Where is Lilymei?

Check bottom of post for current updates:

Many of you may be wondering where Lilymei is living right now. The information that we have received so far indicates that she is living with a foster family in Inner Mongolia, PRC which can be found on the map below, near the top colored in yellow . Hohhot is the name of the city where her Child Welfare Institute (orphanage) can be found. If you look just above the "B" in Beijing that is approximately where Hohhot is located.


UPDATE: Tickets purchased!
We have yet to book our international flight but our plan is to get to Beijing either through Hong Kong or Tokyo. Shanghai is another potential port of entry. Our tentative itinerary looks something like this:

Wed. July 23 ~ Leave Guam, Arrive in Beijing
Thurs. July 24 ~ Tour Summer Palace
Fri. July 25 ~ Temple of Heaven(am), Lunch at Dai Jia Cun Restaurant, Hutong Tour and Chinese Acrobat Show(afternoon)
Sat. July 26 ~ Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City, Great Wall and lunch, CHI orientation
Sun. July 27 ~ Fly to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, where Lilymei is!
Mon. July 28 ~ Meet Lilymei!!!
Tue. July 29 ~ Adoption Process
Wed. July 30-Fri. Aug 1 ~ Sightseeing, Free days in Hohhot
Sat. Aug 2 ~ Fly to Guangzhou, Meet other adoptive families
Sun. Aug 3 ~ Free Day
Mon. Aug 4 ~ Medical exam for Lilymei
Tue. Aug 5 ~ Consulate appt, Farewell Dinner
Wed. Aug 6 ~ Go to ACS for oath, Get visa for Lilymei
Thurs. Aug 7 ~ Fly Home!

Guangzhou can be found at the bottom of the map, located in the province of Guangdong, also in yellow. Guangzhou is just north of Hong Kong, probably under the big red dot.

Now that Scott is home from Orlando and hopefully not expected to travel anywhere else before we leave for China we will be getting the paperwork for our visas completed and mailed in ASAP. Once our consulate appointment has been confirmed we can purchase our international tickets and start packing our bags! Oh, so much work to do...so little time.


UPDATE!!!!!
As of today, June 17th, we have sent off our applications to apply for our visas. This morning we also purchased our international flights from Guam to Beijing and back home again. Wow! It's really happening!

Spring Recital

On Wednesday evening the youth center on base held their annual Spring Music Recital. Approximately 25 children entertained family and friends with their musical talent showcasing performances on piano, guitar, drums, and vocals. Our own Nate was co-emcee. It was an enjoyable evening. Unfortunately Scott was off island and missed the show but I attempted to videotape the boys' each playing their pieces. Drew performed "Minuet in G" & "The Sailor" on guitar and Nate played "Minuet in G" on piano. Once Scott gets home we'll see if we can post those videos.




Do you think the boys look taller in some of our recent photos? This school year I made a conscious effort to weigh and measure the boys every other month. Here is the comparison from the beginning of school to the ending of school in their height:

Nate
Sept. 07 Height: 58 1/2 inches, June 08 Height: 61 inches

Drew
Sept. 07 Height: 55 1/2 inches, June 08 Height: 57 3/4 inches


Nate grew 2 1/2 inches in 9 months and Drew grew 2 1/4 inches. It's no wonder the boys never have pants that fit for church.


Adoption Update:
We have received our tentative dates as far as when we will be traveling, getting Lilymei, and having our ACS appt. I will post these dates soon but it looks like we will have Lilymei in our arms on July 28, 2008!!!! (Happy Birthday Owen!)

Travel Approval is in the Mail!

It has been a busy week communicating with our agency; trying to make sure we have all the correct information in place for our travel approval. We have received by snail mail our travel preparation packet and by email we have received a list of the families who may be traveling with us. We are so excited!!!

Today we received this email.....

"Dear families,
I have been informed that your travel approvals were mailed on 6/10 by the CCAA. It usually takes about 2 days to receive them. I will send you an email after I have submitted the request for appts at the ACS..."

Now we wait to hear when our appointment will be at the American Consulate. It will be hard to wait until our travel date but I have a feeling we will have so much to do it will be here before we know it. We'll keep you posted when we have official word of when we are traveling.

And So It Begins!

It all started 2 weeks ago when the boys and I were shopping at the Gift Shop on base. Nate came over to me carrying a little silk purse that he wanted to purchase for Lilymei. He felt strongly that she would "need" a purse to put all her "things" in to. Drew didn't want to be outdone so while we were grocery shopping he begged me to buy the 2 pack Snuggle fabric softener that had a Snuggle bear packaged with it. Now the Snuggle bear is living inside the purse waiting for Lilymei to come home. Last week I was in the BX, browsing the book section like I always do, when I came across a few board books for baby with the soft, thick covers. I picked out the "Happy Baby Words" book and thought, what a perfect item to bring along with us to China. I mentioned to Scott that he was the only one in the family who hadn't picked out something for Lilymei yet. Not to be outdone, yesterday Scott came home with the cutest little pink OshKosh onesie and floral jumper. As you will see below, this shopping frenzy has gained momentum (even for Guam!). Look at what found it's way home from the mall today....

October 2007

October was full of fun as we visited with all of our family. We visited the pumpkin patch, Build-A-Bear, had family photos taken, and returned to Ohio Northern University for our 15th class reunion during homecoming.
While we were in Ohio, our dossier left our agency in St. Louis and arrived in Beijing, China! We received our 'log-in date' of the 26th! The 26th is also Drew's birthday and he was very happy about the connection to his future sister.
We started our blog in October so you can view the archives for more details.

It's a Girl!!!!

Veteran's Day brought a special delivery to our home. The all-important document that we have been waiting months for has finally arrived.....the "L.I.D."!!! Seven months ago we began a journey down the road to international adoption. After much deliberation and praying we decided to try and adopt a little girl from China. Gathering all of the necessary documents while living on Guam was interesting to say the least. Many times we wondered if our adoption was meant to be. We struggled with the red tape of a small island, yet the people of Guam really came through for us and completed our home study and authentication of our documents with considerable ease. Months went by as we waited for some documents to return from New York and California in order to complete our dossier. Finally, everything was complete and ready for FedEx.

The dossier, along with many of Scott's hard earned dollars, was sent off to our adoption agency, Children's Hope International, out of St. Louis, Missouri back in early September 2007. In mid-October we learned that our documents were on their way to China! The reason we are so excited to receive the "L.I.D." (Log-in date) is that the wait time has officially begun. We, along with other families with the same L.I.D., will generally travel together to Beijing. Unfortunately, the wait time is currently estimated at 21-24 months from the date stamped on our L.I.D., which as you can see in the photo above, is October 26, 2007. (We were very excited when we saw our L.I.D. was the same day as Drew's birthday.) :-)

We are trying to wait patiently, but it is hard not knowing if our daughter is out there somewhere waiting for us. Thank you everyone, for your continued thoughts and prayers as we travel down this wonderful path God has placed before us. Of course we will provide any updates we receive as they come in.