, simply go to Gate 5 for your hotel shuttle bus.

Beijing Hilton Capital Airport Hotel. 

January 2, 2014- Flight from Beijing to Chicago and then Chicago to GR arriving a little after 9 pm. 

Ellie becomes the newest little citizen of the United States as soon as she sets foot in Chicago to be followed by becoming the newest little Michigander as we land in GR.  :)

I can't believe that we will be meeting our daughter in just over a week!!!!!!